Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

I'd reckon that Francois Hollande has absolutely no idea what he's talking about (as usual, it seems) as a mere 1GW is doomed to failure .... you'd need to compete on volume to achieve economies of scale, so the upper aspiration would need to be the start point ....

HTH
Z

Ah, but no, but ..... you've missed out a crucial factor ...... it's France!

If any country can [STRIKE]take advantage[/STRIKE] make the most of the current [STRIKE]price fixing[/STRIKE] anti-China PV dumping rules, it's them.

TBH, given current PV prices, France's 'decent' solar levels, and better land to population ratio than the UK, this isn't a bad time to get into PV, both for generation and as a manufacturer. But taking on the Chinese ......... at relatively low production levels ..... it would scare me.

But if they could honestly get around EU rules on protectionism, and start to roll-out 2+GWp of home grown PV each year, then not a bad idea. BTW, I did mean 'honestly' as a joke!

Mart.

Martyn1981

World's largest solar-powered bridge opens in London

Mart.

spgsc531

Martyn1981 wrote: »

World's largest solar-powered bridge opens in London

Mart.

But..But..cardew says they don't work!!!!!!!!!!!

What were they thinking....

ed110220

spgsc531 wrote: »

But..But..cardew says they don't work!!!!!!!!!!!

What were they thinking....

Obviously the Londoners like the Chinese and Minnesotans haven't realised that the sun goes down each evening

Martyn1981

ed110220 wrote: »

Obviously the Londoners like the Chinese and Minnesotans haven't realised that the sun goes down each evening

The Londoners have a massive advantage, what with it being a Network Rail building - they simply lay on a replacement Sun service. :rotfl:

Mart.

Martyn1981

It's nice to see some US PV positivity. I think they're waking up to the vast potential PV has in the states - good sun, large leccy demand, plenty of money to invest .... blah, blah, blah:

Solar industry welcomes Obama support in SOTU address

The US solar industry has welcomed the support of President Obama in Tuesday’s State of the Union (SOTU) address.

After praising the role of natural gas in his “all of the above” energy strategy, Obama gave a special mention to solar power.

“It’s not just oil and natural gas production that’s booming; we’re becoming a global leader in solar, too,” he said.

“Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar; every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can’t be outsourced. Let’s continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops giving US$4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don’t need it, so that we can invest more in fuels of the future that do,” he added.

Bill Clinton calls for global fund to reform ‘unequal’ energy finance

At the forum for European investors on 24 January, titled ‘Meet Asia. Meet renewable energy’s future’, Clinton told investors an “analytical and actual financing framework” enabling capital investment in clean energy and efficiency should be financed over “the life of the benefits”.

Explaining further, Clinton used US nuclear and coal plants as an example of unequal financing in the energy sector: “In the US if you want to build a nuclear power plant you get 30 years to pay for it with guaranteed rates from the consumers, and since no insurance company will insure one, the government basically insures the whole operation – that’s a massive subsidy.”

and in the spirit of money saving - read two (articles) get one free:

Fraunhofer ISE: Solar PV and onshore wind to generate electricity below cost of fossil fuels by 2030

The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from both solar PV and onshore wind in Germany are expected to decline below that of fossil fuels by 2030, according to a new study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.

The cost of electricity from onshore wind was found to have already fallen below the costs from hard coal and combined cycle gas power plants. The LCOE from onshore wind was found to be currently in the range of 0.05 and 0.11 €/kWh.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Saw this article, turns out to be a little thin, but had a very interesting idea in it:

IET survey reveals 9% of Brits considering solar

The IET believes that the results of the survey should serve as a call to action for government. Marjan Sarshar from the IET explained: “People are not planning to spend money on energy efficiency because the returns are too intangible and the long-term Green Deal loan remains with the house. The government needs to make energy efficiency measures more accessible.”

