Anyone using Solar Energy?

Tobes · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:25

Just wondered if anyone else is using Solar energy of some sort.

Our house is a complete state at the moment because parents have decided to do it up. Just seems to be coming along very slowly.

But Dads finally got round to fitting the solar panels to the roof and new boiler etc.

At the moment the water only gets luke warm but when the clouds finally go the water should be pretty hot to have a bath in.

But who would have thought Plumbing could be so high tech. There are so many different buttons, remote receivers etc.

Just for fun here is a picture of Nancy.

Jez · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:26

Waste of money. How much has the system cost him?

iviv · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:29

Least you have warm water, our boiler's died :/

Green-Peace · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:32

Jez said:
Waste of money. How much has the system cost him?

lol, you say it's a waste of money yet you have no clue how much a system like that has cost him!! What a great negative attitude you have their :rolleyes:

LiE · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:34

My new home comes with something called an 'eco hat'. This thing sits on top of the house and has a solar panel which powers an air flow system in the house. I can adjust the temperature of the air which is also heated by the solar panel. I could have opted to have it heat the water in a tank, but we have a combi boiler instead.

pic: http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/rogers1.jpg

and another pic (you can see the houses better): http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/468xAny/k/x/a/Oxley_street_view_ready.jpg

Moredhel · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:35

Jez said:
Waste of money. How much has the system cost him?

Not much I would guess. He's probably got a grant from the local council, so it cost us rather than him.

Tobes · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:37

Jez said:
Waste of money. How much has the system cost him?

Can't remember now. I was having a discussion with him the other day and having the panels means we only need to use the gas for the oven hobs. So your "waste of money" statement doesn't apply here.

msm722, now that is cool

Moredhel you are correct. I will know the specific costs later when he get's back so I will post them up.

Jez · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:42

Green-Peace said:
lol, you say it's a waste of money yet you have no clue how much a system like that has cost him!! What a great negative attitude you have their

I am well aware of exactly what these systems cost, i was looking to get a figure so i could ridicule further.

I will reserve judgement though if it was on a grant, from my own enquiries of grants however, certainly in my area, its still not worth the outlay

p4radox · 27 Apr 2008 at 16:50

Jez said:
Waste of money. How much has the system cost him?

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

We have a panel from Solartwin:

http://www.solartwin.com/why_solartwin_is_great.php

It's not a photovoltaic cell, they're the pointless ones. It heats the water directly, and in summer the peak out put is 1.6 kW, similar to an immersion heater. It will pay for its self within a few years, and if you subscribe to the glabal warming "OMGZ C02Z" view then it pays for its self environmentally within a few years too.

I highly recommend them.

Pinter75 · 27 Apr 2008 at 18:05

Solar water heaters probably won't give you steaming hot water on cloudy days, but they will prime your boiler so that t uses less power to heat up.

I plan to have both water and PV panels installed. Let's see who says it will be a "waste of money" when we see how much fuel prices are in a few years.

davethe11 · 27 Apr 2008 at 18:09

It's something I would love to set up, I'm always keen to contribute towards a greener country, will be watching this thread for ideas.

Biohazard · 27 Apr 2008 at 18:20

Jez said:
Waste of money. How much has the system cost him?

You sir, are a fool. :rolleyes:

p4radox · 27 Apr 2008 at 19:11

Pinter75 said:
I plan to have both water and PV panels installed. Let's see who says it will be a "waste of money" when we see how much fuel prices are in a few years.

Have you got any particular PV's in mind? I'm not sure that they're really worth it right now...

Felix · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:19

Wind is the way to go at the moment.

Solar power will improve significantly over the next few years as there is a lot of development going into it. Also costs will come down as there are new factories being built that will provide the cells.

Energize · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:39

Isn't it far more efficient to heat a tank of water by letting sunlight shine directly on it, rather than using a solar panel to electrically heat it?

LiE · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:44

Energize said:
Isn't it far more efficient to heat a tank of water by letting sunlight shine directly on it, rather than using a solar panel to electrically heat it?

You'd be lucky to get enough direct sunlight onto a tank.

Tobes · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:48

Energize said:
Isn't it far more efficient to heat a tank of water by letting sunlight shine directly on it, rather than using a solar panel to electrically heat it?

That's what ours does. It's basically black glass which has water pumped through it.

Felix · 27 Apr 2008 at 20:58

Energize said:
Isn't it far more efficient to heat a tank of water by letting sunlight shine directly on it, rather than using a solar panel to electrically heat it?

Yes, but as the OP has found out it is only really when it is sunny that it gets the water hot. If you have photo electric cells you can create electricity which can then be used for more than just heat water. Its great to see people in this country use domestic alternative energy sources however they only act as backups or assists rather than be a true alternative, unless of course you can space the space and the cash to put a full solar or wind farm in. A turbine set up for domestic use will knock you back just under £15k which is a pay back in 10 years at todays energy prices.

p4radox · 27 Apr 2008 at 21:02

Energize said:
Isn't it far more efficient to heat a tank of water by letting sunlight shine directly on it, rather than using a solar panel to electrically heat it?

That's what ours does. Well, the sun doesn't shine directly on it, but it's that principle.

It's basically a vacuum-filled panel with pipes running through it. The sun's radiation heats the water in the pipes and the heat cannot be conducted back out of the pipes again due to the vacuum.

The panel feeds directly into the top of the immersion heater/water tank, and there are temperature sensors everywhere. So if the panel isn't hot enough ie: on a cool day then the boiler and immersion heater kick in.

Tobes · 27 Apr 2008 at 21:05

I have been home alone all weekend and Dad just got home. I'm not going to go ask him specifics tonight as he's had a long trip. But he noticed that I had not turned on the boiler this weekend. I didn't know I was supposed to. Which means I have been using the water the panels have heated.

Wow... the water is actually burning hot. Very impressed as it's only been slightly sunny. It was cloudy and raining this morning.

But as Felix says it's an alternative. In the Summer it means we use no gas and in the winter it will give the boiler a head start.

I'm not one of these eco hippies but if it saves money in the long run then it's all good.