Solar ... In the news

Energetic_2 · 9 January 2013 at 2:35PM

Energetic wrote: »

However, China has just connected its first domestic PV system and if their incetives work they could soak up all the extra production domestically.

There is a theory in the industry that their government has had a plan to push production costs down by flooding the market to make their panels affordable domestically and also eliminating competition in the west. They have a proper plan there...

http://www.solarguide.co.uk/chinas-first-home-solar-pv-system-connected-to-state-grid

Look whats just come out today. I think 10GW represents 20% of their production capacity. http://www.eco-business.com/news/httpwww-theage-com-aubusinesscarbon-economychina-unveils-big-renewable-energy-ambitions-for-2013-20130109-2cfdd-html/

jamesingram · 9 January 2013 at 2:48PM

Energetic wrote: »

Indeed, the cheaper ones also seem to rely heavily on mastic to hold everything together.

Yep , I've noticed that. Looks right cheap, the outer frame/trim has no structural strength of it's own, unlike say Schuco or REC which seem the best of the bunch, where the frame appears to have some strength in itself without the lament glass panel.
I was slightly surpirsed the panasonic(sanyo) panels also seem a little , lets say unrobust

Glad to see sunpowers confident to offer a full 25 years on product most others offer 5-10. Used them once so far, didn't take note of the build quality at the time.

Martyn1981 · 9 January 2013 at 5:47PM

Energetic wrote: »

Look whats just come out today. I think 10GW represents 20% of their production capacity. http://www.eco-business.com/news/httpwww-theage-com-aubusinesscarbon-economychina-unveils-big-renewable-energy-ambitions-for-2013-20130109-2cfdd-html/

To be fair to China they are spending a lot on renewables. I can't remember their current carbon target, but like India it's actually a positive number (not a reduction) at the moment, as they still have a lot of developing to do, and want what we already have ( a car, telly and a fridge). Plus, of course, we've exported a lot of our CO2 emissions to them, along with our industry!

This Forbes report is interesting, possibly more so as it's a little out of date and asks a lot of questions about 2012.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jackperkowski/2012/07/27/china-leads-the-world-in-renewable-energy-investment/

"China was responsible for almost one-fifth of total global investment, spending $52 billion on renewable energy last year [2011]."

Mart.

The_Green_Hornet · 12 January 2013 at 1:54AM

This should get one or two of our regular anti-FIT brigade frothing at the mouth but please bear in mind it is from the Daily Mail.

Ed Miliband's solar swindle

Martyn1981 · 12 January 2013 at 8:08AM

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

This should get one or two of our regular anti-FIT brigade frothing at the mouth but please bear in mind it is from the Daily Mail.

Happy to hear average sun was down 40%, as I closed 2012 at 99% of target (PVGIS climate without deducting shading).

Fancy living in a renewables energy hot spot - plenty of security!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244765/Solar-farm-turn-dream-home-prison-Retirees-horror-plans-surround-bungalow-Europes-largest-renewable-energy-plant.html

Not sure about the scale though, unless the property does have an access road approx 50m wide!

Mart.

Energetic_2 · 12 January 2013 at 9:58AM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Happy to hear average sun was down 40%, as I closed 2012 at 99% of target (PVGIS climate without deducting shading).

Fancy living in a renewables energy hot spot - plenty of security!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244765/Solar-farm-turn-dream-home-prison-Retirees-horror-plans-surround-bungalow-Europes-largest-renewable-energy-plant.html

Not sure about the scale though, unless the property does have an access road approx 50m wide!

Mart.

Great reporting, how big is a 'huge' solar panel? Ten times the size of a normal one? Twenty times? Football pitch sized?

The way things are going in the british media you'd better watch out if you have panels visible on your roof as you'll soon have journalists on your doorstep throwing stones at them...

Cardew · 12 January 2013 at 11:14AM

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

This should get one or two of our regular anti-FIT brigade frothing at the mouth but please bear in mind it is from the Daily Mail.

Ed Miliband's solar swindle

I share your sentiments about Daily Mail articles, and indeed there are a number of inaccuracies, including apparently the 40% drop in output.

For instance this quote wrongly gives the 'impression' that the subsidies are paid on the electricity returned to the Grid.

Households with solar panels are paid for returning energy to the grid

Much as I am loath to agree with Tory a MP, his conclusions are not really disputable.

The solar subsidies inherited from Labour have been nothing short of a giant
waste of time and money.

Ed Miliband’s flagship green subsidies have proved a ludicrously expensive
way of backing inefficient technology.

Spreading this message on forums like MSE will hopefully get people to appreciate what a farce the FIT system has been.

legoman62 · 12 January 2013 at 11:29AM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Happy to hear average sun was down 40%, as I closed 2012 at 99% of target (PVGIS climate without deducting shading).
Mart.

Me too!
I made 110% of PVGIS last year so, got to be happy after being told I lost 40% due to the weather:beer:.

Martyn1981 · 12 January 2013 at 4:59PM

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

This should get one or two of our regular anti-FIT brigade frothing at the mouth but please bear in mind it is from the Daily Mail.

I don't think Dominic Rab is a fan! :rotfl:

Here's the Telegraph's version:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9796444/Cost-of-Ed-Milibands-solar-panels-scheme-jumps-900-per-cent.html

It's a good thing they didn't 'do the maths' after the very first install, or the headline would have been

"Cost of Ed Miliband's solar panels scheme jumps [STRIKE]900[/STRIKE] infinite per cent"

Legoman, this article also mentions:

"Separate, figures also show that their performance or "load factor" has fallen by 40 per cent over the three years to the end of 2011."

I wish somebody had told me this. Maybe I should write to my MP?

Mart.

Martyn1981 · 13 January 2013 at 9:30AM

1. Forgot to mention this, Bloomberg TV ran a small feature on PV last week. Partly prompted by Warren Buffett's move into PV generation. Bloomberg consensus was that putting money into PV stocks at the moment was risky, especially as China plans to further increase output - so panel prices good, US manufacturing unsteady.

2. Reading New Scientist last night (issue 2898 5/1/13) and they had a feature on energy storage and renewables. It focused mainly on air storage and a test plant that has been ticking away in Slough for some time. Very interesting article as efficiency potentials are around 70%, but costs much less than pumped storage (water), and can be sited locally to take advantage of waste heat. Also uses existing kit and engineering skills.

Some positive comments:

""This could save the UK billions", says Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the institution of Mechanical Engineers in London."

and on storage in general:-

" ..... New policies such as these should prompt a boom in energy storage. More than $100 billion is set to be invested in energy storage over the next decade and the race is on to capture that market. The winners will help solve the biggest environmental problem of our time."

Found some 'bits':

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689

http://www.highview-power.com/wordpress/?page_id=1320

Mart.

Solar ... In the news

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