Solar panels and wind turbines

betterbargains4u

We are considering buying both solar panels and a wind turbine to help to save energy costs.
Does anyone know much about either of these things.
I have tried to do an internet search...but without knowing a great deal about the subject....I am lost.

Troubleatmill_2

Lots of disucssion on these forums. I'll try to dig out the link once I finish work.

Best
Troubleatmill

wobbley

This is quite interesting and may help - http://www.alternativetechnology.info/

Debt_Free_Chick

betterbargains4u wrote:

We are considering buying both solar panels and a wind turbine to help to save energy costs.
Does anyone know much about either of these things.
I have tried to do an internet search...but without knowing a great deal about the subject....I am lost.

If your main objective is to save on energy costs, do the sums carefully. Most of the solar panel systems I've seen take about 10-12 years of energy "savings" to recoup the cost of installing the solar panels. In other words, whilst you get savings year on year, you have to factor in the costs of installation.

Consider systems that feed surplus solar/wind power back into the National Grid i.e. you sell what you don't need and get further savings.

In some areas you may need planning permission for solar panels and/or wind turbines.

HTH

Volcano

There is an epic thread about this here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=254075

Thre are plenty of scam artists out there exploiting this new industry, think carefully before investing any of your cash.

kisk

I have investigated small scale wind and I think it is an evolving technology. Depending where you live will dictate the system that you can install. Anything below 5kW is a bit of a gamble for just now but if you have the right location a 5kW or larger should perform very well. One of the main considerations will be grants and in Scotland Clear Skies provides a list of recognised suppliers and installers that will allow grants to be awarded. Clear Skies is still a good starting point as it lists most of the technologies and a lot of them are nationwide. I think it is EST Low carbon buildings programme applies for the rest of the UK but correct me if I’m wrong.

Solar for a 3/4 bedroom house should set you back around £3k. Depending on your Domestic Hot Water (DHW) tank a £1000 will go towards replacing your existing tank for a dual coil solar tank. If your DHW tank already has a dual coil setup the solar could then work out at about £2k. Three types of solar thermal technologies that are currently in use - flat plate, evacuated tube where heating medium moves through the tube and evacuated tube where tubes are self contained units which are used as a heat pipe to transfer heat via a manifold.

Energy saving should always start with the simple stuff such as considering what insulation you have in your loft, wall insulation, double glazing etc etc. Grants are usually dependent on you putting in place the simple stuff before a grant will be considered.

As people have said be careful, do your homework and think what you want to achieve. If it’s a statement chuck up the biggest wind turbine you can afford but then again big is good when it comes to wind so you might well get your savings.

I was project engineer in the design and installation of a 180m2 solar thermal evacuated tube for heating a swimming and as such had to write the technical specification. My experience was mixed and although small scale systems have evolved quite well for big systems I still have a big wish list.

Last but not least, good on you for considering alternatives. I am currently interested in changing my gas boiler to a log boiler or looking at the wispergen (powergen) micro CHP.:A