solar panels

paulmallon

im thinking of installing solar panels,haven't decided whether to go for the pv cells which convert solar to electricity or the type which heats the water.
anyone got any experience of these? Im from the north and i think there is a decent grant on at the minute.

delly

Moving to Green Issues

Benster

Hi Paul,

From what I've read while researching this for my folks in Armagh, there's a grant available for both PV and water heating panels until the end of the year, so get your skates on.

http://www.detini.gov.uk/cgi-bin/get_builder_page?page=2455&site=5&parent=21&prevpage=53

From that page, it seems you can choose an installer from either the Clear Skies approved list, or the South's SEI installer list.

It seems a better system than the one in use in England now, as over there you have to go through a series of steps to qualify for their "Low Carbon Buildings" grant, including getting your house fully insulated, having double glazing, and fitting low energy appliances and lighting all round. Well, from reading some of the docs that's the impression I get, which seems logical (if a bit OTT) as if you're going to try cutting down mains electric and gas usage, you should be doing it as much as you can before asking for a handout.

Hope the link helps. Tell us how you get on as I'm still trying to convince my da :rolleyes:

B.

kerrymaninld

Paul,

As others have indicated there are grants for both.

PV per sq m doesnt produce a lot of output in terms of kWH - you'll need an awful lot of it for it to bring down your electric bill. Most people who opt for PV also look at a small wind turbine (1 kWH output or higher) - the two technologies dovetail each other well, that is, when one is working well for you, typically, the other usually isn't (there is usually either sunshine or bad weather, and more wind). In the north there are grants for these small wind turbines too. Take vendor advice with a pound of salt - there is a lot of ineffective products on the market. Proven and Bergey are reputedly two of the best.

Solar water heating works very well for 9-10 months of the year and will save you money. You should be able to get a very good system for under 5k. From experience Thermomax and Genersys are two of the best.

Good luck.

Boggle

Proven and Bergey are reputedly two of the best.

Not really. Proven have good power curves but am unsure of their general design specs as they appeare not to have grease for life bearings.(E3,300 for the 600W, E6,200 for the 2.5k and E12,900 for the 6k)

Bergey's systems don't impress me one little bit. The power curve indicate too poor a performance at low wind speeds to justify the price tag - especially on the Exel. In fact the exel will only give its rated output at 19m/s wnidspeeds! Not sure of the type bearings or the winding insulation spec's either. (E2,800 for 1k and E18,400 for the7.5k.)

From my research, the best machine (by far) is the Unitron. Good power curve, noise data, sealed for life bearings, etc. (E900 for 600W, E2,022 for 1.5kW and E4,500 for 3.3kW)

Sources: westwind.ie, bergey.com, provenenergy.co.uk and airoption.com