MikeRJ
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| posted on 31/8/11 at 05:24 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by big-vee-twin
PV panels have a rating expressed as kWp -kiloWatts peak, this is what the panel will produce in absolutely perfect conditions i.e. in a Labratory.
A standard panel is rated at aprox 230 watts peak, most panels are 12-13% efficient and therefore the output of a panel is 27.6 watts, this then goes
through an invertor at about 98% efficient so the output is 27 watts per panel
That isn't quite correct; the peak output (kWp) is simply the maximum electrical power output for a given set of test conditions, so the
conversion efficiency does not need to be applied to this value. i.e. a 230 watt peak panel will produce 230 watts of electrical power under the
stated test conditions. Obviously the amount produced under typical UK sunlight is likely to be lower.
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Bob C
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| posted on 31/8/11 at 05:44 PM |
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This looks like the latest "money for nothing" scheme to fleece the general public...
I made a solar battery charger system for my brother's gate automation business. When it comes to sizing PV panels, they are sold with a wattage
value which is pretty close to the max power you could get out pointing it directly at the sun on a cool sunny day. You have to multiply this by the
"equivalent sunshine hours" value for your location. To put it into context, manchester has 0.9 equivalent sunshine hours per day on
average. So a perfectly sited 100W PV panel would on average supply 100x0.9/24 watts = 3.75W.
The conclusion I draw from this is that anyone selling PV electric systems in the north of england is a conman. Usually they present calculations
based on the 100W figure when they should use the 3.75W one.....
If you use a shunt or series regulator to DC (for battery charging) you lose another about 30% efficiency, but I expect the mains inverters have
proper maximum power point tracking algorithms. Dirt reduces output a lot and a shadow over part of a panel will knock out the whole panel.
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Wadders
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| posted on 31/8/11 at 05:45 PM |
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My pal has a 4kw system on his roof which is south facing, it returned £680 for the first quarter, so he's reckoning on £1500 to £2000 for the
year. plus whatever he saves on the leccy bill.
Seems to be a no brainer if you have the cash to invest, and are not thinking of moving.
Al
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 31/8/11 at 06:01 PM |
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Best thing you can use solar power for is heating your water.
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JoelP
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| posted on 31/8/11 at 06:06 PM |
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chap whos house we were at fitting a kitchen had someone round surveying his roof for pv, it was as large a roof as you could imagine - must be about
100 square metres. Im not sure why he was bothering though- he was apparently worth £90m  A real top trump house, any fact about it would beat most
others. Ie, 48 circuits in his mains board 
Beware! Bourettes is binfectious.
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Moorron
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| posted on 31/8/11 at 06:38 PM |
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If this is selling like hot cakes then its going to end it tears, there are many poeple out there that think they are helping by scrapping a good but
old car and buying a throw away car for £7k and think they are better off, gve it 3-5 years when the new cars falls apart and they are stuck with no
car or money.
My Dad now lives in southern Spain, as you can imagine its sunny most of the time and he looked at solar panels. He didnt get it in the end as the guy
up the road has a panel the size a 2 large cars that tracked the sun and couldnt get the power he needed from them all the time.
Its not wort the money, your getting tied into a contract for a large period of time and hoping the goverment dont move the goal posts. Too risky i
think.
What happens if someone invents a super panel in 2 years time and then all the older ones are labeled poor and the contracts stopped or only honoured
if you upgrade? What happens if a new battery tech is developed and the same with that? What if a house fire is linked to a fault and every one with
them is forced to pay £2k a year+ on the insurance? and so on, i know its unlikley but 12K or 25 years means alot to me and i dont want to go losing
it all, but like pensions!
Sorry about my spelling, im an engineer and only work in numbers.
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big-vee-twin
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| posted on 1/9/11 at 10:42 AM |
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There are also two types of panel monocrystaline and polycrystaline.
Monocrystaline are the more expensive.
[Edited on 1/9/11 by big-vee-twin]
Duratec Engine is fitted, MS2 Extra V3 is assembled and tested, engine running, car now built. IVA passed 26/02/2016
http://www.triangleltd.com
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midge
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| posted on 1/9/11 at 11:58 AM |
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I plan to build my own as a winter project. Don't plan to tap into feed in tarriffs etc etc, just take my lighting circuit off the mains.
I've got 2 truck batteries and an inverter, just got to build a PV panel large enough to charge batteries at 14v during the day. Done my sums
and I think it will work. Has anyone tried this?
