Solar Panal info req for domestic use

[Tony Bryer]

Very true. But the opposite is true also: the fact that some people are convinced of their validity does not make them valid.

[Mary Fisher]

For some values of 'value'.

[Mary Fisher]

If the research you read was differnt would you be persuaded?

[Mary Fisher]

That sounds like a serious lack of insulation.

Yes. But what DOES give instant (economic) results?

[Mary Fisher]

You might think differently when you're 80 :-)

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I have a good imagination. Spouse does not.

We experience the same benefits of our installation.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Ours doesn't. We don't need to drain it.

Why?

[AJH]

Insulation doesn't feature in the discussion about how the gas and solar inputs clash. In fact it was a modern insulated tank and I doubt it lost more than 1kWhr of heat in the 24 hour period.

The point was the system stayed permanently satisfied by the gas system because of the heating periods, so the panel was never able to contribute.

What I forgot to mention was that whilst the solar coil was at the bottom of the tank the gas heated coil was almost directly above it. The problem would have been mitigated had the gas coil been nearer the top of the tank.

In the large solar heated thermal store I deal with the solar input goes into the top and cold is drawn from the bottom which maintains a good stratification initially.

AJH

[geoff]

In message , Mike P writes

My father was of the same opinion and it took some robust words from me following a thread I started about a year ago here

[Andrew Gabriel]

Not sure that's a sensible question. I've kept an eye on the research to see if there's anything on the horizon. The research is largely irrelevent though -- it's how they perform now that governs if I would be persuaded now. The lack of progress is disappointing, but I'm aware it's not for want of trying -- lots has been done and it's had serious money behind it from areas such as the space industry and energy industry, something which other renewable sources really struggle for.

If they were more efficient or significantly cheaper, I might be persuaded. They don't even need to payback from my perspective -- remember I said I'm geeky and do try things out for the sake of it, but they need to be significantly more attractive in some aspect before I would do so.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:04:42 GMT someone who may be Tony Bryer wrote this:-

Correct. However, some people have only become convinced after studying the issue, including the thermodynamics, and thus putting their initial scepticism to rest.

There is much bullshit talked about such things, much of it by those who appear to have an aversion which borders on the unacceptable face of religion. There is also much bullshit talked about them by the unacceptable face of the installation industry, the double glazing approach. However, the latter bullshit can be cut through to discover those, which includes some in the installation industry, which offer a good service.

[David Hansen]

On 27 Jan 2008 18:00:37 GMT someone who may be [e-mail] (Andrew Gabriel) wrote this:-

One also needs to consider the energy involved in manufacture.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:30:58 +0000 someone who may be AJH wrote this:-

Did it feel at all warm to the touch? If it did then it didn't have enough insulation.

An installation problem.

A design problem.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:30:59 +0000 someone who may be AJH wrote this:-

Nothing wrong with the orientation. Anything from SW to SE will give good results compared to the ideal direct southerly orientation. What was wrong was the installation, in particular the setting of controls. A good installer will return to check that everything is working well.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:18:44 +0000 someone who may be Andy Hall wrote this:-

That's a financial cost argument. However, money is not the only cost, as the inhabitants of low lying areas are already discovering in a very real way.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:14:53 -0000 someone who may be "Mary Fisher" wrote this:-

Even if not using any of these approaches, a good controller can be set to circulate water if the collector is close to freezing. This will use a little heat from the store, but not much as the circulation will only operate for short periods. This is only likely to be a particular issue on a DIY flat plate collectors which are not insulated properly.

[Andy Hall]

Where are the disinterested sources of information?

By this I mean disinterested from the commercial sales aspect and also from the eco sales aspect......

[The Natural Philosopher]

Not at all. we were not talking about summer.

When I spend all of what - 20 quid on hot water?

Frankly, its the least of my outgoings.

[Steve Firth]

If the moon were made of green cheese would you invest in crackers?

[The Natural Philosopher]

You only have to do the overall maths for watts per square meter to discover that in THIS country, they haven't a hope of ever doing more than a few tenths of a percent of the winter energy needs.

Sure they can on a sunny day, net you a tankful of hot water. So could doing two hours exercise on a treadmill hooked up to a generator in all likelihood.