solar PV?

[nennyrainbow]

Hello
I have noticed quite a few houses with solar PV panels in their roofs recently.  Has anyone (who is willing to admit it) used one the free solar PV deals ie where the company pays for and installs the panels, the houseowner gets free electricity during sunny daytimes in return for, in effect, renting out their roof so that the solar panel company gets the renewables payouts and the money from the excess electricity exported back to the grid? We are very interested in this and wondered if anyone had any recommendations for any particular company or general advice. We have a large south-east facing roof (which faces the road). Thanks. Emma

[Tim]

We've been offered it a few times but I don't know anyone that's done it.

I know people that have installed their own arrays but that's obviously a large up front cost.

Tim

[nennyrainbow]

Thanks, Tim. I have made a few initial enquiries and it seems you have to have a due south facing roof (or no more than 30 degrees out either way) in order to qualify for the FREE solar panels as it's not worth their while otherwise. So I don't think we would qualify. I have however found a company based in Suffolk offering a similar deal with a wind turbine - now that might be a suitable option round here.

[Tim]

Which company is offering the wind turbine?

[nennyrainbow]

It was on the mosscliff environmental site
www.mosscliff.co.uk (look under Our Services for details of the free installation)
but the company who offers it SolarVentus haven't yet got back to me.

[nennyrainbow]

Update: They did get back to me but you had to have a 3 phase electricity supply, whatever that is. This particular company was really only after large scale projects eg several turbines or 10kW of solar panels.

[Apple]

A three phase supply is generally used in industrial applications, with domestic premises being single phase. You could have a 3 phase supply to your home but it would require the installation of two more line supplies from your nearest power pole so would be probably as expensive as having a connection to the sewerage system.

If you take a look at the power lines on the poles along Barroway Drove & Lady Drove you will see there are three cables, these are the three phases from the sub station (120 deg shift between phases).

[Tim]

If anybody is interested in PV they should spend some time looking at the real world production figures.  They aren't great at our latitude but rather than take the solar companies word for it you can take a look at a recent installation at Runcton.

http://bdpv.com/fiche_utilisateur_en.php?util=runcton

It's only been installed in July so it should be current (no pun intended) technology and give you an idea of what you could expect from a similar installation.

At the moment their October production figures would just about scrape about 50% of my October usage.  This'll get worse as the days shorten and the weather deteriorates.  With the FIT payments being cut by 50% and the low amount of energy being produced I'm not sure I'd see much of a return.  Even in August their figures wouldn't cover my October usage (which is a lowish usage month for me).

I've considered a wind turbine but the wind in our area is only just about good enough if you go with a decent sized >6kw turbine.  The return over it's lifetime was dubious with the old FIT but if they extend the cuts to wind too (being reviewed at the moment) it's unlikely to be a viable option either.

Probably be best to go with the installation of the one time reactors in each town and dispense with our reliance on fossil fuels.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_Moderated_Self-regulating_Nuclear_Power_Module

[nennyrainbow]

Thanks for the link, Tim. I hadn't seen that website before but I thought the actual generated KWh seemed to match well withe the expected production. We decided to bite the bullet and go for it (before the FIT cut) and I'm very glad we did. So far in 3 weeks we have generated an average of 3.4kWh/day which is over half of our projected average. Given that we are in the month with the shortest days and the sun is very low in the sky, I think that is pretty good and I am confident we will reach or exceed our projected annual target.
I think you have to look at it as supplementing your electricity supply, not replacing it. I have been monitoring the import meter as well as the generation meter daily and there is definitely a trend that we we buy less electricity on sunny days than on cloudy ones. However, on the sunniest days, I estimate that about 40% of the electricity generated isn't being used (and is therefore going back to the grid at no benefit to us since export isn't measured): this is even with an Aga-type cooker which is on from 6am to 8pm and runs on electricity. The reason is that many appliances including the power-hungry cooker run in pulses rather than drawing constant power all the time so there will be times when all the appliances which are on drawing power at once and the import meter is going crazy, and others when nothing is and the surplus energy is not used. I have changed my habits to run the dishwasher during daytime and try to run the washing machine when the sun is shining but obviously this isn't always possible. This is really why the FIT payments are so vital to make it economically viable. It's fascinating though almost to the point of obsession: I have become a meter-gazer!
One thing I have really noticed is the day to day variation. You can get a  10-fold difference in generated electricity from one day to the next. It has really changed my opinion on large scale solar farms. I used to be in favour of them but now I cannot see how this is a good use of space (often agricultural land) in our crowded country when production is so variable, and obviously lower in winter when needs are highest. In contrast, a roof-mounted system isn't taking up any extra space and is directly supplmenting the electricity supply to a private dwelling / office. Personally, I think the government should have abolished the FIT tariff completely to new solar farms, and concentrated on continuing to allow private householders and workplaces to benefit from the more generous tariff. But they didn't.

The issue for me with a wind turbine would be noise. I have heard that they're not quiet! At least with the solar panels you don't even know they're there (until you look at the roof).

[Tim]

Some information on large wind turbine noise.  I'll have a look to see if I can find a smaller installation example.

Tim