Also, in a street full of houses looking much the same, it's still very difficult to identify a house from a PostCode, even with the number. This is no-charge internet based surveying so we do not have a fee to pay for our time to visit every house in a car. So please say that yours is the house with the Red garage doors, or the Letter box, or the Monkey Puzzle tree opposite, or the Twin Dormers, or Whatever..... some way to for us to be sure we got the right house.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Using the Enquiry form
6 July : The newly created Enquiry Form (see the tab above) is a good way to register your request for further advice, as it includes all of the information we need. A lot of people are emailing us but leaving out essential information, like their address.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Rushcliffe Solar database project starting now!
1 July: Starting 5th July, we will make a start on the project, with two students Rain Luo and James Rixon, supervised by David Nicholson-Cole. We will start by mapping the areas of West Bridgford identifying good PV potential, and work on leaflets and letters to send to residents. We will also run open air desks on Central Avenue on Farmers Market days. We will have a phone number for them in due course, and the email for further enquiries is of course, RushcliffeSolar@gmail.com
Where do you live and what's happening?
1 July: Energy Saving Trust have an interesting page called Where I Live, and you can enter your postal code and it tells you forthcoming events related to energy sustainability - such as Green Festivals, Lectures etc. If you have an event you want to promote, or you want to attend, please keep an eye on this page.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Good Energy help Home Generators
They do have a wind-farm of their own at Delabole, but they need more power suppliers if they want to take on more customers. Therefore they are extremely eager to sign up Home Generators and give them plenty of support. Before the Feed-in Tariff began in April 2010, they were paying us a sort of early feed in tariff of 15p per unit (instead of the normal selling price of 5p per unit) from 1st October 2009 to 1st April 2010. So even if the FiT had never happened, they would still have provided income for some payback.
If you do not have your own generating capacity, you pay a bit more than the cheapest, but what you pay is furthering investment in wind-farms and home generation.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Added an "About PV" page
26 June: As we are getting Rushcliffe Solar up and going more, I have added an About PV page which is in the Tab at the top of the website. There is also a Financial Q+A page. It's full of answers to the questions that seem to be asked most often.
Similar answers can be found on many websites about Photovoltaic, but if you are here now, it provides you with good advice, and it is very Rushcliffe oriented, and spiced up with the author's personal experience. When people I meet ask more more questions, I will add the answers to this page.
Similar answers can be found on many websites about Photovoltaic, but if you are here now, it provides you with good advice, and it is very Rushcliffe oriented, and spiced up with the author's personal experience. When people I meet ask more more questions, I will add the answers to this page.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
PV Costing Seminar at EvoEnergy
Income would be based on the amount of PV installed, where it is on the building, and the Feed in Tariff. Cost is affected by currency, volume manufacturing, scaffolding, building shape etc, but we managed to agree with EE a 'ballpark' figure for varying sizes of installation, up to a maximum of 4kW installed. Payback is a ratio of cost to income.
In the photo: Yu Wei Luo (UoN), Tim Saunders (EST), Chris Brookes (EE) and David Nicholson-Cole (UoN)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Another sunny Solstice!
Because we have a high hill to the south, the winter sunrise is an hour later than on level ground, and the sunset an hour earlier. So there is daylight, but not sunlight, hence the tail in and sudden steep rise at the start of the December solstice. By March equinox, the hill has less effect. At this time of year in June, the roof is consistently outperforming all the predictions, and with the sun rising and setting in the north quadrants, the hill has no impact on the performance.
We have had no payment from the Feed in Tariff yet, the first one can't be expected until October. If you have PV now, don't forget to register!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Rushcliffe Solar moves up to a new plane!
July 17: Things have gone quiet a bit, and needed stirring up. We had a meeting of the Rushcliffe Solar working group, and decided to make a real fresh start and get this project going more seriously for the coming summer. David N-C (Nottm University), Tim Saunders (Energy Savings Trust), Paul Philips (Rushcliffe BC) and Richard Mallender (Rushcliffe BC) met at Rushcliffe's Civic Centre.
IN short: we will go ahead with the project, employ two university students for two months in the summer, find space for them to work, and embark on the solar mapping of West Bridgford, with a view to expanding residents' awareness of the potential for home generation with Photovoltaic. This is likely to start end of June, probably the 28th. Before that we will have a short training course for the students.
