Hi all, anyone out there had installed or know about solar power and wind generators for domestic use ??
Just thinking ahead about saving power and trying to be more self sufficient
Many Thanks
Jason

i have fitted a number of kits in almaria (spain)and would say i have not found any good kit the the uk its all cheap tat,(like the stuf in b&Q you will get your money bay in the next 100 years if your lucky)
i would look for a spanish suplier and import it as it will work i would take as much advice as poss befor buying one.

you can make a solar water heater its not hard to make .(water hose 12v water pump black mat paint woden box perspex front well sealed and insulated 12v solar pannel to run it ,this is how a lot of people heat there pool in spain i have plans to make them as i have made around 25 so far and it work great on small swimming pools.)

From what I've read recently from a few places, wind power isn't really practical unless you have a decent, none-gusting, steady wind for most of the time. At lower wind speeds they're just about pointless.

Strangely for this country, solar power seems a better bet.

This link is an interesting read.

Real life wind generator problems by one of my heros, Tim Hunkin.

The wind turbine sold by B&Q is rated at 1kW. That's 1kW in a strong wind. Typical wind levels in the UK mean it would generate about 125W. That's enough to power your video on stand by, your central heating timer, alarm clock, the clock on your microwave... all the background power. That's often worth 30% or so of a typical power bill.

Solar hot water is the best use of solar power. Efficiencies of 50% beat the 15% of the best photovoltaic cells. A big black aluminium or copper absorber plate, in a sealed box behind glass soaks up sunlight. On a sunny November day it can get hotter than can touch. They can heat up the water in a tank to be hot enough for domestic use. Summer daylight hours are longer so you get a tank full by late afternoon. Winter you only get half a tank. On cloudy days even less. You use your boiler or immersion heater to top up to a full tank. when my current boiler goes, I'll fit a solar assisted system.

i recently turned anti solar power, when i realised that trees are far more efficient and make themselves. Just burn wood, the carbon output is irrelevant if you replant as trees are only a short term store of carbon. Likewise, making a solar panel takes a lot of energy, and involves some very odd and unnatural chemicals. Its a similar argument to why there is no point buying a new economical car, since so much energy was wasted building it.

Solar water is another matter entirely, and a very good idea.

[Edited on 25/11/06 by JoelP]

we had vaillant in at work to discuss solar panels on a new development of houses we are doing, it costs about £3600 for the panels, boiler, cylinder plus fitting,

you can get a grant of upto £400 but this is subject to various conditions.

http://www.vaillant.co.uk/Home/Products/Solar/

Hi can someone please put a pictuer - plan on here to show how you make and plum in a hot water box . i whould like to make one to heat a fish pond
Jacko

the pump is not fitted in the box
i have a full set of plans for a diy one if your intrested

Hi Thunderace yes please can you put them on here ?
Graham

While living in Thailand I was absolutely amazed that noone was making use of solar panels! Mind you, because of the high initial costs I can understand that few homes have them, but it would be a considerable long-term saving for hotels and villas, especially considering the vast majority of the power consumption is during daylight hours (to keep the AC's running)

I'll be moving back there early january, and although I'm planning on renting a house at first, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on new developments, as I'm planning to run my future house on solar power as much as possible..

Here in (sunny) Wolverhampton, my mate runs solar power in his house. He charges up a collection of cells that run 12v DC lights (not greedy halogens) in the house.

Wind IS a big problem as we're urban and there's too much turbulence to get going properly. I saw the episode on Newsnight where Ethical Man had exactly the same problem with his urban wind generator.

I agree with Joel's carbon-neutral wood burning. That's what we've been doing since the weather got colder.

Cheers,

Neil.

Cheers guys , it makes interesting reading,,, so on the basis of my W.B. Hi-Flow400 boiler is only 3 years old, I'm stuffed then with being very un-green ?

Jason

If your serious about wanting to save energy then.

Wind power is unlikely to be much use, as someone said you need to have a good site, it depends where you live, but in general only works if you in reasonably clear air or being part way up a valey side is good. Plus the delivery characteristics are poor.

Solar panels are not very good. In global terms they use more energy to manufacture than they will ever give back in their usable life time (if direct generation). If your using "Heat box" solar, its good for pre-heating the water to your boiler and then the boiler used to heat up to required temp. Much less energy "destruction" in that method. However the system takes quite a bit of practice to get right and its best to speak to a bespoke company about it.

The best thing to do (And only really works if you have enough room in your garden) if to fit a ground heat pump. These work like a fridge in reverse, but you get more heat from these per kW of energy than using that energy for direct heating.

I also get really hacked of with the boiler salesmen that always push people to get "High Efficeincy" big boilers. Looking at the efficency curves their at peak efficency at max running, which you really only use 5% (perhaps less) per year. Such a waste!

Im not especially green, but id rather balance my energy usage so my everyday is minimised and i can "waste" the rest in persuit of going fast :-)

[Edited on 26/11/06 by jono_misfit]