Re: [Staffslug] Free solar panels

Hi, I think Ted has it absolutely right. On the other hand I also agree with Adam's assessment of the advancing technology (Especially the beer analogy - Today's Lagers are complete rubbish, you cant beat an old fashioned bitter or ale like 'Speckled Henn'). I have a large south facing garden without any shade and I have been toying with the idea of sticking a couple of 120W solar panels at the bottom of it, properly anchored and suitably angled to catch most of the daylight/sun. I don't want some cowboy messing around with my roof and when it starts to leak nobody wants to know. I have no idea how they fix these panels to the roof but I expect they have to drill through the tiles and bolt onto the rafters. At least that's what it looks like in this video. http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Install-Solar-Panels-107130641 Plus you are well and truly stuck with whatever the contractor puts on your roof, for 20 years. What happens when you want to sell? Will it affect the value of the house positively or will you lose? According to various reports on the web (all probably funded by the PV industry) it will actually increase the value of your house. http://solarfeedintariff.co.uk/2009/09/report-finds-that-solar-panels-will-i ncrease-property-values/ I also understand that you can get a grant even if you install the panels yourself, the big advantage being that you get the full benefit of any power your panels feed back into the grid. I'll monitor this project for a little longer. Eventually, we'll get concise answers to our questions and concerns. Walt -----Original Message----- From: staffslug-bounces(a)staffslug.org.uk [mailto:staffslug-bounces@staffslug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Ted Armitage Sent: 17 August 2010 09:20 To: staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk Subject: Re: [Staffslug] Free solar panels Hi, This is not about solar cell efficiency, it's about huge government enforced subsidies (buying solar cell electricity at 30p per unit) being exploited by big business and the costs being passed on to the consumer. There is already plenty of research into solar cells, and cost effective ones are being developed. The government enforced subsidies encourage the use of the current technology which is not cost effective. If anything, it removes the need for further research! What matters for big business is the return on capital, and current solar cells guarantee a big loss on any unsubsidised investment. The government calculates the feed-in tariff so as to guarantee at least a 5% return for individual home owners. With economies of scale, big business sees a much larger GUARANTEED return and jumps in. There have also been stories of farmers converting their fields into solar power generators. By the way, I love my solar power garden lights. But I wouldn't fill my garden with them to power the house. They're very expensive. Or rather, conventional electricity is so cheap. Ted On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM, Kevanf1 <kevanf1(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: -- Regards, Ted _______________________________________________ Staffslug mailing list Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug