Occupy Rooftops - Solar energy have a huge potential

Paul Arden · Post by **Paul Arden** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:11 pm

I don't think that solar power is a world-wide solution. I run Latohegy on a reasonable size panel, in the summer it charges the laptop, runs small speakers and I can even run a small fridge on it, but only for about six hours. On a good day I can light the cabin for about four hours. I can't run a kettle, nor a boiler, washing machines are out of the question. And in the summer here in Hungary there are many hours of bright sunshine. Winter is a problem. I charge the phone off the car and I'm charging the laptop off the neighbour. Evenings are candlepowered!! I have very modest use of power, how would it be in a family house?

Cheers, Paul

Biology · Post by **Biology** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 6:01 pm

Paul Arden wrote:I don't think that solar power is a world-wide solution. I run Latohegy on a reasonable size panel, in the summer it charges the laptop, runs small speakers and I can even run a small fridge on it, but only for about six hours. On a good day I can light the cabin for about four hours. I can't run a kettle, nor a boiler, washing machines are out of the question. And in the summer here in Hungary there are many hours of bright sunshine. Winter is a problem. I charge the phone off the car and I'm charging the laptop off the neighbour. Evenings are candlepowered!! I have very modest use of power, how would it be in a family house?

Cheers, Paul

Solar is not THE alternative, but it's a key and vital part of the mix. Because it only generates during daylight hours, we need a diverse combination of technologies as we ween ourselves off hydrocarbons.

The IEA (possibly the most conservative group who comment on these issues) expect solar to be the main source of power globally by 2060.

I've learnt in the last few weeks just how big a task making that transition will be... at least in the UK.

Andy

jomeder · Post by **jomeder** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 11:10 pm

I think a big application for solar power in a lot places would be water heating. That often takes a fair chunk of household electricity. It seems like it would be pretty straightforward way to manage energy as opposed to having banks of batteries etc. If it's not sunny and the water isn't heating enough then the thermostat kicks in the electrical heating. I don't really know this but I imagine it could work well for people who are out to work etc. during the day as it gives all day for the water to be heated.

In our case it's often sunny during the winter. Spring seems to be the least sunny season (he says thinking of all the rain the last few weeks!). Although there isn't enough sun to heat the water fully it is enough to warm it so the wetback on the fire becomes more efficient. That also means more energy from the fire goes toward heating the air rather than the water. That's the theory I was told by the people selling the solar system, but it makes sense and after all the energy output rating for the fire is fair bit higher without the wetback.

I wasn't quite as disappointed about not having solar water heating until I realised how warm our dark coloured roof gets in the winter!

At this stage I don't think solar electricity would be a good fit for us unless it was purely supplemental. We work from home on computers and a couple of those are big machines. In fact I wish I could replace one of the older ones because it really uses a lot of power. I knew the wattage but didn't really click to how much power it used until the power bill dropped sharply over a period I wasn't using it!

I wonder if what might become feasible with lower power lighting like LEDs is that house lighting could be run from solar banks, with batteries of course. Looking at light fittings for my house lately I've been quite astonished at how many lights are actually 12v or even less and require transformers. Of course more efficient lighting also means less draw on the grid, but if you can largely remove one energy sink that has to be worth something.

Regards,

Jo

Paul Arden · Post by **Paul Arden** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 11:41 pm

Interesting comment on solar heating there, Jo. I intend to install this next summer on my roof. It's certainly not feasible in the winter however, with temps down to -20C!

You'd need some pretty big panels just to power up your machines, and on overcast days you'd have to go fishing!

Despite the many short-comings, I'm very happy with the panel. I just have to severely scale down the amount of energy I use and I have much more energy to play with then running a split-charge off the truck.

It's nice to live in the woods

Cheers, Paul

Gilgamesh · Post by **Gilgamesh** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:16 am

Evenings are candlepowered!! I have very modest use of power, how would it be in a family house?

I've lived like this, it's not that much of a hassle really.

Problem comes in when you live a "normal" life with wife & 2.5 kids...... :sick:

Paul Arden · Post by **Paul Arden** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:28 am

They'd go to bed early and you can have sex and more kids

joesnuffy · Post by **joesnuffy** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:04 pm

Paul Arden wrote:They'd go to bed early and you can have sex and more kids

This is also an alternative for heating your house.

Paul Arden · Post by **Paul Arden** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:35 pm

I think it's an alternative for everything, Joe.

Morsie · Post by **Morsie** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 12:56 am

Yep, we sure need more people........ planet feels empty.

Morsie

Gilgamesh · Post by **Gilgamesh** » Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:41 am

Morsie wrote:Yep, we sure need more people........ planet feels empty.

Morsie

EXACTLY!!!!!! :p

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