Sounds like a good project Pete, are you aiming at going fully off grid?

yes, eventually. have a good bit of flat roof to instal the PV.the new meter box is ready for it but other priorities need to come sooner. was going to use the solyndra system but gone t*ts up in USA. thanks for your interest.

Well your in with a chance of solar power in Spain don't know how it will perform in winter though depending on your needs. I've a good friend in the UK who has spent literally thousands of pounds on solar and two small turbines but the whole lot will never replace his 'normal' needs, at best it gives him a lighting circuit and runs a couple of inverters for fridge/freezer and laptop for when the power fails in winter.

I like the idea of energy efficient homes though and good luck with you plans, keep us informed.

You may need plenty of luck getting licences etc.

paid a chunk of reform tax. been told shouldnot be too tough as not much in external changes. will know in next couple of weeks. met some of the local spanish inc lady who was born in the casa and seem to have their support. Bureaucracy may see it different

trick is to keep the demand low. hoping to have all LED lighting eventually. the aircon should work efficiently because of the insulation. the SIP panels made a remarkable difference last summer and there is another 30mm of EPS to go on yet; then the antique tiles will be another thermal barrier because the fixing technique for them allows air to circulate.
would love a solar hot water steam turbine but not developed enough yet i am told (instead of the PV)

He's on all LED lighting for his backup needs, woodburner fire and multifuel AGA with Propane backup and double/triple glazing. What will you burn, wood or coal (if you can get it) The Spanish seem to burn any old skanky bit of wood, lots of pine I've seen used which is as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit in my home in the UK, I have access to a lot of Ash and Oak with some Maple thankfully. Olive wood seasoned out should be OK, never tried it to be honest but I am guessing its a dense wood and should give a good slower burn.

I've been to Norway a few times over the years and they are pretty good at getting the most of every BTU used something we need to do more in the UK with the obvious weather changes that are occurring.

"He's on all LED lighting for his backup needs, woodburner fire and multifuel AGA with Propane backup and double/triple glazing. What will you burn, wood or coal (if you can get it) "

not going overboard with the glazing as existing windows , as typical, are small. new ones just double glazed. it is adopting different thinking here, more emphasis on keeping cool in summer. The winter nightime is 3-6 deg at worst so keeping warm is then not so demanding. Hoping a 1.2Kw immersion will do for backup.
could retrofit a propane boiler but we are very lucky to have a second heat dump of another deposito of 6.5m3 so if we can input some heat into that during summer then a water to water heat pump (bit pricy but low running cost) will more than do. you are right about extracting therms but for the UK it is insulation that needs catchup with norway etc
my sister ( lives close) loves olive to burn. downside of wood seems to be finding uninfected wood so not to bring the termites into the house.
there is the issue of unlocking the carbon when its burnt but that no worse than me flying to-from UK. eco is a complex subject!

http://www.oscarlisabuild.blogspot.com/ looks interesting

Woodburners are trendy in the UK now and people pay through the nose for wood which is often unseasoned and fast burning. I use a mix of wood and coal when I light mine up.

A good friend of mine in the States uses a corn burner which is very effective he tells me.

You'll be using fans for cooling Peter?

we will have aircon and a couple of c eiling fans but because of cool roof and lowered thermal mass in the walls (too much thermal mass cannot cool down enough at night) we hope to be comfy without overworking the aircon. actually measured our "annex" last summer and inner surface never dropped below 31deg. This concrete box does now have a silver torched-on felt roof. the previous owner had not a clue and put about 2 tonne of pebbles[not even white) on it and wondered why he cooked.
i will do some research on pellets locally, havenot seen any for sale yet but not really been looking for them!

No pun but how's your wind? What turbine will you use, standard or vertical ?

some days i could power a wind farm
not going for wind here. do get onshore-off shore in summer but can get days on trot with very calm (like now) so not justified at this point. with so much sunshine need to get most out of that first.
are you doing or planning for an ecobuild of some sort?

No wind has not stopped the UK spending billions on wind farms that simply don't work...I hate the bloody things; Small ones on a house I can live with, folleys that just blot the landscape pee me off.

The UK is said to have the best climate in Europe to utilise wind power,so it would be foolish not to make the best of it.
The biggest offshore windfarm in Europe is also planned if not well under way.
Much more expensive to build than on land, but maybe that will keep some of the tree huggers happy, though personally I don't think they look so bad myself.
Possibly I'm slightly biased having four of the more recent monsters planted on my patch.
I find it really relaxing and satisfying to watch them gently turning, just like seeing some kind hearted soul dropping a constant stream of coins into my money box.