Solar Panels

f0ster

Member
what he is saying is true but the cost of these panels makes them not worth the cost of installing them. better to go for less efficient and lower cost.
 

Pilgrimmick

Member
Location
Argyll
Solar panels are being used with great success all around the UK. Lighthouses and buoys use them in life saving roles, so to say they are not worth installing, is a bit of a sweeping statement.
They are like anything else, they have their place, but not for everyone.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Most modern panels are actually around the 20% efficiency. There are experimental panels with double this but so far the manufacturing problems have not been conquered economically. However it is certain that in the next decade they will become the norm.
Remember that panels are only half the cost of the install the rest being labour wiring switching and inverters. So a panel costing twice the price producing twice as much would mean a very much cheaper system
What is crucial is cost over return, and it is certainly true that subsidies increase the cost of supply, however currently the price of power is such that current panel costs are too high.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Solar panels are being used with great success all around the UK. Lighthouses and buoys use them in life saving roles, so to say they are not worth installing, is a bit of a sweeping statement.
They are like anything else, they have their place, but not for everyone.

Totally taken my comment out of context. The type of solar system I was referring to which are useful in desert conditions are these which have been around a long time.

http://www.zenithsolar.com/ImagesFck/Zenith/file/3rd Gen PhotoVoltaic ZenithSolar Press Release.pdf

Which are far removed from the flat inefficient panels we use in this country. The only reason our flat inefficient panels are viable is because there so cheap and land area is not a constraint so efficiency is irrelevant.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Totally taken my comment out of context. The type of solar system I was referring to which are useful in desert conditions are these which have been around a long time.

http://www.zenithsolar.com/ImagesFck/Zenith/file/3rd Gen PhotoVoltaic ZenithSolar Press Release.pdf

Which are far removed from the flat inefficient panels we use in this country. The only reason our flat inefficient panels are viable is because there so cheap and land area is not a constraint so efficiency is irrelevant.

Perhaps another reason is we frequently have little use for the heat produced by these systems.
They are relatively inneficient at electricity production due to the heat produced. They would work in certain situations.
There are tracking installs solar installs in the UK . 2 is fairly local to me and I suspect some on here would know whose farm they are on at Thorpe Merieux. I would love to see output figuresfor them.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Perhaps another reason is we frequently have little use for the heat produced by these systems.
They are relatively inneficient at electricity production due to the heat produced. They would work in certain situations.
There are tracking installs solar installs in the UK . 2 is fairly local to me and I suspect some on here would know whose farm they are on at Thorpe Merieux. I would love to see output figuresfor them.

I would hardly call 39% electrical efficiency and 67% overall efficiency as being relatively inefficient. What they do require is direct sunlight which is what where unfortunately lacking in UK due to our cloudy weather. If I was in Australia there would be no arguments as there so much more efficient than normal solar panels with none of the dust/bird poo you get with ordinary panels.
 

Chickcatcher

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
SG9
When my FIT finishes in 19.5 years would that then be the time to swap my then old panels for ultra efficient new panels or just add extra old discarded inefficient ones from techno sites trying to dispose of them? (the ones with planning permission for only 25 years) (my system has produced 216500Kw in 1998 days from 40Kw install and we have used over 64% in "house")
Where dose the concern come from about the efficiency of what is installed. Surely that is tooooooo late, we knew we were having our legs lifted when systems crashed in cost by over 40% in December 2011 (or when was that date) and got cheaper since.
 

f0ster

Member
It depends on what is available at the time. There is bound to be higher efficiency panels available but they will be priced accordingly. If there is no incentive at the time they will not sell. Remember when solar started over here the cost was very high. Right now the cost of panels here is about .50p a watt but it was well over £1.40 at the start
 

Treemover

Member
Location
Offaly
Is the devil in the detail?
What if a person could use 100% of the energy or power themselves?
Would this out weigh the argument of efficiency/inefficiency??

I was always told it was better to look at the problem and address it.

If you need to pump water, use an American type windmill, with pistons rather than going electric.

Where for me it gets interesting is where we need hot water are we better generating this from panels or wood fuel?

I'd like a turbine for compressed air; coupled to a big tank.

And then break down our energy requirements likewise and only use solar panels where needed.

We were always told to put in a 50kw turbine; and maybe that's good advice; but I'd rather a mixed bag of tricks than be totally reliant on one entity.

I know there's economy of scale, I've seen the figures; but I remember the cold winter I think in 2012?? Where we spend 6 hrs thawing the parlour. Solar or wind would have been useless.
 

f0ster

Member
It depends on what is available at the time. There is bound to be higher efficiency panels available but they will be priced accordingly. If there is no incentive at the time they will not sell. Remember when solar started over here the cost was very high. Right now the cost of panels here is about .50p a watt but it was well over £1.40 at the start
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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