We are likely to partner with one of the key installers in the region, plus an architect's office who have offered space to our students for the summer.
More will be written about this when more details emerge.
IN short: we will go ahead with the project, employ two university students for two months in the summer, find space for them to work, and embark on the solar mapping of West Bridgford, with a view to expanding residents' awareness of the potential for home generation with Photovoltaic. This is likely to start end of June, probably the 28th. Before that we will have a short training course for the students.
We are likely to partner with one of the key installers in the region, plus an architect's office who have offered space to our students for the summer.
More will be written about this when more details emerge.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Weather Comment and Form filling
17 June : Weather: April had about 40% more sunshine than we might have expected from the computer prediction, and May about 25% more - if the real output of my Photovoltaic roof is anything to judge by. June started badly with some days that reminded me of February, but has now caught up nicely with a sequence of sunny days, and the colder air temperatures giving us good solar capture. We have had a couple of 'Best of the Year' days where combinations of good sun and north wind (cold air) have produced over 25 kWhrs in a single day - on the 4th and 16th June.
Form Filling
If anybody reading this now has solar PV panels installed, don't forget to register as a Microgenerator. There are forms to fill out and send off, but don't be put off by this - you are, after all, signing up to receive quite a substantial amount of money from the electric utilities for the next 25 yrs, so a little bit of checking is required. You are likely to have to ring up your electric utility to get some of the details finalised (eg your 'generating station number' and ROC ID). For form filling you also want to have meter reading handy, especially at the key moments of April 1 and October 1.
Read the meter regularly: It is also worth recording your meter readings, either daily or weekly, so you can compare your actual installation with what is theoretically possible according to the computer model. There is no tuning you can do, other than checking for bird shit on the panels... well rotating the house to face south better would do better, but that's slightly more difficult.
If you have a handheld meter, the numbers will roll off when they are 30 days old, but you can download them with a USB cable to your PC/Mac, and of course you can read daily totals off your LCD display on the inverter. If you are really information minded, your inverter may be able to take a Web router, that sends data to the SMA website in Germany and stores/displays your data for ever - every day for the last or the next ten years! (you can see an example of this in a few articles below)
My meter readings are a bit manic, as you can see from http://tinyurl.com/peverilmetering but you don't have to be quite this obsessive! If you do want to be this obsessive, then do not be afraid to ask for copies of the spreadsheet formulae, so that you can use dates and times to computer daily generation and consumption.
Form Filling
If anybody reading this now has solar PV panels installed, don't forget to register as a Microgenerator. There are forms to fill out and send off, but don't be put off by this - you are, after all, signing up to receive quite a substantial amount of money from the electric utilities for the next 25 yrs, so a little bit of checking is required. You are likely to have to ring up your electric utility to get some of the details finalised (eg your 'generating station number' and ROC ID). For form filling you also want to have meter reading handy, especially at the key moments of April 1 and October 1.
Read the meter regularly: It is also worth recording your meter readings, either daily or weekly, so you can compare your actual installation with what is theoretically possible according to the computer model. There is no tuning you can do, other than checking for bird shit on the panels... well rotating the house to face south better would do better, but that's slightly more difficult.
If you have a handheld meter, the numbers will roll off when they are 30 days old, but you can download them with a USB cable to your PC/Mac, and of course you can read daily totals off your LCD display on the inverter. If you are really information minded, your inverter may be able to take a Web router, that sends data to the SMA website in Germany and stores/displays your data for ever - every day for the last or the next ten years! (you can see an example of this in a few articles below)
My meter readings are a bit manic, as you can see from http://tinyurl.com/peverilmetering but you don't have to be quite this obsessive! If you do want to be this obsessive, then do not be afraid to ask for copies of the spreadsheet formulae, so that you can use dates and times to computer daily generation and consumption.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Good Morning! East is Best!
28 May : I met someone today who got a quote for his house... but the supplier would not quote as the roof faces East. Actually, the orientation is the same as for my house, its ridge is north south, but tilted 10 degrees to give favour for the sloping pitch to the East.
My observation after nearly a year of this is that MORNINGs are less cloudy statistically , and more to the point, the air temperature is lower in the morning after the night. PV efficiency is closely linked to temperature. Cool panels produce more in similar sun angles etc. and East seems to work acceptably. Afternoons seem to be marred by broken cloud blowing in, even when the morning started by looking very clear skied.
