Going Solar, Part 2

You may or may not remember that some time ago, we were considering going solar. Enquiries were made, quotations obtained, experiences heard. There's a whole number of opinions and a lot to consider. Even knowledgeable friends were split as to what to advise, which didn't make the murky waters any lighter. In the process though, some of our questions got answered:

1. Is there enough sunshine in Scotland to make it worthwhile? Yes, you don't need sunshine, just daytime hours. And a roughly south facing roof. The tariffs are good, and with a decent system (I now know all about kWh and what a decent system is: 2000 kWh) it should pay back the investment after 10-12 years, while it's guaranteed for 25 years (i.e. you'll be in profit after the payback time).

2. Can it go on an old, nail sick roof? Well, all the solar panel sales people said yes. Of course they would I thought. They also all seemed a bit non committal, which didn't exactly instil confidence. Solar panels ARE light, but you don't really want to have to lift them to fix a roof, because slaters may not know how to lift and reinstall them. The cost of such an undertaking may be high.

3. Remember that before you go down the route of generating electricity that the biggest positive impact on the environment and your pocket is to use less energy. Also remember that electricity can be made from a variety of sources, the scarcity will come from fossil fuels - i.e. in the future our gas heating will be the cost factor, not so much the electricity we use. The first move in reducing your carbon footprint (and hole in your wallet) is therefore insulating your home.

So we had 4 quotes, and interestingly, the first quote was for 12 panels, the second and third were for 8 panels, and sales person 4 told us that we could only fit a maximum of 5 panels, which in all honesty was not a good investment (the less panels per installation, the higher the cost per panel and the longer the time until the investment is paid back). Salesperson no. 4 was really different. The only one without a suit and equipped with a real old school measuring tape, he listened as much as he spoke and suggested clever ways of insulating a roof that has limited loft access.

The bottom line is that you need a few things and we don't have them all.
-roughly south facing roof (tick)
-unshaded roof (tick)
-decent size roof (nope)

It also only makes sense if you are sure to stay put for the next 10 years. You can't take the investment with you and there is a question mark as to how it affects the value of your house, especially if installed on a nail sick roof with questionable cost and effort to repair such a roof. Unless you're happy just to invest in a green future without wanting to get at least your investment back.

We won't be having solar panels for now then, instead, insulation is our new solar. (and I know T., you told me so!)

Sunshine in Scotland or can we really go Solar?

For well over a year, I've been trying to get my head around greening our home in relation to energy consumption. We've done the obvious stuff to save energy - low energy lightbulbs, switching off, not leaving things on standby, wearing jumpers in winter (though we have to do that anyway as our house won't get warm), loft insulation (haha, half of the loft is not accessible, which kind of means that the impact wasn't, how should I put it, awe-inspiring). We're a pretty bad household only in relation to leaving computers on all day, ahem.

And I've explored every possible renewable energy avenue. It's not easy. My mind threatens to explode anytime I look into it. There's the Energy Saving Trust which in theory is a great one stop shop. They have helped a lot to be fair, but I still find it difficult to actually get my questions answered. First there was an online questionnaire, lots of phone calls, eventually someone came to the house and did the same questionnaire again. We got a letter back that basically said there's not much else we can do. Still no look at the roof or boiler system to see if there was an option for solar panels. The promise of free loft insulation evaporated in the 8 week waiting time - we got our energy provider to do it instead and they were quick.


So we headed the marketing card of a private company. Finally, someone had a look at the roof, and is talking business. Just that obviously, they have an agenda. They want to sell.

Our situation is tricky. We live in Glasgow, which isn't great for solar panels as you can imagine. On the plus side, our roof faces south and is mostly unobstructed. It is small and old, with a nailsick slate roof. Apparently we have space for 12 panels, and the investment should pay back in 10 years or so.


Or that's what the solar power salesperson says. They also say they can install the panels and that they can be moved if we need a new roof. At what cost, they can't say.


I'd loved to speak to someone in Glasgow who has had solar panels installed, to see if they do what they promise. If it's worthwhile, if it adds value to the house in case we need to move and don't lose our investment.


Then there's the ethical issue of the way renewables are subsidised. Because, our feed in tariff (that's the money we get back for renewable energy we use and the energy we don't use and feed into the grid) is subsidised by those who don't have renewables. It works like this: Energy companies pay me, as one with solar panels, for every solar power I use. That's how, over the space of 10 years or so, I get my investment back. They also pay me for energy created that I don't use. The money comes from energy charged to those who don't have solar panels, which usually means those without the money to invest or those who live in flats/social housing. Basically, I'm taking from people who are more likely to struggle with their energy bills. Hm. The system also encourages energy use during day time hours. While you get more for every unit fed back into the grid, you save roughly 11p extra for every unit you use (because you don't only get paid for your usage but also don't pay the unit from your normal energy provider). This means that people will be likely to use more, rather than less, energy.
Which maybe, just maybe is kind of ok if it's solar.


