Energy Matters:Home Solar

[mickthemaverick]

As you suggested Neil it does incorporate some of my thinking with regard to tilting to follow the sun and I'm glad their calculations confirm my belief that it is worth the effort!! I like the idea of setting them in a vacuum though I do feel that may lead to longer term fault potential, maybe a suitable atmospheric pressure non thermally conductive gas would be better to fill the tubes but I don't know if one exists!! At least having them at atmospheric pressure would allow the structure to be cheaper to produce as the inherent strength of a vacuum container would not be necessary. Still it will be interesting to watch out for pricing!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looks a bit special Neil, any suggested prices yet?

Not that I can find, I think they could well be focussing on commercial installations. They are a UK based firm..Crawley West Sussex and in a phase of getting the product certified in various markets and have established this in Germany and the USA as reported in the news pages of their website. Seeking funding and investors for the next steps

News page
https://nakedenergy.com/pressreleases

REgards Neil

[myglaren]

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Solar power videos from the blackbelt Barrister.

If you are interested in Home Solar, dont be put off by the half hour length of the Videos Steve posted up. They are very much worth watching. Don't expect entertainment, he does an immense amount of talking, but the information is excellent and will add to your understanding of home solar. First one is about his own "sales" experience. Second about taking it on doing the research and taking charge of the project independently.

I've done the first one, will save the second for another time.

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

Also, the comments are worth reading, lots of interesting points there too.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Just watched Part 2. Hope he gets to the point a bit quicker in Part 3 when it arrives and the blokes from his installation firm get have their say

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

It is rather long-winded but as you said earlier he covers many very valid concerns.

[Gibbo2286]

The first point he should make is "Don't click on links to get Solar." most of the companies in those links are third parties trying to get a cut by sending your details to as many companies as they can or by sending their own reps out and trying to get you to pay over the odds then passing on the work to sub-contractors.

Ideally you should find companies, maybe your current energy supplier, that point you to those who actually do the work and asking them directly for a quote.

Batteries, I have found, are the most difficult to get sensible quotes for and I'm still looking.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Watched a couple of fairly lengthy videos on this chap erecting DIY a Solar Panel Array in a bit of field. I'll skip to the punchline cost him about £7,000 and Six Weeks Work. If you even watch a little bit of his construction and erection of the framework you will see that his workshop is well tooled up. He milled his own timber, laser cut, all his brackets and fixings with precision from sheet metal, hand dug all the anchorage points and formed them in concrete.

The second video is the installation of the panels and the electrical gubbins to go with them. He appeared to be clear in what he was doing on that score and ended up with a neat job.

Couple of links here if just for reference. I'll not embed them to bog down the thread. I did a bit of skipping but was interested enough to give both a fair viewing.

Kris Harbour-Natural Building

Construction of Framework
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysVv9xrtVf0
Panel Installation and Electrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9umll80xg

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Thanks for highlighting that Neil, I missed it first time round so I have just watched both videos end to end and enjoyed them. My only comment would be that I was surprised he didn't use any form of adhesive in his joints throughout the structure, relying only on the bolts and screws to hold it together. In my experience over time that will allow moisture into the joints which will result in a certain amount of structural weakness.

Considering how well equipped he is and his attention to detail in general I am amazed at the lack of waterproofing of the timber in general, not just the joints. I have to say though I have a healthy admiration for some of his methods, like using the tractor for a working platform with a complete disregard for health and safety!! Love it!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks for highlighting that Neil, I missed it first time round so I have just watched both videos end to end and enjoyed them.

Thanks Mick a fitting comment to mark a new post on todays FCF Archives February Ferret 2023 selected thread "Energy Matters Home Solar"

I would like to give it a go but...the current architecture of Chez Falcon very much works against an ideal solar installation, Velux windows and dormers eating up much of the solar-panel-able roof space which is why I started taking an interest in a possible ground mounted array as a possible element in an installation.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

I'll excuse myself a bit of slight offtopicness on Energy Matters Home Solar's day in the spotlight, but this bastion of tradition is set to become fair game for the march of solar power opportunities in a fairly recent news story.
A grade 1 listed building no less. If you can do it there you can do it anywhere!

Nearly 500 solar panels to be installed on roof of King’s College Chapel

Neil

[Gibbo2286]

I wonder what sort of a hissy fir the local planners would have if I applied to erect a car port with a solar array like that guys here on my front yard.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Never mind clambering about on roofs, not a ground-mounted array, but a trailer-mounted array. This nursery just happened to have an old trailer lying about and the simplest ever panel mounting structure, with the wires feeding into a small control box and onwards down a tube underground to point-of-use.

The Full Array

The Trailer Mounting

The collection "box"

The output cables disappearing underground

The Panel Details

Close up of Box

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Scaffolding getting erected and some mounting structures being put in place, yes one more Northumberland household has done the research and just gone for it. Not Chez Falcon but got me interested again, and I will be taking an interest in the nitty gritty of their installation.

They have gone with some sort of package with Octopus, battery, 8kW array, grid connected, energy deal and compulsory smart meter, and no doubt the user control and management centre being an app on a mobile phone.

The tie in with Octopus will obviously have the implication that each installation will provide revenue for Octopus, linked in with the structuring of import/export prices of their electricity tariffs, as well as the installation charges. I am not sure if Octopus retain ownership of the panels, or whether the installation "deal" ties you in with that energy supplier for as long as the panels/ battery and other infrastructure gubbins are in place.

THe FAQ's may well cover such things from a paddle round the Octopus website.

Meanwhile on a smaller scale this bloke did a bit of source your own stuff small installation, probably more akin to my sort of approach should I ever get round to it.



and his follow up on things he got wrong.


Neil