Re: OT: Electricity generation

["Paul Bendall" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I assume that is 0.3KwH per hour? If so that is pretty low and
equates to 2,700KwH per annum.

Found the following information from Srathclyde Univeristy from
2001:
1. Working Couple - 4,117 kWh electricity
2. Single Person - 3,084 kWh electricity
3. Family with two children - 5,480 kWh electricity
(Parents working, children at school)

The lower you electricity usage the better the chance a PV array
could produce most of your needs. Haven't done the rest of the
calculations to see how big the array would need to be, how much
that would cost and therefore what the payback period would be.

I have read a lot of people bemonaing the the grant system as a
chaotic mess and so a lot of people give up on it.

Paul
--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "dermot_bradley" <bradley@...>
wrote:
>
> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Paul Bendall" <paul@> wrote:
> >
> > That leaves us with photovoltaic cells or PVC's which is what
most
> > people think of as solar panels. If you are only after a few
hundred
> > watts then these are probably the best option. But then you
have to
> > consider that they normal generate power when you don't want
light so
> > you have to store the energy they produce for use when you do
want
> > it. That means batteries and usually 24v deep-cycle batteries
(car
> > batteries are not great at going from full charge to low
charge back
> > to full-charge).
>
> Now that I've got an idea of my baseline power usage for the
house
> (approx 0.3KwH but I'm still improving it) I've been meaning to
sit
> down and work out what the paypack period for "entry level"
PV
> solution would be, say for a 1KwH setup with no battery storage.
>
> I've seen mention that a 1KwH (or is it 1KwP?) panel
realistically
> generates 0.75KmH.
>
> Basically price up such a system, figure how much in grants I
would
> get to offset the purchase price, see what the "buy" price
is
from the
> local electricity company for excess power and calculate likely
power
> excess generated due summer and winter months, factor in the
> electricity power bill reduction gained by the panels driving my
> baseline load during daylight, and then see if the payback
period is
> some realistic timeframe - 10 years? 8? 5? I wonder...
>



------------------------------------