Steve
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FASTdan
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| posted on 2/9/11 at 08:50 AM |
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Interesting thread.
Im a novice to it all, and have only done minimal reading but if I were to do anything like this I would be tempted to DIY it too and use it for
heating water (there seem to be a few sites with guides on doing this). As I say though I've not put loads of thought into it. Quite tempted to
utilise the garage roof at our new house when we rebuild it.
NEW danST WEBSITE NOW LIVE! Bike carbs, throttle bodies and more......
http://www.danstengineering.co.uk/
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 13/9/11 at 10:31 AM |
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Apologies to those who don't want this resurrected....
I nearly replied on the day this started, but thought I'd leave it a week to see how it all panned out.
I'll try and be brief.
We had solar panels(pv) fitted by an acquaintance who was just getting into the game, and he did a fair job to get the experience for
accreditation.
The panels fitted are the more expensive, but higher yielding model, which are initially more costly, but have a shorter payback time. The system was
commissioned on the Sunday morning, 4th September, and the following week was not the sunniest. However, up to Sunday night the system generated just
on 100kWhrs, which gives us a payout of just over £44 for the week. This is for a 3.8kW system, 16 panels.
I also checked the main electric meter. It's a newer digital item, and flashes r e d when the system is pumping into the grid.
As I work in a workshop and office at the rear of my home mostly, I'm using electric all day. The metered consumption has gone down appreciably,
plus we get the payout or FIT payment, this last week of £44. I would expect this to halve in mid winter, but near to double in mid summer, so an
average of 90~100units a week is expected from this size system.
To all the prophets of doom, this Feed In Tariff is written in law, and it's roots go back into the darkest untraceable depths of Europe
somewhere, so it will not be cancelled at a political whim. There are also far too many commercial vested interests as well, so the full 25 year
scheme will run. However, there is a decreasing tariff as years go on dependant on when you first registered on the scheme. The payment you get is
fixed at the time of registration, and runs the full time of the scheme at that rate.
The next move is to fit an electric immersion for the hot water, and use the electric to heat that during the day.
So, to all those who can afford to do this, I say DO IT. It's a 'no brainer' as they say. Our system will be paid for in 5~6 years
by the FIT payments, and at the same time our electric bills have been reduced by a big chunk. A double whammy, as they say. After the payback period,
we're laughing. The FIT should pay all our utility bills, then some, and the solar electric system will cut our metered usage while we try to
use as much of the generated power as possible during the day.
Set the washing machine to run during the day, the kitchen oven, and anything that is essential electric, as long as you have the system to power
it.
Next move is to make some heat exchanger panels for the roof, to heat a large tank of water, then draw heat off this at night to heat the house. The
Govt scheme for this is not cost effective for a non diy'er, as it only gives a payment of £300 as a one off, and to get that you must use an
accredited fitter and parts, which wipes out the £300 payment many times over. Just not worth it if you can't diy. Although, a gent up in Kelso
who got me into all this, claims his solar hot water works well in winter, and overly so in summer. We shall see....
I'm on the south coast, near Southampton. The effectiveness will diminish as you go north, of both systems.
Cheers,
Nev.
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Hellfire
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| posted on 13/9/11 at 11:42 AM |
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Interesting discussion.......
When the companies survey your roof for possible installation, do they actually check the structural integrity of the roof? The panels that are fitted
do look quite heavy and could possibly cause the roof to collapse over a long period of time. I'm sure most rooves aren't designed
to sustain the additional weight of solar panels over a prolonged period of time, so what are the implications if they cause your roof to fail after a
few years? Do the installers have a get out clause written into the contracts absolving them of all responsibility?
Also, if a roof tile was to become dislodged causing water ingress into the building, I would imagine this would be quite an expensive repair.......
Also, what about snow accumulation? After last years heavy snowfall I saw loads of houses with damaged guttering, after the snow had thawed and slid
over the edge of the roof, taking the guttering with it. Given that there's little/no friction on these solar panels, I would imagine the
guttering wouldn't even stand a chance of surviving if the built up snow suddenly 'let go' and I certainly wouldn't like to
under the avalanche when it fell.
Do these solar panels increase your home insurance premiums yet? If not, I reckon it's only a matter of time.....
Phil
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 14/9/11 at 10:33 AM |
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I'll answer Hellfires queries one by one..
