Tell me good things about solar panels

The_Londoner

Morning all,

Having just completed phase 1 of "Turn a draughty rambling old pile into a comfy warm house" with the installation of some wood burning stoves, and phase 2, being the installation of a large quantity of insulation booked to go in during May, phase 3 becomes do something about the hot water issue, which is currently heated by the oil fired boiler and nothing else.

So, if you have solar panels for your hot water, please tell me about them. We have a large easily accessible south facing roof, so positioning and installation won't be an issue. I don't want to hear that they are only of any use at 3pm on July 19th, or it will take eleventy three years to pay back the installation costs either. Every little helps, and everything costs, whether it is oil, as at the moment, solar or burning shavings off unicorn horns. I'd rather be paying something like this off anyway than contributing to the oil company coffers, or giving Broon and Darling more of my hard earned to waste on the !!!!less.

Or tell me about any alternatives that I have missed.

Right, now you.

Cardew

The_Londoner wrote: »

I don't want to hear that they are only of any use at 3pm on July 19th, or it will take eleventy three years to pay back the installation costs either.

Sorry if it is not what you want to hear, but solar Hot water is a joke in money saving terms.

If you waqnt solar, then go for solar PV(electricity generation) and get a large subsidy from Gordon Brown.

annscullamus

Sorry The Londoner, but not many of us with positive experiences will answer as we always get 'shot down'. I am gladI have mine. 'Nough said.

albyota

Londoner, I have 4 square metres you can buy off me if you want.....I'll be removing them soon to make room for the PV panels (with the Feed in Tarrif), much more yield as it is pretty much daylight 365 days a year. Also get rid of the oil boiler and consider replacing with an Air to water heat pump, (Proposed RHI from April 2010) Sanyo ECO CO2 heats water to 65 degrees, Mitsubishi Ecodan and Daikin Altherma et al heat water to 55 degrees but more efficient at 30 - 40 degrees with underfloor heating, Daikin also have the Altherma HT which heats water to 80 degrees without electric element.

likespizza

I've just read all the stuff on solar PV (boy that took a while!) For several reasons I'm reluctant to install that right now (mainly the up front cost (I have other things to pay for at the moment) and all the uncertainty).

I was quite keen to put solar thermal panels on the roof though - in combination with a dual unvented tank and heat only gas boiler. I thought the solar input would save on gas (horribly expensive LPG). If anyone out there who likes solar thermal would brave the flames I'd really like to hear about it (or PM me). I seem to have missed most of the negative comments - I'll have another look.

Cardew

likespizza wrote: »

I was quite keen to put solar thermal panels on the roof though - in combination with a dual unvented tank and heat only gas boiler. I thought the solar input would save on gas (horribly expensive LPG). If anyone out there who likes solar thermal would brave the flames I'd really like to hear about it (or PM me). I seem to have missed most of the negative comments - I'll have another look.

The negative comments are simply that in Money Saving Terms solar thermal is a joke.

If you read in the 'green' forum there is quite a bit about these systems.

The Government have tested 8 of these systems(in Southern UK - which gives a higher output than most of UK)

All gave an annual output of around 1,000kWh. However the vast majority of this in summer. No useful output at all in winter - a few kWh.

I don't know what you pay for your LPG but I suspect it will work out around 5p/kWh. So you are likely to save approx £50 in fuel costs. If your costs are much higher perhaps you should consider Economy 7 for Hot Water

Many people(like annsculamus above) seem to get hurt if FACTUAL statements are made. We had a 'clash' on this a couple of years ago. Her firm(I rang them) were one of the few that were totally honest and stated that their system produced approx 1,000kWh - a lot less in Scotland.

There are countless statistics if you care to research on line to support their output figures.

This article is interesting:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article1781343.ece

Note that the Energy Saving Trust estimate that solar HW will save on average 5.5% off your bills.

However if anyone thinks it is cost effective to spend £3,000 to £4,000 to save between £30(gas) and £50(LPG) per year, perhaps they are reading the wrong forum.

crphillips

We installed a wood fired cooker with back boiler, thermal store, two freestanding dry stoves, twin wall chimney, 2 liners......and a couple of solar panels were hooked into the system by a leading solar panel company.

I went back to sweep their flues a year later and they said the system was working great.....the cooker puts out enough water for a shower within half an hour and the thermal store is full in an hour and half. He said his only regret was the solar panels.....he said if he knew what he knows now he'd have put the money spent on the panels towards a better cooker.

Thats just the opinion of a guy who has them.....i've met a lot of customers with them and never heard great things. I suppose technologies change and they may one day become useful.....i think PV panels are the way forward with solar power.

The guy was an intelligent guy who knew his stuff and wanted to lead a greener life, growing his own veg.....etc. He said they we're neither saved neither money or the planet.

Cardew

crphillips wrote: »

Thats just the opinion of a guy who has them.....i've met a lot of customers with them and never heard great things. I suppose technologies change and they may one day become useful

The guy was an intelligent guy who knew his stuff and wanted to lead a greener life, growing his own veg.....etc. He said they we're neither saved neither money or the planet.

The problem with solar thermal is that the 'technology' is nothing more than sun warming water passing through panels.

The technology is to stop the panels becoming 'radiators' when there is no solar gain.

People on this forum having 'invested' money in magnets strapped to the fuel lines of their car or oil central heating pipes swear blind that they improve consumption. In the same way most people who have spent £thousands on solar thermal are reluctant to admit that it is a nonsense in money saving terms. Your guy was an exception!

Owain_Moneysaver

If you want solar thermal then hold off for a year as feed-in tariffs for solar thermal will probably come into play. Also there will be more experience of solar PV and the existing feed in tariffs. Also suppliers/ fitters may get keener prices as competition improves. At the moment the sector is still very small.

u109230

albyota wrote: »

Londoner, I have 4 square metres you can buy off me if you want.....I'll be removing them soon to make room for the PV panels (with the Feed in Tarrif), much more yield as it is pretty much daylight 365 days a year.

I'm in the early stages of looking at this option.

Could you please share some more details on where you plan to source the PV panels & installation from & who you plan to use to get your feed in tariff?

Thanks.

likespizza

Thanks for all the info and pointers to other places, it's much appreciated. We're planning renovations to the house we just bought and need to make the big decisions on what we're doing by the end of this week when the final plans will be drawn up.

I had a warm fuzzy feeling about solar thermal, and two friends like it a lot but it looks like this may not be cost effective. I'm wondering if my friends have looked at the bottom line or are also just feeling warm and fuzzy.

PV looks like a money winner but the idea of tying up so much money in such a long term investment worries me a lot. I also wonder what's going to happen politically.

I partly want to be green, partly save money, and partly get out of the clutches of the lpg company (though I must admit that's more an emotional reaction than hard headed business). Today I think I'll go ahead with boiler replacement and a fitting new tank that will acoommodate thermal should I ever install it. I won't do thermal now, and I won't go pv for a while either, I'd like to see how things pan out first.

I'll keep reading and researching and who knows what I'll think tomorrow - or by the end of the week!