Re: Re: [OT]Solar Power

[Martin Howell <martin.howell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, and yes.  Grants are largely aimed at windmills and solar water
heaters rather than PV panels, and they lean heavily in favour of old
and inefficient houses.  There is a new government initiative to replace
the old 'clear skies' thing, but their web site goes all round the
houses telling you stuff you already know but completely fails to
mention how much the grant is.  If the web site is anything to go by,
getting the money will be a bit of chore

The panels are not that heavy in themselves, glass with an aluminium
frame usually, but remember that you might need 20 sq meters of them,
and your roof timbers  - especially if they are in a modern developer
house where the costs are cut pretty thin - are designed to support the
weight of the tiles and a bit of snow and not much else.  They don't
have to go on the roof, they can be at ground level or anywhere in
between, but they probably see more daylight and less shadow up on the
roof and are less prone to attack from the odd football.  I'm thinking
of putting mine on a pergola arrangement over the poop deck

Martin

stevecrick2000 wrote:
> Are the grants that hard to come by then; I expected a mark up from
> the installers and most of the site I have read say that there is a
> first come first served basis for the grants (ie when the money has
> gone, the grants stop); but nothing indicates that you wont get the
> grant.
>
> Are these panels heavy? I have worries about having too much weight
> up on the roof ready and waiting for the first snowfall of winter.
>
> Steve
>
>
> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Martin Howell <martin.howell@...>
> wrote:
>
>>If you're gonna do it, do it big.  I have been looking at solar
>
> panels
>
>>recently on the basis that electrickery is going to get more
>
> expensive
>
>>over the next hundred years, while the price of PV panels is likely
>
> to
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>>drop.  You're right, the big house-sized panels do cost a lot, but
>
> the
>
>>reputable makes are mostly guaranteed for 20 or 25 years, and at
>
> today's
>
>>electricity prices, I reckon the payback period is around 10 years.
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> As
>
>>the price of the mains stuff goes up, the payback period comes down
>
> to
>
>>maybe  7 or 8 years.  I estimate the cost of installation to be
>
> around
>
>>£8 - 10k, less if you can DIY lots of it, and the output is
better
>
> if
>
>>you make the panels motorised so that they swivel to follow the
sun.
>>
>>Looked at another way, you are investing £10k at an interest
rate
>
> of 10%
>
>>pa, won't get that in the Hong Kong and Scrotum Bank, o no.
>>
>>I'm seriously looking at the idea, either full autonomy with a
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> garden
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>>full of old tractor batteries, or an arrangement to sell the
>
> daytime
>
>>juice to the 'grid and buy it back when its dark. You do need a few
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> sq
>
>>metres of panels, though, so be prepared to cover large parts of
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> the
>
>>roof and/or garden with them.
>>
>>Be aware as well that in spite of lots of froth from Tony, grants
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> are
>
>>like rocking horse poop.  Not only that, but you have to use an
>
> approved
>
>>installer, whoops, there's the grant money gone.  I'm doing some
>
> more
>
>>digging to try to buy the panels direct from the manufacturer, then
>
> its
>
>>up on the roof for me.  Watch this space.
>>
>>Martin
>>
>>Phil Harris wrote:
>>
>>>Have you seen the price of solar panels big enough to generate
a
>
> decent
>
>>>supply of electricity? :-O
>>>
>>>Phil
>>>
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