Solar Power on a Budget

fender · 15 March 2006 at 12:32PM

Hi,

I am looking to get solar on my house but want to spend as little as possible on it.

What is the least I can spend with a trustworthy firm to have solar installed?

Thanks.

:money: :money: :money:

Ken68 · 20 March 2006 at 6:17PM

Don't think, Fender that bought and fitted Solar Panels have a very good payback time.
Am considering DIY as a stand alone panel in the greenhouse or garden....got the idea from here....http://theyellowhouse.org.uk/...lots of links and a damn good read.
There is also a Sticky on this section of the Utilities Board.

mentat_2 · 10 May 2006 at 1:53PM

This depends on the sort of cells you want, there asre vacuum ones which are more expensive but more efficient and provide greater energy collection, then there are cheaper ones which you could actually make yourself, are smaller, but less efficient.

Dave_in_Andover · 10 May 2006 at 5:04PM

Hi,

We had a "Solartwin" panel supplied and fitted in August 9 months ago, by Solartwin. It was not the cheapest, and has a photovoltaic pump fitted too, but was simply installed in around 2 hours, and was producing hot water within 15 minutes....
our neighbour was scornful, spend £2.5k what a waste of money...etc..etc..
We are on Calor gas, and we have been paying the equivalent of £1250 a year for gas. We switched off the gas boiler from the moment the panel was working, and turned it back on for 1 hour a day during October. We went back fully 'on line" with the Calor in Mid November.
The panel pre heats all the water entering the hot water tank during the day, even on the coldest recorded day in Jan it was ticking over at 9 degrees.....

Sorry, digressed a bit there.

We love it......and in around 3 years time (at CURRENT gas prices..) it will have almost paid for itself.

Green Halo Shining nicely, and saving some cash too....

Dave

Dave_in_Andover · 10 May 2006 at 5:05PM

Hi Fender,
See my message below.
Dave

gromituk · 10 May 2006 at 5:34PM

The original poster talked about solar power. Just to be clear, this is not the same as solar hot water generation. The latter is much more practical because water heating panels are much more efficient than photovoltaic (PV) solar cells.

Solar Power on a Budget

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