@fueast It's mahoussive. This is just a fraction. It's in the middle of a nature reserve - seems a shame they can't be stuck somewhere we've already vandalised.
@happypat no is the answer to that on the whole but they are a better choice in the suburbs. Hot of the press from my students today. Average carbon payback time for a solar panel is 2-5 years compared to 6 months for a large offshore turbine and 12 months for a large onshore one.
@fueast No I'm interested in all this as no one ever explains the pros & cons ....we get sales people praising them to the hilt but nobody gives you any facts Thanks !
@happypat would be happy to advise on specifics if ever you need. Have had panels on my roof for 2 years now. I do enjoy getting cheques from British gas instead of sending them!
@happypat@ruthmouch It is 22,000 panels on a 13 hectare site. It should produce 5 megawatts at full power and they say it will cover 1200 homes (maybe because they won't be running at full power all the time as you need 1 megawatt/house?) I was told at the weekend by a 'green investor' what the initial investment is for 1 megawatt but I can't remember how many £million he said). I THINK you get a bit more power/acre from wind turbines but @fueast is your woman on this. She'll be found sitting on her own in a pub in Leeds telling anybody who'll listen how much power their roof can generate....
@judithg 13 hectares is a hell of a large area!! @fueast Solar panels are very popular in our area but we came to the conclusion that at our age we are too old to get benefit especially as we are on mostly oil & no gas. I have heard that it's very rewarding !!!
@judithg indeed I will. We'll be doing it online soon if we can figure out data licensing agreements! Of course by the time we do that the government will have scrapped the feed in tariff scheme.
@happypat well if you plan to live more than 9 years? Anyway you'll be able to start burning your tap water soon when they start fracking in Blackpool :-)
@happypat oo I might be coming to your house then to do some environmental monitoring when it all kicks off. So glad that Judith started this great post thatcher energy debate!
@fueast You're welcome! It is vast @happypat and has rather spoilt the view - there's a small airfield nearby and I'm sure they will be dazzled by the reflection!
Interesting to see so many (planning application for 64,000 few miles away) and they are not pretty, but they are close to the ground and don't spoil the views or move, like the giant wind turbines - so I don't object to them though it would make more sense to have more on roofs - I don't understand why it isn't compulsory to put them on new houses. We had 20 panels installed 18 months ago and today they produced the most electricity in a day (shows what a bad summer we had last year).
@mejbronant They look much better inset into roofs. I would love some but they would have to go on the front of the house and Nigel won't let me. I'm sure they will get smaller and more aesthetic so I'll work on him again when that happens. 64,000 is a vast area - 'ours'do impact on the view I'm afraid - the 'hard' surface is really very noticeable amongst the green.
Interesting debate! We aren't allowed panels because it is a conservation area/listed building etc, but have looked at ground source heat pumps - you get so much conflicting info depending on who you are talking to it is a nightmare.
April 17th, 2013
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@fueast Solar panels are very popular in our area but we came to the conclusion that at our age we are too old to get benefit especially as we are on mostly oil & no gas. I have heard that it's very rewarding !!!