About a year ago we had a Solar Panel Salesman at the house.
Two hours of our lives later and we were given a quote of over £12,000 to fit a solar system. This seemed ridiculously excessive.
We gave up on the idea as clearly this was too much money to spend with not enough reward.
Fast forward to last month and we were in Ikea in Glasgow. They now have a company onsite who give you a quote in about 10-15 minutes. By taking your postcode and looking at your house on Google Earth, they can then give you an approximation of how many solar panels your roof may take.
As long your roof can support a minimum of 12 panels, then they can fit a system for you.
The quote we were given - £3700. Some difference from the last quote we had!
If you go ahead with the system, you pay them £100 upfront for them to come out and do a physical survey of your property. If all is good, then this £100 goes towards the cost of your quote.
Seems like a good idea.
Now, many of you will be thinking, will this be of any benefit to me - only you can make that choice.
However, you have to consider how much will the cost of electricity rise by in the next 10-20 years - the lifetime of your solar panels?
Saturday 25 October 2014
Tuesday 24 December 2013
The Flaws with Solar Energy
Solar Energy is great. It harnesses energy from the sun and even on cloudy days there is enough light to power what are now referred to as "Daylight Panels".
But are there flaws with Solar Energy?
The first and most obvious one, is that they only work during daylight hours. As soon as the sun goes down, you have to rely on the traditional expensive electricity from the major power suppliers.
Traditionally, Solar Panels need to be fitted on the South Facing side of your roof. When we had a salesman out at the house, for 2 of the longest hours of my life, he said that with these daylight panels they don't need direct sunlight - only daylight. Then proceeded to tell me that the reason that some houses couldn't have them is due to the fact they don't have South Facing Roofs! Confused? So am I! Surely if they only require Daylight and not Direct Sunlight it shouldn't matter where the panels are located. In fact, shouldn't you be able to have them on your entire roof - even North Facing slopes?
There is the initial outlay costs, although, many companies are now providing you with "Free" solar panels as long as you sign over the profits made from excess power being sold back to the grid as well as any government subsidies.
This scheme does have its benefits if you are, as an example, on a low income - but only if you are in the house during daylight hours to benefit from using the electricity as and when it is harnessed. I, for one, work during the day so this may not seem as an attractive proposition.
Stirling Council recently furnished much of their housing stock in a similar scheme as above - as long as the tenant signed an agreement that even if they buy their council home under the right to buy scheme then Stirling Council would still own the Solar Panels for 25 years. From what I've heard, they aren't making as much money back from the panels as they'd hoped - but this is unconfirmed.
Recently there was a power cut in the village - so I went to visit someone with Solar Panels thinking "this is great - at least they'll have Electricity"! How wrong was I! It would appear that unless you have a mains supply of Electricity coming into your house, you can't harness and use power from the panels.
I'm not sure if this is due to some incompetent way they have been set up or whether they are designed like that as most homes will probably use more Electricity than is being generated on an overcast winters day!
I'm not saying that Solar/Daylight Panels are bad - I just think that we need to know more about them.
I did recently read an article that Ikea are planning on selling kits that should cost around £5k fitted to your home. The more affordable the initial outlay is - the more likely it is that people will install them.
Perhaps if the residents of Kippen got together and fitted these panels we may get a group discount - does anyone have any ideas on this?
But are there flaws with Solar Energy?
The first and most obvious one, is that they only work during daylight hours. As soon as the sun goes down, you have to rely on the traditional expensive electricity from the major power suppliers.
Traditionally, Solar Panels need to be fitted on the South Facing side of your roof. When we had a salesman out at the house, for 2 of the longest hours of my life, he said that with these daylight panels they don't need direct sunlight - only daylight. Then proceeded to tell me that the reason that some houses couldn't have them is due to the fact they don't have South Facing Roofs! Confused? So am I! Surely if they only require Daylight and not Direct Sunlight it shouldn't matter where the panels are located. In fact, shouldn't you be able to have them on your entire roof - even North Facing slopes?
There is the initial outlay costs, although, many companies are now providing you with "Free" solar panels as long as you sign over the profits made from excess power being sold back to the grid as well as any government subsidies.
This scheme does have its benefits if you are, as an example, on a low income - but only if you are in the house during daylight hours to benefit from using the electricity as and when it is harnessed. I, for one, work during the day so this may not seem as an attractive proposition.
Stirling Council recently furnished much of their housing stock in a similar scheme as above - as long as the tenant signed an agreement that even if they buy their council home under the right to buy scheme then Stirling Council would still own the Solar Panels for 25 years. From what I've heard, they aren't making as much money back from the panels as they'd hoped - but this is unconfirmed.
Recently there was a power cut in the village - so I went to visit someone with Solar Panels thinking "this is great - at least they'll have Electricity"! How wrong was I! It would appear that unless you have a mains supply of Electricity coming into your house, you can't harness and use power from the panels.
I'm not sure if this is due to some incompetent way they have been set up or whether they are designed like that as most homes will probably use more Electricity than is being generated on an overcast winters day!
I'm not saying that Solar/Daylight Panels are bad - I just think that we need to know more about them.
I did recently read an article that Ikea are planning on selling kits that should cost around £5k fitted to your home. The more affordable the initial outlay is - the more likely it is that people will install them.
Perhaps if the residents of Kippen got together and fitted these panels we may get a group discount - does anyone have any ideas on this?
