Why we do need solar systems

One of the arguments that people deploy against solar system is the cost. Because they claim “you don’t need a solar system” the cost of a solar system should be treated as the cost as an additional appliance, a bit like the Energy Savings’ Trust curious concept that solar systems are lifestyle choices.
Some people think [...]

Flooding and the need to decentralise energy supply

In all the uncertainties about climate change one thing is very clear. In the United Kingdom we are experiencing more extreme weather and we are feeling the effects of extreme weather more extremely than ever. I think that what is happening is that climate change is having an effect on our environment in ways that [...]

Green milk and greener homes

I have already written about the effect of industrial farming on the environment. There are non-industrial ways of farming, when the farmers do not farm intensively – for example when they farm “organically” to Soil Association standards, but these ways still affect our environment.

Why should anyone buy a solar system? The Value Propositions

Why should anyone buy a solar system?
For most people this is the critical question that the solar thermal industry needs to answer. We have the product, we have the technology, but why should anyone part with their hard earned cash – for a solar heating or a solar water heating system?A good solar system costs [...]

Oil prices rise as the economy falls

The price of oil still rising but the economy of the world is slowing down. This at first sight seems like a paradox. If the world’s economy slows down you would expect less energy to be used and therefore the price of oil should fall. Today oil stands at around $120 a barrel – it [...]

Solar panels - different types of absorbers -what they do and how they work

Solar panels for heat have been around for about a hundred years and in that time they have developed by a process of continuous improvement. The solar panels that you can buy today are, in many cases, very different from ones that were used 20 years ago. Some manufacturers have not improved the panels at [...]

How to choose a cylinder and cylinders working with solar systems

Solar panels are critical to an excellent solar system performance, but just as critical is the place where the energy is stored. In Britain these are called cylinders, in other places “tanks” and in other places “geysers” but they all look the same and serve the same purpose.
 
I will explain cylinders insofar as they affect [...]

The money you save with a solar system

There are some positively misleading reports about what solar water heating does and what it saves. In the Telegraph on Saturday one “expert” who turns out to be a builder claiming to “give it to you straight, Jeff Howell, claims that the annual savings are less than £70 per year and that at this time [...]

Overhauling solar grants by leaving them “same old same old”

When is an overhaul not an overhaul? The answer is simple; when the Government of England and Wales adjusts an incentive program without really making any changes.
 
The Low Carbon Building Programme has been “overhauled”. The scheme is in effect a way of subsidising householders who want to install some form of microgeneration.  The most popular microgeneration [...]

We will all spend more on insulation, low energy light bulbs and other measures

Mr Benn, the Environment Secretary is going to require energy companies to spend more money on energy saving measures, such as insulation and low energy light bulbs with some scope for renewables.
Under the Carbon Emissions Reductions Target “CERT” (formerly known as the Energy Efficiency Commitment “EEC”), energy companies are obliged to spend an amount [...]