Structural integrity of the roof is part of the initial survey, to check for rafter sizes and condition.
The panels fitted here weigh 16kg each, we've got 16 making a total of 256kg. The mounting rails for the whole installation weighed about
25~30kg. So, a total of under 300kg, spread over about 25~30 square metres. 3~4 big fellas sat on the roof.
If a roof failed because of the weight of the panels alone, then the roof was sadly ailing to begin with.
The installer is reponsible for the safety of the total installation, before and after.
I can't see snow being any more a problem, or less. It could even be that the panels direct sliding snow past the gutter, so may even save the
gutters. Depends on the installation.
Our house insurers have written to us saying that the premiums don't increase with the added panels, and the panels are covered in our present
policy. (They recover their costs from the installer if his work is at fault, or problem is a result of his work.)
Additionally, the installer told us that he has got to insure each installation for its warranty period.(Part of the accreditation ) He pays a one-off
fee per installation. Sort of like the product liability insurance scheme which was available for kit manufacturers, where they paid a one off fee for
each car built, each time a car was built.
We had a visit from local Building Control officers randomly during the installation. This is not the norm, but they said that they 'just want
to keep an eye on what was going on'. It appears that there are some cowboys about.
There's no reason not to do this, if you can afford it, and you have a south facing roof. The FIT tariff changes downward next March, and will
continue to do so until the scheme finishes. What you sign up to today, is what you get for 25years. So, the sooner the better.
I can't recommend anyone to fit these, as the fella who did ours needs few more to his name before I'd say he was competent. He needed
considerable help and guidance from a local experienced fitter (ex Trinity House lighthouse panel fitter)when doing this setup.
Cheers,
Nev.
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hobbsy
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| posted on 3/10/11 at 01:37 PM |
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Interesting to hear about your setup Nev.
I have also done some research into this but my concerns are as follows:
1) The maths is often misleading when people compare it to an investment - years before you see a return or "payback". It's
misleading to compare putting your "spare" £10 to £15k into this vs savings/shares etc as once you commit to this you really can't
get your investment back - whereas you could withdraw your cash or sell your shares quickly and get most of your cash back. A lot of the cost is
paying for the accredited installation as far as I'm aware you can't economically transfer them from one house to another, which leads me
on to:
2) Fine if you're planning on staying somewhere for >10years. Not ideal if you aren't. Yes I understand you could try and put in some
clause where you still own them and get the income but it's not likely to be straightforward. And not many people are likely to want to pay a
premium near what they cost if you need to move not long after having them fitted. Especially in the current housing market.
I'm happy that if you don't need the £10 to £15k for anything else (and won't do for the next 10 years) and you're certain
you're not going to move then it is a very tempting thing to do.
However I think I am likely to move so much as I'd like to do it I really shouldn't.
Does any one know by how much the FIT's are going to be reduced to in April or further down the line? There could still be another sweet spot
in the future where the FIT's are lower but the panels have dropped even lower in cost (and the govt are too slow to adjust) - so you get a
similar payback time (and bonus of "free" electricity in the day) but the investment is lower. That is likely to be the timescale for
me.
I love all the technology though. If I found a house which I knew was big enough and in the right location to always suit my needs I would ram it
with loads of cool eco (but also cost saving) stuff. Uncertainty over jobs and therefore location is what's likely to bugger that up for me.
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 4/10/11 at 11:45 AM |
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Hi Hobbsy,
There's a govt white paper thing that covers all of this, and explains the system. If I can find it again, I'll post it here.
In the last month now since this system was installed, it has generated 416 units, at 43.3p/unit plus 9p/unit for 10% of it. Or, 44.2p/unit. My
electric incoming metered consumption has gone from 11~12 units/day to 4~5 unit/day. These are hard statistics, straight from the meters. On
projections of incomes and savings from these real numbers now in hand, conservatively, the system should give a net of £2300~£2500/year. I'll
post the real numbers in 12 months time!
If you move house, the value of the panels, and the projected income from the panels, are added to the sale price assessed without them. Therefore,
the addition of panels is seen an added asset. This is in the Govt paper, and corroborated from a local estate agent. (to save on Stamp Duty, the
monies for the panels is negotiated separately.  )
IF you could do it, (BIIIGGG IF) you could buy a house today, add panels, then sell the house tomorrow for the total cost, and the projected income
from the panels would be an immediate profit. Depends on your negotiating powers.