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Devil's Advocate
The purpose of this blog and Facebook Page isn't to tell the Community of Kippen what we should do - it's to offer suggestions and create a Forum for the Community to discuss Wind Turbines and Green Energy.
For my part, I will play Devil's Advocate. I can see the benefits of Wind Turbines - cheap, clean, renewable energy. However I can also see the need to have tight regulations on them - something that is lacking as Councils and Governments continue to forge ahead to meet targets.
The larger the Turbines, the more intrusive they are on the beauty of the countryside not to mention the Noise Pollution and potential dangers to wildlife.
The only thing I am postive about is that no Large Electricity Companies should be allowed to install Wind Turbines in our Community.
I will propose ideas and suggestions to the Forum so this this can be discussed openly by all members of the Community. If anyone else has suggestions, they can be E-mailed to me and I will post these suggestions so that they may be discussed also.
The blog will be a reference point - an area for information on ideas and suggestions; an area to ask questions for discussion.
The Facebook Page will be an interactive area to allow free and open discussion - with regular questions and reference to the blog. In fact, two members of the same family have already started to discus their opposing views.
So, what can you do?
Whether you are for or against Wind Turbines, you should have your say. After only one post on my blog I had 50 Pageviews and Currently 25 likes on the Facebook Page. If we are going to discuss this, we need as many members of the Community involved as possible.
Can you therefore please share this blog and the Facebook Page with other Kippenites to raise awareness?
Ways to help -
Thank you,
Scott
For my part, I will play Devil's Advocate. I can see the benefits of Wind Turbines - cheap, clean, renewable energy. However I can also see the need to have tight regulations on them - something that is lacking as Councils and Governments continue to forge ahead to meet targets.
The larger the Turbines, the more intrusive they are on the beauty of the countryside not to mention the Noise Pollution and potential dangers to wildlife.
The only thing I am postive about is that no Large Electricity Companies should be allowed to install Wind Turbines in our Community.
I will propose ideas and suggestions to the Forum so this this can be discussed openly by all members of the Community. If anyone else has suggestions, they can be E-mailed to me and I will post these suggestions so that they may be discussed also.
The blog will be a reference point - an area for information on ideas and suggestions; an area to ask questions for discussion.
The Facebook Page will be an interactive area to allow free and open discussion - with regular questions and reference to the blog. In fact, two members of the same family have already started to discus their opposing views.
So, what can you do?
Whether you are for or against Wind Turbines, you should have your say. After only one post on my blog I had 50 Pageviews and Currently 25 likes on the Facebook Page. If we are going to discuss this, we need as many members of the Community involved as possible.
Can you therefore please share this blog and the Facebook Page with other Kippenites to raise awareness?
Ways to help -
- On each post is an option to share via Facebook
- On each post is an option to +1 on Google
- There is an option to Tweet about the post
- On the bottom right of the Home page there is an option to subscribe via e-mail
- On the bottom left and top of the Home page there are options to +1 on Google
Thank you,
Scott
Saturday 15 June 2013
Background
Kippen is a scenic village in the Stirlingshire Countryside.
Love them or loathe them, Wind Turbines are becoming an increasingly common sight in Scotland's Countryside. including the Wind Farm near Doune.
I think that they do have their place, but I also think there need to be some strict rules regarding them. Firstly, that the residents of areas where they are being put up should not only be able to have a voice in their locations, numbers and sizes - but mostly that the local residents are the ones to benefit from them - and not greedy Electricity Companies.
So, that is what this blog and Facebook Page are all about - a forum to discuss the matter before it is too late!
The question I'm asking is, should the community of Kippen embrace wind energy and set up our own Kippen Energy Co-Operative? In doing so, we can decide how many turbines there will be. We will have a direct say in their location and size so that they do not adversely impact the natural beauty of our surroundings.
We can also benefit from Government Grants and the revenue generated from our own project and plough this back into our community.
Two things are certain - the cost of Electricity will only rise and if we don't consider the options of Wind Turbines now, it won't be long until some Multinational Electricity Company takes an interest and forces them upon us.
Even if the decision of the village is to NOT build Wind Turbines, we would be in a better place to block others from doing so in the future if we start looking into it now.
Thank you for taking a look.
Scott.
Love them or loathe them, Wind Turbines are becoming an increasingly common sight in Scotland's Countryside. including the Wind Farm near Doune.
I think that they do have their place, but I also think there need to be some strict rules regarding them. Firstly, that the residents of areas where they are being put up should not only be able to have a voice in their locations, numbers and sizes - but mostly that the local residents are the ones to benefit from them - and not greedy Electricity Companies.
So, that is what this blog and Facebook Page are all about - a forum to discuss the matter before it is too late!
The question I'm asking is, should the community of Kippen embrace wind energy and set up our own Kippen Energy Co-Operative? In doing so, we can decide how many turbines there will be. We will have a direct say in their location and size so that they do not adversely impact the natural beauty of our surroundings.
We can also benefit from Government Grants and the revenue generated from our own project and plough this back into our community.
Two things are certain - the cost of Electricity will only rise and if we don't consider the options of Wind Turbines now, it won't be long until some Multinational Electricity Company takes an interest and forces them upon us.
Even if the decision of the village is to NOT build Wind Turbines, we would be in a better place to block others from doing so in the future if we start looking into it now.
Thank you for taking a look.
Scott.
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