The Peveril solar house will meet all its annual energy costs from this east roof, plus a healthy surplus, despite the East angle.
The other question is Low sun angles from trees. Well the harvest in Dec and Jan is so small that the very low angle is not worth worrying about (also deciduous trees are not usually in leaf in winter). Two good days in May/June can be equivalent to the whole month of December or January, and the chances of these coming are random, but good. If you have a good April or May, the difference between that and the expectation can be more than the entire harvest in December.
You must be careful not to have anything shading the active surface during the summer months, such as a tall chimney or tree that will grow higher and more foliated in summer.
My observation after nearly a year of this is that MORNINGs are less cloudy statistically , and more to the point, the air temperature is lower in the morning after the night. PV efficiency is closely linked to temperature. Cool panels produce more in similar sun angles etc. and East seems to work acceptably. Afternoons seem to be marred by broken cloud blowing in, even when the morning started by looking very clear skied.
The Peveril solar house will meet all its annual energy costs from this east roof, plus a healthy surplus, despite the East angle.
The other question is Low sun angles from trees. Well the harvest in Dec and Jan is so small that the very low angle is not worth worrying about (also deciduous trees are not usually in leaf in winter). Two good days in May/June can be equivalent to the whole month of December or January, and the chances of these coming are random, but good. If you have a good April or May, the difference between that and the expectation can be more than the entire harvest in December.
You must be careful not to have anything shading the active surface during the summer months, such as a tall chimney or tree that will grow higher and more foliated in summer.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
PV example in the author's house
1 May : If I can encourage you to think more about PV, I could add that it's not only about saving your energy bills and making some revenue from feed in tariff. It becomes an interesting hobby, checking the weather, recording the statistics, matching the lifestyle to the performance (eg use appliances more when sun is shining) etc.
The last two months of Photovoltaic generation have been very good, both months exceeding the JRC expected amount by about 40%. (Helps us to forget the poor days of Jan and Feb.)
The amount by which these exceeded expectation were more than the entire months of Jan and Feb combined, which rather makes me think that you should not worry if sun angles or long shadows in the months of Dec and Jan are not going to be favourable. It seems better to optimise for the spring to autumn months.
Looking at the charts here, the final weeks of April were astonishing, we had a run of nine days in a row, all touching or above 20 kWh, apart from one freakishly cold dark day on 15 April. The lower illustration is a typical run of days, from April 15 to 21. Even though our roof faces east, the early morning sun gives us good performance. I notice a pattern whereby days often end with cloudier afternoons after a good start - enough to put me off recommending a west roof where an east one is available.
The last two months of Photovoltaic generation have been very good, both months exceeding the JRC expected amount by about 40%. (Helps us to forget the poor days of Jan and Feb.)
- March should have been 207 kWh but was 281.
- April should have been 306 kWh but turned in a score of 429.
Looking at the charts here, the final weeks of April were astonishing, we had a run of nine days in a row, all touching or above 20 kWh, apart from one freakishly cold dark day on 15 April. The lower illustration is a typical run of days, from April 15 to 21. Even though our roof faces east, the early morning sun gives us good performance. I notice a pattern whereby days often end with cloudier afternoons after a good start - enough to put me off recommending a west roof where an east one is available.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Marlow making a go of Solar!
http://www.generateyourown.co.uk/marlow
Quoting the Good Energy Newsletter it seems Marlow are making good progress with a solar initiative:
Quoting the Good Energy Newsletter it seems Marlow are making good progress with a solar initiative:
"Transition Town Marlow held a really successful public meeting last week to mark the official launch of their Solar 100 Project, which aims to get Marlow residents generating their own renewable heat and power."
"Our Microgeneration Team went along to the meeting to show our support and were thrilled to find the auditorium packed with residents who had all turned up to hear Philip, Willi and the rest of TTM explain how all participating residents would be rewarded with a 20% rebate for the cost of their installation if the community reached its target of installing 100 solar systems in 12 months."
"Hugo House, our Head of Generation Marketing, also delivered a presentation that offered advice on how to finance their solar project, and how the new feed-in tariffs would work."
Monday, April 19, 2010
Does your meter go in reverse?