I'll be starting the solar hot water stuff next month, as time allows. Plenty of info on the diy websites, and I've got a few 2mx1mx2mm
sheets of copper that have been taking up space in the metal sheet rack for 20 years, so that'll save me a big chunk of cash. I'll have to
buy the pump and connecting tubing, and the big stainless tanks. (two tanks, one for domestic hot water, one for heating. I've got a lead on
some ex-dairy tanks cheap.) If anyone wants progress reports, contact on u2u after November, and I'll be happy to help.
Cheers,
Nev.
[Edited on 4/10/11 by Neville Jones]
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russbost
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| posted on 4/10/11 at 12:49 PM |
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Nev
Thanx for resurecting this & for the FACTUAL input of what your system is actually producing. What I would be interested in is - how well do the
panels produce under cloud/shade? I've googled it & come up with nothing more than waffle saying "yes the panels will still work under
cloudy/shady conditions" but nothing anywhere to say how well they'll work. Reason I'm particularly bothered about this is that my
roof is partially shaded for anything from 2 - 6 hours a day depending on time of year - it would only affect around half the installation &
they've said they can split the installation into 2 halves as apparently your overall output is substantially affected by the worst producing
panel.
Incidentally there is a lot of misinformation going on here (probably because it relates to older installations) there are No maintenance costs, NO
increased insurance & the installation is guaranteed for at least 10 years & then the panels are guaranteed on a sliding scale up to the 25
year period. Also the power output of the panels is around 248Watts & if you buy Suntech then the allowable variation from that figure is only
+5%, no negative figure allowable! Hence 16 panels gives near as dammit 4kW & you would expect these to produce close on that on a good day,
probably more like 2.5 - 3kW on an average day
As regards payback - you shouldn't look at how long it takes to payback, just look at what an £11,000 investment in a building society will
bring you - no more than 4% even if you do tie it in for years = £440 pa, so even if the system produces half the projected output thats still around
the same as you'd be getting from a building society, plus you're getting free power during the day & you've increased the value
of your property if you do move. The projected figures they give only look at an increase in power costs of 3% pa - I don't think there's
a hope in hell of that being so low, at least partially because the power companies are effectively the ones paying for the scheme - so expect power
costs to go up by at least 6 - 8% pa. I think that unless you live well up North &/or don't have a South(ish) facing roof then it has to be
a no brainer
Re the hot water heating installation, there's a brilliant website for DIY installations & he has pumps, plumbing diagrams, & circuit
diagrams & indeed the heat exchangers which I think are something you need to purchase rather than make yourself. I've not got the details
to hand at present, but will find them & post it later on.
I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator
headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names
furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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hobbsy
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| posted on 4/10/11 at 12:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Neville Jones
If you move house, the value of the panels, and the projected income from the panels, are added to the sale price assessed without them. Therefore,
the addition of panels is seen an added asset. This is in the Govt paper, and corroborated from a local estate agent. (to save on Stamp Duty, the
monies for the panels is negotiated separately. )
I don't quite understand this bit - what is the "value" of the panels? It isn't likely to be near what it *cost* to install
them - e.g. £15k.
So in the worst case scenario you spend £15k on solar PV on your £200k house. 6 months pass and you have got to move for work, fortunately without
panels it's still assessed as worth £200k, panels are worth what? £5k? Surely you can't force the new buyer to pay the £15k you paid.
So you'd be £10k down if the deal was done at £205k (putting to one side all the other cost and pain of selling a house). This is my worry
about short term huge loss if based on the assessment of "value" vs "cost".
Or have I misunderstood?
If there is a way around these issues then I could be tempted on my house before April comes (first drop of the FIT's right?)
Interested to hear about how your homebrew solar water heating goes.
[Edited on 4/10/11 by hobbsy]
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 4/10/11 at 07:45 PM |
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Hobbsy first-
I think you may be being a bit pedantic, or pessimistic, over 'value'. The word would probably be best put as 'cost of
installation'. That's panels, inverter, wiring and labour to install. Basically, the bill the installer gives you. My system cost a little
over £10k in total. The quotes we got ranged from £11,700 to £13,500.
If your system cost say, £10k, and the projected income for the next 25yrs is £30k, then the added value to your house would be seen as £40k. This is
the wording in the govt documents. The new buyer gets the lower electric bills gratis, as it seems the govt doesn't want this bit discussed.