So here's the maths:
every solar panel can produce 205watts maximum. 12 panels will produce 2,200kw per year.
For every kwh used that comes from your panels, you receive 42.3p from your energy supplier, plus you save 14p which is the average charge for that unit if you had used it from your normal supply.
For every kwh fed back into the grid, you receive 45.3p, 3p more than if you used it for your own energy needs

12 panels, for our small 3 bedroom house (it's really a 2 bedroom house) should generate about half of our electricity needs.
Investment should be repaid in roughly 10-12 years, the scheme runs for 25 years, which means that there's a 10% return on your money (more than any other investment scheme) over 25 years.
You will need to change your energy consumption habits - you will have to try and use when it's daylight to get maximum savings.



As with everything, there's variables and no guarantee. For instance, I'm not sure if we can realistically use most of our energy during the day. I don't like to run electrical appliances when I'm out, say at work or shopping. I have no idea how rainy days or the 3 trees that may obstruct the roof in the winter months will affect the performance of the panels. Will we have enough panels to make it worthwhile? Will it increase the value of the house so that even if we moved, we'd still get our investment back?


So, after a year of research, there are still many questions. But we're getting closer to some answers at least.

How Germany says no to nuclear power

Hurray, the anti-nuclear lobby says.
Thing is, in a country where there are lots of people, energy is in high demand (after all, every household seems to have an electric toothbrush and a fancy 500 quid coffee maker amongst rather a lot of other electrical gadgetry), and at least one quarter of that energy is provided by nuclear power, the big question must be: How will the energy need be met?

Well, it's back to coal, oil and imported nuclear power (from France most likely). The latter is a joke, as if it mattered if a plant here or 100 miles further west blew up. And a return to coal and oil makes me shake my head because of the short-sightedness of such an approach. I'm not a fan of nuclear power, but I'm less of a fan of power provided through fossil fuels.

At the same time, local pressure groups are demonstrating against power lines, pylons and wind energy, and call for the scientists to come up with something that doesn't need these features of our energy hunger. "You scientists are meant to be clever, just come up with an alternative, will you." (Someone really said this, I'm not making this up).

Shit, I'm glad I'll be out of here again tomorrow. It all rather does my head in.

The whole debate about not wanting nuclear power, and not wanting renewables at one's doorstep (I'm sure nobody wants a coal plant on their door step either) of course ignores the elephant in the room. Everybody is great at complaining and demanding, nobody actually questions their own energy consumption. There are endless discussions about the price of energy, taxation of petrol (still less than in the UK incidentally) yet as far as I can tell, very little reassessing of why on earth we all need our electric toothbrush, expresso machine, estate car, and the computer on all day. And that's just the obvious stuff. I'm sure energy consumption in the business sector could make an even bigger difference if consideration was given to what is necessary and what isn't. We can't have it all: cheap energy and no nuclear, no coal power stations and no wind power. It's an equasion that simply doesn't work.

And really, my coffee maker and milk foamer work a treat without any power other than that of my hand, and I'm pretty good at brushing my teeth too. Even though admittedly, I have to work on the "leaving the computer on all day" bit. Therefore, if you don't want nuclear or other power stations, or pylons or windmills, why not try using less energy instead of protesting without having alternatives?

Great family day out: Whitelee Windfarm

At the weekend, Mr Cartside had a fab idea and took us to Whitelee Windfarm. It's situated south of Glasgow, near East Kilbride and Eaglesham, and yet it appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Our short route took us through lovely villages where time has stood still, onto a misty high moor with a single track road. Suddenly, the giant pylons appeared out of nowhere, clearly playing hide and seek with us. There were no signposts (at least none that we spotted). You really need to know where you're going, and have been told about this little gem.

Because Whitelee Windfarm is not just Europe's biggest windfarm, but also hosts a very green visitor centre with an exhibition about all things renewable and wind, a lovely cafe with fabulous views, a nice shop, events and even a cycle park and shower; surrounded by moorland, windmills and miles and miles of walking and cycling tracks. And sometimes, you can even see one of the well over 100 windmills. Unbelievably, for much of our visit, we didn't see any although we were really rather close to these gentle giants.



It's a slightly surreal place - to me the landscape has the feel of the wide boglands of Ireland, the single track road speaks of remoteness and Scottish Highlands. Yet it's not remote at all, in fact, rather accessible, by road and bike. Then there's the juxtaposition of the ancient moorland with the engineered landscape of renewable energy production. Add to this the cosiness of the cafe in the visitor centre, looking out onto a windy and misty barren landscape.

I was captivated. I took a lot of photos and looking back at them, none of them captured the strange beauty of it. It was a brilliant day out and I wish we'd have had more time because once we had feasted on the homemade food of the cafe, listened to the storyteller telling us stories about the wind and the sea (and Cubling creating her own seascape with the contents of her bag), after exploring the exhibition on windpower, we just about managed to walk as far as the first pylon before we really and truly had to make our way home. We were able to hear for ourselves that pylons are not as loud as jets (which is something that was suggested on question time on the radio) - their calming quiet buzz is actually rather relaxing. There are miles of countryside walks, a network of cycle routes and we've been told that on a less misty day, the views are glorious (I found them breathtaking as they were).

We'll be back though, little doubt about that. And if you are near Glasgow, put it on your "great family days out" list. It's so worth it.