"Yes, my solar-powered setup has made me 100% self-sufficient", said Mr. Jones - speaking from his 100-acre ranch in the Nevada desert.
For the rest of us - don't hold your breath.....
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we had some on trial but it never worked properly
apparently its because we lived in a "flat"
so they didnt charge us
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" pennies per Kilowatt hour" ?
My current electricity cost is about 11p per Kilowatt hour, which is, er, pennies in my book.
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There are many people in Cornwall with solar panels, wind generators, water turbines, ground source heat pumps.
But then they don't live on estates like most do, and tend to have a few acres or 10 so as not to trouble the neighbs.
I know of one chap who generates *all* of his own power via these technologies.
If you saw James Lovelock last night ~ www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s04qp/Beautiful_Minds_James_Lovelock/
you'll see that things are a'gonna change climate wise in the not-too distant future.
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As we are currently looking to buy a house I have read a couple of the Home Information Packs that they put together now, which include a section on energy efficiency and recommended improvements.
I noticed that both of the packs I read suggested solar panels (for semis in London), which made me wonder if the technology has come on significantly. Specifically they suggest that 2.5 kWp solarvoltaic panels would save in the region of £160 a year (I haven't looked into how much they would cost to begin with, and how many years it would take to earn that cost back in savings).
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As ever the Spanish have taken up the subsidies with enthusiasm:
"...some energy generators have claimed to be producing power after the sun has gone down. It’s thought they have been using diesel to lift the total of the power generated, given that subsides for solar power are available at 436 € per megawatt..."
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>>> As we are currently looking to buy a house I have read a couple of the Home Information Packs that they put together now, which include a section on energy efficiency and recommended improvements. <<<
It's like my 18 year old inefficient boiler, it would cost £00's to replace so the pay back time would be upwards of 4-5 years.
I personally believe Solar-voltaic panels are worth having - depending on one's circumstances ~
www.npower.com/web/Solar_energy/index.htm?t=08009753199
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Dog, it may be longer than that as it's probably £000s rather than £00s to replace. I haven't had a price on my 20 year old boiler but a couple of people I know have mentioned a 4 figure sum to replace a fairly ordinary boiler. The boiler shows as being 86% efficient. See www.sedbuk.com/ OK it's probably not at it's best now but it's just been cleaned and the reliable chap who does it every year seemed to think it was going strong.
If I start doing the arithmetic on consumption and fuel price I reckon it will just have paid for itself as it comes up for replacement. Of course as fuel prices go up, payback period falls but by then the cost of a new boiler has gone up and... I think I'll wait until someone offers me a grant :-)
JH
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If I was intending to stay in my present house Tooslow, I'd probably buy a boiler from Screwfix & get a heating eng. to install it.
I had my Glowworm Hideaway serviced recently and it all checked out ok.
The other route I've been thinking about is a multi-fuel stove in the lounge as I have experienced these in the past and the heat permeates throughout the whole property.
This site looks of interest ~ ttp://weatherworks.co.uk/default.aspx
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Dog, the things you could do with a clean sheet... Or a waterfall in the back garden!
JH
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Dunno about a waterfall Tooslow but - I've known plenty of people with their own water supply.
They all lived up on the Bodmin Moor, one chap had about 30 acres of land (mostly common) and he actually had a disused Granite quarry on the land.
The quarry was flooded, contained small fish and was in quite a peaceful setting to sit for a smoke.
Being it was uphill of his remote isolated Cottage with absolutely *NO* neighbs, he ran a pipe up to the quarry, put a pair of tights over the inlet to stop the tadpoles, and gravity did the rest!
Quite orften we had to fish tadpoles out of the Saucepan he used as a Kettle before boiling the guts out of the water, to sterilize it.
He lived like that for 30 years and died at age 69.
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Battery technology could power homes for pennies - Old Sock