Sarshar believes that the government could achieve this by adopting a similar policy to that of cars whereby more efficient cares pay less tax. He explained: "A substantive reduction in Council Tax, which would remain with the property to add to its value, would encourage the uptake of Green Deal. In this way the householders would see the tangible benefit and would be more likely to respond by making their own investments.”

I doubt the idea is workable, especially if it requires a coordinated approach from local and central tax bodies, but I thought it very interesting nonetheless.

But, playing devil's advocate, our house squeezed an A on the EPC, which helps the govt meet some carbon targets/fines, but I'm not sure how this makes a difference to our use of LA services?

Mart.

mac2008

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Saw this article, turns out to be a little thin, but had a very interesting idea in it:

IET survey reveals 9% of Brits considering solar

The IET believes that the results of the survey should serve as a call to action for government. Marjan Sarshar from the IET explained: “People are not planning to spend money on energy efficiency because the returns are too intangible and the long-term Green Deal loan remains with the house. The government needs to make energy efficiency measures more accessible.”

Sarshar believes that the government could achieve this by adopting a similar policy to that of cars whereby more efficient cares pay less tax. He explained: "A substantive reduction in Council Tax, which would remain with the property to add to its value, would encourage the uptake of Green Deal. In this way the householders would see the tangible benefit and would be more likely to respond by making their own investments.”

I doubt the idea is workable, especially if it requires a coordinated approach from local and central tax bodies, but I thought it very interesting nonetheless.

But, playing devil's advocate, our house squeezed an A on the EPC, which helps the govt meet some carbon targets/fines, but I'm not sure how this makes a difference to our use of LA services?

Mart.

Yes I also think a tax reduction like that is unworkable. In a sense, people who care about energy efficiency already pay less tax, but in a less tangible way. Mind you, nothing intangible about FiT payments when they land in your account

And wow, that A rating puts you in the top tiny percentage of houses with an A rating - a quick google puts it at 0.04%, but figs are a little out of date. Not sure why someone had to FOI it either...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36395/2072202.pdf

Not like domestic appliances where they seem to have had to introduce about 3 extra ratings up to A+++.

Do you mind me asking whether it is a modern house, or have you just retrofitted a lot of measures? Any idea of the approx. overall payback period of any such measures (not just solar?)

On a related issue - I see Moixa seem to be moving forward with their storage tech. I like them as they also utilise the stored power directly as DC for suitable devices. This is interesting as if you strip out the effect of increased numbers of gadgets (virtually all DC), domestic consumption would be quite a bit lower. As well as being more efficient, wide adoption would also potentially reduce a gadet's cost (no AC/DC transformer needed) and potentially make it more reliable. I wonder how many gadgets with inbuilt AC/DC transformers are binned when the transformer goes as uneconomical to replace?

http://www.moixatechnology.com/contents/home-users.php

I certainly hope there is a cheap storage/DC distribution system available when my current inverter needs replacing in a decade or so.

Martyn1981

mac2008 wrote: »

And wow, that A rating puts you in the top tiny percentage of houses with an A rating - a quick google puts it at 0.04%, but figs are a little out of date. Not sure why someone had to FOI it either...

Do you mind me asking whether it is a modern house, or have you just retrofitted a lot of measures? Any idea of the approx. overall payback period of any such measures (not just solar?)

Hiya mac. Don't mind you asking at all.

First off, I lied (well ..... just a bit!). And for clarity I've dug out the EPC. It was done for the PV extension (WNW), and was one hell of a rush to beat the 1/8/12 deadline.

Scores on the doors are actual B84 (B is 81 to 91) ...... but the certificate 'assumes' - "brick as built, no insulation (assumed)" and "suspended floors [living room and lounge] no insulation (assumed)"

the top two recommendations are:
firstly, cavity wall insulation, taking it to A92
secondly, floor insulation, taking it to A93

Both of these had been done, but can't be assumed, so definitely worth taking photos of such jobs if you (anyone) have them done.

