Discussion about getting PV for free

31 Jan '11: Will Vooght of Good Energy has written an article on the pros and cons of having PV fitted for free on your roof. This is only likely to be possible if you have a very clean unshaded roof. If you do, and you lack the capital to have it done at your own cost, then this is still a good idea. You will still enjoy a saving in annual electrical bill, will be able to have no worries about maintenance, and will have the comfort of knowing that the installation takes you closer to Carbon Zero, even if the installer company takes most of the Tariff. Your house isn't as big as Ratcliffe power station, but if a thousand houses have PV installations, the effect begins to be quantifiable, as has been happening in Germany where the impact of PV on nice days reduces the power consumption of the conventional electrical producers.

Farmers do not miss a summer!

17 Jan '11: It is somewhat typical of the human condition that people only think strongly about PV in the summer, because the Sun 'reminds them' . Yet if they decide to instal, the autumn and winter are coming, and they will have to wait a year until they get a really good harvest. 

  Now! before April 1st, the start of the FIT summer semester, is the time to be installing! Farmers do not let a summer go by, and neither should you!

   For the writer's house, the income last year in the April 1 to October 1 semester was about £1100. For the Autumn- Winter- Spring semester, it will be about £320. So there is an advantage to getting your installation in before April 1st.

Largest roof PV in Germany

Interesting article about a very large warehouse PV development
http://www.icb.uk.com/news/613/
"It is Germany's largest ever photovoltaic project, enabling just one warehouse to generate enough power to supply the annual needs of 250 households - and it could set the pattern for similar projects across the UK
 Located in Konz on the roof of the central warehouse of Parts Europe GmbH, a wholesale distributor of motorcycle parts and accessories to countries throughout Europe, the system provides an output of 1.02 Megawatt (MW)"
There are many large warehouses and leisure centres and retail centres in the UK, with enormous portal frame structures and nearly flat roofs, and would make ideal sites as PV based powerstations.

Sherwood church joining in PV generation

5 Jan '11: Nottingham Evening Post reports that Sherwood is now getting tuned in to Photovoltaic power generation.  See the article.
To Quote a clip from the article:
'Sherwood Methodist Church has also become solar powered, and hopes other people will follow its example.
'Rev Paul Worsnop said: "As Christians we believe God has given us the job of looking after His creation. However, we have made a pretty lousy job of it, and we want to do our bit to improve that and show we can do a better job for future generations. It is a very prominent site. Everybody can see it and we wanted to make a statement that we as a church think this sort of thing is important and we want to encourage people to do the same."
'Earlier this year the church received Eco-Congregation accreditation for its efforts to be greener.'