Russ-- The commercial heat exchanger panels for the solar hot water are very similar to what I'd be making, except the commercial items come in
fancier frames. A sheet of copper(or ali commercially) with tubes bonded on to transfer the heat to the exchange fluid being pumped around the
system. This is all sealed in a waterproof panel which is insulated behind the metal sheet, and painted flat black in front, to absorb the heat.
I'll get some light ali channel for the surrounds, rockwool for the backing insulation, ali for the back(or underside), and some of the new
glass that traps heat in for the front. Get the oxy out to solder the copper tube to the copper sheet. It's going to get very hot! Seeing as I
have the copper sheet, and a load of 15mm tube, I see no point in buying commercial panels at stupidly high prices. And they're ali, which will
last a fraction of the time of my copper items.
I'm planning on making the panel to fit along the lower edge of my four sided roof with a single peak, on the south side. It should be lowish in
height but near to the full 40ft in length (suitably tapered upwards at the ends to fit).
The solar electric inverter is near my office, and the cooling fan sounds like a jumbo jet when at full chat. The people who quoted us wanted to put
this in the kitchen, or lounge. No effing way!!! They didn't tell us about the noise!!!The further away the better.
Anyway, the cooling fan changes speed with inverter load, and I can hear when clouds are going overhead, quite clearly.
The inverter is a rare item, UK made!!! Mastervolt in Romsey make the inverter, and also supply the NOC for their solar stuff, and have done for many
years. So this should be a reliable and proven part of the system. They guarantee for 10yrs. So the 'replace the inverter every five
years' argument is dead on this one.
Last week, when overcast, the system was putting out 1500~1700 watts. In full sun today, I saw 3600watts. In mid summer with the sun further north,
this would be the full 4kW allowable (and maybe a bit more).
I'll keep up information on performance if people ask.
Cheers,
Nev.
[Edited on 4/10/11 by Neville Jones]
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hobbsy
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| posted on 4/10/11 at 08:14 PM |
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Neville - thanks for the reply. I'd be interested to see the govt document if you have a link?
I'm not trying to be pessimistic or pedantic but saying you've added £40k to the value of your house in that way seems to be counting your
chickens before they have hatched. Is the govt paper suggesting that should the amount that your house asking price should be increased post install?
The extra £30k would take 25 years to realise - I know it's guaranteed income but asking for it up front seems a bit strange.
From the technical side though it all sounds excellent and it's really good to see some real world figures.
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russbost
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| posted on 4/10/11 at 09:29 PM |
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Nev, I'd been looking at the evacuated tube systems - not something I think you could make yourself very easily!
The website I'd been looking at was this one link
Did a bit of hunting around tonight & found this one, link he claims the flat panel system is better
than evacuated tubes & also can be DIY'd as you suggest. Are you sure you want a panel 40ft long!!!??? I would think on a sunny day
you're going to have water at nigh on boiling point! His panel is a fraction of that size. I would be wary of using copper tube due to the
freezing possibilities?
Hobbsy, I don't think anyone is suggesting that the house price would go up (in the example given) by £40k, but look at it this way, if there
are 2 identical houses in an identical street & one will cost £100 a year less in electricity & give you a completely tax free income of £800
a year, (& I think those figures are probably low rather than high) which one would you be prepared to pay more for? In the extreme example you
give of needing to move after 6 months, yes, you would almost certainly lose out a little, but in a year or two's time, when you can prove what
the system has been returning & such generous FIT's are no longer available, & when perhaps energy prices are, say, 15% above what they
are now, the house with the solar panels could look very interesting indeed!
Incidentally, no way should you be paying £15k for an install, I've only had one quote so far & for a 4kW system (max allowed) I've
been quoted £11k & mine is not a straightforward install as they've got to work it round skylights & split the power delivery into 2
halves due to the shading to one side of the roof.
I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator
headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names
furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 5/10/11 at 11:02 AM |
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Russ,
I've not done the numbers as yet, but the 40ft length is the max I've got to work with. I'd like to keep it as unobtrusive as
possible, as it will easily be seen from the road. A single black tube running the full 40' would be ideal. I suspect the final solution will be
somewhere in between.
Most of the solar hot water systems around here have a panel about 1.5mx1m. The guy in Kelso has two that size, and he says it could be bigger for his
needs. I'm here in the deep south, so the single may be enough in summer, but winter is another thing. Harvesting the heat is the aim, losing
excess is maybe something as simple as a truck radiator and a fan, and a diverter valve, all activated by a simple thermostat. In the weather that
you'd be dumping heat, the solar would be running at high output, so the fan and pump running costs are covered by your own generated power.
