AN eco-friendly Cardigan housebuilder has been handed a major boost.

The Tŷ Solar®design of timber-built, ultra low energy, affordable homes – developed by Western Solar Ltd in a former cowshed at Cilgerran, near Cardigan – has been given support from Welsh Government.

Housing and Regeneration Minister Rebecca Jones confirmed three Tŷ Solar homes projects in her announcement of the projects to share in £43m of funding for innovative housing.

The main Tŷ Solar project confirmed is £4m for Cartrefi Croeso, Carmarthenshire County Council’s delivery company for the development of new homes.

The Welsh Government’s funding confirmation will help establish the low carbon, all-timber Tŷ Solar homes as a mainstream housing model and strengthen Western Solar’s ability to manufacture the homes at scale.

At Burry Port in Carmarthenshire Western Solar will be building 30 new affordable homes – which will also incorporate a new concept home for the over 55s to help match demand from an aging population.

The Tŷ Solar design for affordable housing has already been successfully proven on a small scale at Glanrhyd, North Pembrokeshire, where Western Solar completed Wales’ first solar hamlet of six affordable homes last year.

The development is now owned and managed by the housing association, ATEB, and Western Solar is now building more Tŷ Solar affordable homes elsewhere for ATEB, Coastal Housing Association and others.

Western Solar developed the Tŷ Solar house specifically for affordable housing developments. It uses Welsh timber as its raw material with 80 per cent of all the materials being sourced locally.

The houses are built to the highest standards and consume only 12 per cent of the energy used by a traditional house. Solar panels covering the roof of each house will generate 7,500 kWh of electricity, with surplus energy being exported for others to use via the national grid.

Tŷ Solar homes are also built using local labour and expertise, so generating additional employment opportunities in each project’s locality – including a number of apprentices being taken on and trained on site by Western Solar’s production team.

Glen Peters, chief executive of Western Solar, said: “This announcement by Welsh Government represents a major affirmation for our Tŷ Solar design. We have worked for more than five years to develop the design and put it into production at our factory-cum-former-cowshed near Cardigan.

“For the Burry Port project we are also establishing in a joint venture with a local firm a satellite factory that will employ local labour and train people in the necessary range of skills. As with our original factory in a cowshed in north Pemrokeshire, Welsh tree trunks will arrive at one end and houses will emerge from the other.

“This will also help us to scale up the business to meet further local demand in Carmarthenshire and south west Wales”

At the new project in Glanmor Terrace, Burry Port – to the west of Llanelli – one third of the 30 new Tŷ Solar houses will be divided into apartments for the over 55s, and the other 20 homes will be for families.

Building work is scheduled to begin in spring next year, with the first homes expected to be ready for occupation in January 2020.