Also, a third recommendation was draught proofing taking it to A95, referring to the front door and windows to sides and top. This is all wood framed and stained/leaded glass, and whilst I had it repaired, and fitted a second sheet of glass for security, I couldn't get it triple glazed as some edge detailing would have been lost. However, we plan next year, to have a porch built (DG) so that'll help too. [Rest of house is now fully DG]

So, is it an A or a B, you choose, but either way Wifey and I are pleased.

Specifics, it's a 1930's semi-detached. I was led to believe that at best, you could only 'polish the t**d', but, prior to the PV EPC, I did the EST's DIY EPC (that's a lot of letters!), and it also came out around A/B. But remember the PV does add to it / distort it slightly.

We've done nothing special (IMO) just the simple, obvious stuff the many governments have been telling us all to do for decades:

• low energy bulbs,
• efficient(ish) combi boiler,
• cavity wall insulation,
• loft insulation (for us floor (under floorboards, about 180mm) and ceiling (75mm)) plus floorboards, ceiling TnG, carpet and underlay,
• TRV's,
• conservatory unheated, and glass between conservatory and living room, I replaced with DG units myself,
• downstairs toilet and pantry area, single storey, also unheated, and kitchen (to pantry) door internal door, replaced with a DG, oak external door.

I think that's it, just the normal, boring, sensible stuff. TBF, our gas bill (including water and oven) is about £500pa, so I reckon that we are way, way behind what a truly well designed and built modern house could/should be.

Mart.

mac2008

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Hiya mac. Don't mind you asking at all.

First off, I lied (well ..... just a bit!). And for clarity I've dug out the EPC. It was done for the PV extension (WNW), and was one hell of a rush to beat the 1/8/12 deadline.

Scores on the doors are actual B84 (B is 81 to 91) ...... but the certificate 'assumes' - "brick as built, no insulation (assumed)" and "suspended floors [living room and lounge] no insulation (assumed)"

the top two recommendations are:
firstly, cavity wall insulation, taking it to A92
secondly, floor insulation, taking it to A93

Both of these had been done, but can't be assumed, so definitely worth taking photos of such jobs if you (anyone) have them done.

Also, a third recommendation was draught proofing taking it to A95, referring to the front door and windows to sides and top. This is all wood framed and stained/leaded glass, and whilst I had it repaired, and fitted a second sheet of glass for security, I couldn't get it triple glazed as some edge detailing would have been lost. However, we plan next year, to have a porch built (DG) so that'll help too. [Rest of house is now fully DG]

So, is it an A or a B, you choose, but either way Wifey and I are pleased.

Specifics, it's a 1930's semi-detached. I was led to believe that at best, you could only 'polish the t**d', but, prior to the PV EPC, I did the EST's DIY EPC (that's a lot of letters!), and it also came out around A/B. But remember the PV does add to it / distort it slightly.

We've done nothing special (IMO) just the simple, obvious stuff the many governments have been telling us all to do for decades:

• low energy bulbs,
• efficient(ish) combi boiler,
• cavity wall insulation,
• loft insulation (for us floor (under floorboards, about 180mm) and ceiling (75mm)) plus floorboards, ceiling TnG, carpet and underlay,
• TRV's,
• conservatory unheated, and glass between conservatory and living room, I replaced with DG units myself,
• downstairs toilet and pantry area, single storey, also unheated, and kitchen (to pantry) door internal door, replaced with a DG, oak external door.

I think that's it, just the normal, boring, sensible stuff. TBF, our gas bill (including water and oven) is about £500pa, so I reckon that we are way, way behind what a truly well designed and built modern house could/should be.

Mart.

Great stuff, thanks for taking the time.

My EPC (done in June 2012) put our house at a D. I've done the simple things (heating controls, LEDs, loft insulation etc.) plus the PV so am assuming a high C/borderline B now but I can't see how to get it to an A without a new boiler (ours c. 15 years old combi but still going strong).

Also just noticed that my EPC quoted 1£1-20k indicative cost for 2.5kWp PV - oh how times have changed!

Mac.