Re the copper, freezing is not an issue, as you use antifreeze as the heat carrying medium. It's going to cost a fortune to fill the system
initially!
As I put, I'm looking at changing to an electric/solar hot water system for the house, and putting in a separate big tank to hold heat that will
then be exchanged into the household central heating. The unknown at this stage is what to fill the tank with, that will hold the heat and let it
transfer. May end up being something like brine, still haven't done the research. My son is a post doc researcher, and he reckons he can sort
the problem. Why bark yourself when you own a dog.
There are a few dairies closing down around here(very sadly, the govt should be helping these people), so stainless tanks are available. Finding them
small enough is the problem. Who needs a 1000l hot water tank?
I'm finding all this solar stuff very enjoyable to develop, and a welcome diversion from the car work.
Cheers,
Nev.
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franky
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| posted on 5/10/11 at 11:12 AM |
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FWIW i'm currently moving house, we looked at two houses that had a solar install, both were overpriced by about 10k(compared to other similar
properties). We did the maths and worked out that based on having the extra cost on the mortgage we'd have to stay there for 20years with them
performing at 100% to get the money back. Simply its not worth it. The 2 houses have now sold for the same price as others in the area. Basically
its added no more value however it could be a selling point in the same way a new kitchen etc is, thus speeding up the sale.
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russbost
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| posted on 5/10/11 at 12:50 PM |
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"We did the maths and worked out that based on having the extra cost on the mortgage we'd have to stay there for 20years with them
performing at 100% to get the money back"
Either they are an install that's worth nothing like £10k or, without wishing to be rude you've not done the maths correctly, or, more
likely you've not understood the ridiculous FIT which the governement is running - that's the only thing that makes it worthwhile, one
other possibility is that these are old installs which don't get anything like the same FIT.
Nev, all makes more sense now, so you're going for an indirect install then - otherwise the antifreeze will make your bath taste funny!
Would the salt in brine not cause probs within anything ferrous in the system, or can you do it all in stainless & plastic (can't remember
if salt does anything with copper?).
Beauty of being an engineer is that you can work on & improve many different systems - not just cars etc!
I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator
headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names
furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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dinosaurjuice
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| posted on 5/10/11 at 12:59 PM |
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if i had the spare cash i would definately do this, mostly for the FIT payments, but also it would just be nice to be more energy independant
Nev, thanks for posting up some good facts and figures, very helpful!
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hobbsy
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| posted on 5/10/11 at 01:22 PM |
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Nev,
What the total area of your 16 panels (or each panel) and who are they made by?
I know it sounds like I've got a downer on pv but if anything the opposite is true - I am very interested both from an engineering and financial
perspective.
It's just my own circumstances which make it awkward as I may move.
My parents however (retired, at home, high electricity usage) are not likely to move.
So two questions:
1 Is £10k realistic for a 4kw system with high efficiency panels like nevs (assuming their roof area is big enough)
2 Has anyone seen any figures on how the available power drops as you go North? They are West Mids / South Staffs area - I'd love to quote your
figures to them nev but feel there's would be a fair chunk lower as you're almost in France
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sickbag
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| posted on 5/10/11 at 02:15 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by midge
I plan to build my own as a winter project. Don't plan to tap into feed in tarriffs etc etc, just take my lighting circuit off the mains.
I've got 2 truck batteries and an inverter, just got to build a PV panel large enough to charge batteries at 14v during the day. Done my sums
and I think it will work. Has anyone tried this?
Steve
Something similar. I have an 1.5KW invertor, that powers the sockets upstairs and the lights on both floors. The invertor is powered by three large
leisure batteries, with room for more if necessary. Each day I take a different battery with me when I'm out and about in the car, which is
connected to a split charger from the cars alternator. I'm basically running all of my equipment for free, maybe a tiny amount of extra petrol
used but it can't be much more than normal.
Been like this for the past year now, and I reckon after the cost of the invertor, batteries, etc, I've just about drawn even. The batteries
still hold their charge quite well, and as they've got a 3 year guarantee I've nothing to worry about yet.
Oh, and as I live in the countryside (ish) I don't need to worry about the frequent power cuts.
[Edited on 5/10/11 by sickbag]
Finally back on the job!
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