Solar Power

[Paul the 6th]

does the electricity meter really go backwards?

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

does the electricity meter really go backwards?

Yep, if you have the traditional type with the spinning disc. Newer smart meters dont as they are able to track how much comes in vs how much goes out.

But yeah, on a sunny day my meter reading reduces.

See I've long been in the camp of "pointless gambit designed to benifit only the manufacturer" but having had to be educated on them for work I've learnt that although that initial statement isnt correct its very much one sided.
If you or I buy PV then you or I will save some pennies over the lifespan of the panel (1) by comparrison to if we remained grid fed. BUT if you think you're saving the planet then you're sadly mistaken, the evidence is over whelming that production of these systems uses more carbon than they can offset during a lifetime.

So if you want to save some money between now and the next 15years of your life then go for it, but if you want to save the planet then invest in a ground sourse heat pump.

Sustainability is a proper biatch as a module to study!

(1) assumed lifespan of an installation is between 10 and 15years dependant on a number of factors.

[flymo]

if you are interested in saving the planet, get rid of your car before worrying about solar.

Most people are only interested in saving the planet, when it saves them some money, or makes them look or feel good.

[Paul the 6th]

If it makes any difference I always fold the toilet paper in half so I can wipe twice with the same wad..

"save the world by saving a wad"

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Uncle has just done the same. They cost £12k, he'll get smaller bills, and he's getting paid for what he puts back into the grid.

He reckons it's a 10 year return on investment, and at current interest rates better than leaving the money in the bank. He had them on his last two houses as well, so must have been solar for 15-20 years now, so he knows what benefits have or haven't materialised.

I'd also like to see some reasoning behind the claim that solar panels are a waste of time.

If everybody had them we'd be drawing 50% less power as a nation from the grid. Whatever you think the positive benefits are/aren't, how can that be a negative?

yes but the only trouble is that the rest of us are subsidizing these hair brain schemes,wind solar etc that in the real world wont ever make money,and we arn't talking about general taxation we are talking about the extra we all pay on our electric bills,cant remember the exact amount but out of the total we pay for electric something like over half aint for the electric,and this goes back to the beginning of nuclear when we had a 10% levy put on our bills coz nuclear cost more to produce electric,and in anycase there is a sh*t load of oil in the antartic yet to be tapped into

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

+1

I am just waiting for the outcry when, in the nearish future, the promised rewards/savings of these things fail to materialise in a way covered by the get-out clause in the small print.

Instead of discriminatory schemes like this (I dont have a roof to hang panels off if I wanted to), they should just be building more Nuclear Power Stations in a new Government Energy Company, which would allow them, through competition, to control the energy prices.

Yea! Someone else who can see the blinding obvious solution hidden behind a screen of scaremongering and ignorance

- runs and hides in bunker to shelter from anticipated shower of green boll----

[Paul the 6th]

So apart from the hideous costs of decommissioning a nuclear plant & 'responsibily' disposing of the left over glowing green mush, what else is stopping us using nuclear power? Is it just off the back of disasters like Chernobyl & fukushima?

[yorkie_chris]

You should all read "State of Fear" by Micheal Crighton