19 April : Some people ask if the meter will literally 'go in reverse' if you have a good day of photovoltaic generation. Mine doesn't, it remains static during the day and only moves forward if we do some ironing or use the kettle a lot, or the heating has to be on. After sunset, it rolls along as a normal one would. Chris Brook of EvoEnergy has provided me with an answer:
"Whether your meter works in reverse depends on the type of meter installed. Old style mechanical meters will run in reverse and people with these will get an extra, though unintended, financial benefit. If you have a more modern electronic meter this will accurately record the units of electricity you import from the grid. It will be stationary if the amount of energy you are producing exceeds your current demand. Your [OfGem] generation meter will tell you accurately how much you have produced. In terms of what you export, this will only be measured accurately if your electricity supplier installs an import/export meter. The only energy provider currently doing this is Scottish and Southern Electricity. Other major providers intend to estimate how much you have exported based on the amount generated. As far as we know most are going with a generous 50/50 estimate.
Energy you produce will flow to its nearest point of use. If there is demand within your home this will be nearest. If you produce more than you currently demand the excess will flow to its nearest point of use via your mains electricity cable. In all likelihood there will be demand from one of your neighbours and this is where the electricity will be used. The electricity flows via the grid to your neighbours."
In this way, there is no transmission loss. There are no substations or transformers to go through, which eat energy at the change over. It is another reason why the generous Feed in Tariff can be justified. For every kilowatt used by your or your neighbours, it is saving the heat equivalent of 3 kilowatts of coal in a distant power station.
"Whether your meter works in reverse depends on the type of meter installed. Old style mechanical meters will run in reverse and people with these will get an extra, though unintended, financial benefit. If you have a more modern electronic meter this will accurately record the units of electricity you import from the grid. It will be stationary if the amount of energy you are producing exceeds your current demand. Your [OfGem] generation meter will tell you accurately how much you have produced. In terms of what you export, this will only be measured accurately if your electricity supplier installs an import/export meter. The only energy provider currently doing this is Scottish and Southern Electricity. Other major providers intend to estimate how much you have exported based on the amount generated. As far as we know most are going with a generous 50/50 estimate.
Energy you produce will flow to its nearest point of use. If there is demand within your home this will be nearest. If you produce more than you currently demand the excess will flow to its nearest point of use via your mains electricity cable. In all likelihood there will be demand from one of your neighbours and this is where the electricity will be used. The electricity flows via the grid to your neighbours."
In this way, there is no transmission loss. There are no substations or transformers to go through, which eat energy at the change over. It is another reason why the generous Feed in Tariff can be justified. For every kilowatt used by your or your neighbours, it is saving the heat equivalent of 3 kilowatts of coal in a distant power station.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Loan Scheme for householders - perhaps....
The Guardian has a good article on a new Loan scheme for householders, based on Pay as you Earn from your Feed in Tariff. This is not zero interest, but is low interest, similar to Mortgage rates (which are cheaper than normal bank loans.) And you would still experience much reduced electricity bills, as I do now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/mar/06/solar-panels-pay-as-you-save
But before you go ahead, note that the article points out that the scheme will take time to go through, and would not complete until after the General Election.
The feed in tariff is agreed by all parties, so that is not affected.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/mar/06/solar-panels-pay-as-you-save
But before you go ahead, note that the article points out that the scheme will take time to go through, and would not complete until after the General Election.
The feed in tariff is agreed by all parties, so that is not affected.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Feed in Tariff replaces grants
Feb 2010: At the time of going to press, Rushcliffe Reports was correct in urging people to hurry to get PV panels installed to get both the Grant and the Tariff.
But shortly after, the government announced that the Feed in Tariff fully replaces the grant - with immediate effect.
However, do not be disheartened. It is often the effect that after a subsidy is lifted, the market mechanisms adjust, suppliers become more competitive and the cost evens out. In likelihood, this is going to happen because the Feed in Tariff is bringing a rush of business enabling the industry to lower its prices and admit more companies who are competing.
But shortly after, the government announced that the Feed in Tariff fully replaces the grant - with immediate effect.
However, do not be disheartened. It is often the effect that after a subsidy is lifted, the market mechanisms adjust, suppliers become more competitive and the cost evens out. In likelihood, this is going to happen because the Feed in Tariff is bringing a rush of business enabling the industry to lower its prices and admit more companies who are competing.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sudden Surge of interest
Since the item in Rushcliffe Reports, publicising the feed in tariffs etc, there has been a sudden Surge of interest in Photovoltaic roofs, and my mailbox is filling. Please allow me time to cope with this. I will try to get an individual answer to each request.
