On 9/24/2021 2:35 AM, Pete wrote:
>
>
> Still doing the calculations to see if the saving on fuel oil is worth
> it, but for now I'd say the jury is out as to whether solar is really
> as good an idea as it seemed at the time: at a rough guess it may take
> 50 years to recoup the costs, during which time the panels and the
> rest of the kit will need replacing anyway. It wasn't really about the
> cost though, the main benefit of the entire package seems to be a
> proper supply of hot water instead of the two or three gallons we used
> to get before the old boiler just couldn't cope.
>
Here in SoCal, my solar panel costs will be recouped in 10 years or
less. But if natural gas gets axed, or I get an electric car, I'll need
more panels. It'll be worth it. The price of solar is going down.

My gas bill ranges from $10-75/month, my electric evens out for the
year, currently I have a credit of $160. Water and sewer, OTOH, stays
around $70/month.

--
The erstwhile Thomas
FJR1300, R1200GS, ST1100 (in memoriam)

On 24/09/2021 15:08, YTC#1 wrote:
> Granted, sunnier elsewhere. But solar panels apparently work very well
> up there.

I find an overcast but bright day can generate more than a blue sky and
sunshine in winter.

I generate about 3MWh per annum in NW Surrey which more than equals the
load most days but import about 300W for 6 hours on a summer evening,
much longer in winter. The fridge freezer surprises me with how often it
runs and about 150W.

As a result I imported 2.2MWh of extra electricity last year.

The same set up with a 6kWh LiIon battery would only cost £8k nowadays
and theoretically would produce 80% of my electricity needs.

On 24/09/2021 17:35 Pete penned these words:
> On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 07:15:21 +0800, Boots
> <news@millhouse-communications.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> I did calculate the other day that my electric ~380+/-20 kWh a month would be
>> about average for UK albeit I am not there. However, the cost is about 1/4.
>
> I used to think that solar panels were the answer, at least in sunnier
> climes than Scotland.

As far as I know it is just daylight you need not full on sun

>
> Still doing the calculations to see if the saving on fuel oil is worth
> it, but for now I'd say the jury is out as to whether solar is really
> as good an idea as it seemed at the time:
I toyed with the idea in the UK before upping sticks but since that was on the
horizon a substantial investment in reducing the tenants bills seemed a poor
choice. A couple of mates, Gloucestershire and Surrey both have panels and are
sold on the idea. Reckon the savings are significant. I only had solar water
heating in my Cyprus gaff but apart from running it to check it functioned I
*never* needed the electric heater.

--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"

On 24/09/2021 23:29 Turby penned these words:
> On 9/24/2021 2:35 AM, Pete wrote:
>>
>>
>> Still doing the calculations to see if the saving on fuel oil is worth
>> it, but for now I'd say the jury is out as to whether solar is really
>> as good an idea as it seemed at the time:

> Here in SoCal, my solar panel costs will be recouped in 10 years or
> less. But if natural gas gets axed, or I get an electric car, I'll need
> more panels. It'll be worth it. The price of solar is going down.

I am surprised how little I see here on the equator. I am in a condo so have no
roof or anything else to put panels but if I had a house I'd be checking
viability. Of course I don't know if the TNG is equipped to manage the effects
of home generation.

> My gas bill ranges from $10-75/month, my electric evens out for the
> year, currently I have a credit of $160. Water and sewer, OTOH, stays
> around $70/month.

Electric is <£20 monthly, Water £1 a month, Sewerage £9 every 3 months, Gas
comes in cylinders around £5.5 for 12.2Kg odd size.

--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"

On 24/09/2021 18:52 Salad Dodger penned these words:
> On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 07:15:21 +0800, Boots
> <news@millhouse-communications.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>> I did calculate the other day that my electric ~380+/-20 kWh a month would be
>> about average for UK albeit I am not there. However, the cost is about 1/4.
>
> Burning orang-utans, and ancient jungle, is cheaper than gas.
>
The jungle burning is 90% the the mob to the south. Not to say there haven't
been cases but the government here for its many failings will come down hard,
unlike Indonesia.

--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"

On Sat, 25 Sep 2021 07:57:20 +0800, Boots
<news@millhouse-communications.co.uk> wrote:

>As far as I know it is just daylight you need not full on sun

To some extent, but the output is very much reduced. To give some
figures, last week Mon-Fri, with reasonable weather, generated about
56kWh. This week, when the sky has been overcast at best but we've
still had about the same hours of daylight, we only got 26 kWh in the
same period - and 15 of that was from one day alone. I'm still in the
process of tying the spreadsheet measurements of consumption up with
hours of sunshine. Overall annually, production averages out at 13
kWh per day, but the variation between summer and winter is about
four-fold.

Don't get me wrong, I still think home generation is a good idea, and
getting better as efficiencies increase and costs decrease, but it's
not quite what the marketing publicity would have you believe. In
fact I'd go so far as to say the entire solar business is built on
lies, damned lies, and wilful ignorance of statistics.

--

Pete
Garage vacancy now filled, N+1 incremented accordingly
F800R

Boots wrote:

> Pete wrote:
>
>> I used to think that solar panels were the answer, at least in sunnier
>> climes than Scotland.
>
> As far as I know it is just daylight you need not full on sun

In Edinburgh a 1kW panel should generate 882 kWh per year
In Eastbourne it'd be 1123 kWh
In Faro it'd be 1726 kWh

Anywhere in the UK it'll be 4/5 of fuck all during winter.

On 25/09/2021 14:46 Andy Burns penned these words:
> Boots wrote:
>
>> Pete wrote:
>>
>>> I used to think that solar panels were the answer, at least in sunnier
>>> climes than Scotland.
>>
>> As far as I know it is just daylight you need not full on sun
>
> In Edinburgh a 1kW panel should generate 882 kWh per year
> In Eastbourne it'd be 1123 kWh
> In Faro it'd be 1726 kWh
>
> Anywhere in the UK it'll be 4/5 of fuck all during winter.
>
I'll not disagree but I do know the two I know well who have solar are more than
happy with what they get. Surrey and Gloucestershire.

--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"