By the way, the SUNBOX project on my house is working (this is solar heat being pumped deep into the earth for retrieval by heatpump) and can be read about on http://chargingtheearth.blogspot.com/ Whoever heard of a house being heated partially with 'swimming pool panels' ? Well, the panels pump the equivalent of a kilowatt for several hours a day deep into the ground. The heat pump gets that heat out later.
By the way, the SUNBOX project on my house is working (this is solar heat being pumped deep into the earth for retrieval by heatpump) and can be read about on http://chargingtheearth.blogspot.com/ Whoever heard of a house being heated partially with 'swimming pool panels' ? Well, the panels pump the equivalent of a kilowatt for several hours a day deep into the ground. The heat pump gets that heat out later.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Jeremy Leggett replies to Monbiot
I am glad to see that Jeremy Leggett has provided a spirited reply to George Monbiot's misleading article; you can read it at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/mar/09/george-monbiot-bet-solar-pv
We do not regret our PV at all, it is pumping electricity into the grid very well. In March we have already equalled the whole of February's harvest by the 9th of March - more than 3 weeks to go yet!
In September, I am planning to add another 3 panels on my south wall.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/mar/09/george-monbiot-bet-solar-pv
We do not regret our PV at all, it is pumping electricity into the grid very well. In March we have already equalled the whole of February's harvest by the 9th of March - more than 3 weeks to go yet!
In September, I am planning to add another 3 panels on my south wall.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Brignall takes the boot out!
Miles Brignall has a long report in the Guardian Money section, following the announcement of the Feed in tariffs and now the scheme of loans for householders. The cost of installation can be met from the future Feed in Tariff earnings. These, the responsibility and the loan, can be passed on to the inheritors/ buyers of the house if you move on.
Read the article and give it some good thought. It makes huge sense, and is a good riposte to the destructive article by Monbiot.
Read the article and give it some good thought. It makes huge sense, and is a good riposte to the destructive article by Monbiot.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monbiot puts the boot in
I have never disagreed with Georges Monbiot before. But in an article in the Guardian, he has written a horrible diatribe against solar PV which of course throws comfort to the deniers, and conveniently ignores arguments which dent his. I will try to answer some of these, but to place a responding comment on the Guardian website you have to register and create a new password etc, which is so tiresome.
His argument is typical of those who have come round to the idea of reviving Nuclear power, and is in favour of highly centralised power plants, or offshore windfarms. I cannot believe the naivety of one of his arguments which is similar to the right wing "if you give child benefit to the poor they will only spend it on drink" - in which he argues that you could be paying feed in tariff to families living in uninsulated houses, when they should be spending it on insulation. The reality (which he ignores) is that PV is something that highly conscientious people fit after they have already done the easy things like insulation and double glazing.
I may add more.. but I am getting ready for an early start in the morning to go to EcoBuild.
His argument is typical of those who have come round to the idea of reviving Nuclear power, and is in favour of highly centralised power plants, or offshore windfarms. I cannot believe the naivety of one of his arguments which is similar to the right wing "if you give child benefit to the poor they will only spend it on drink" - in which he argues that you could be paying feed in tariff to families living in uninsulated houses, when they should be spending it on insulation. The reality (which he ignores) is that PV is something that highly conscientious people fit after they have already done the easy things like insulation and double glazing.
I may add more.. but I am getting ready for an early start in the morning to go to EcoBuild.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Please support early adopters
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Microgenerators/
Please support Microgenerators who had the foresight and generosity to install PV panels or wind turbines earlier than July 2009, but now are penalised with a lousy feedin tariff. Please sign the Petition to the Govt.
I nearly installed these 3 years ago, but was put off by the poor feed in tariff then. But for people who invested at a time when their main purpose was altruistic (because the return was nothing, and the capital cost was higher) this is incredibly unfair.
Please support Microgenerators who had the foresight and generosity to install PV panels or wind turbines earlier than July 2009, but now are penalised with a lousy feedin tariff. Please sign the Petition to the Govt.
I nearly installed these 3 years ago, but was put off by the poor feed in tariff then. But for people who invested at a time when their main purpose was altruistic (because the return was nothing, and the capital cost was higher) this is incredibly unfair.
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