Solar PV (was: Solar water heating)
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Peter Parry
saying something like:
I don't see how. Sure, if you buy factory-made panels and all the
necessary pro stuff and pay for the installation.
I'm not sure DIY construction of solar photovoltaic panels is really
going to catch on :-).
True. Otoh, as time goes by older generation PV panels become surplus
fairly cheaply - being in the right place at the right time helps a lot,
though. Best place seems to be the US for much cheap surplus.
This is a DIY group. Building panels from base materials and feeding a
pre-heat cylinder works out at less than a couple of hundred quid if you
DIY the whole thing from salvaged materials.
I've helped build such a system for warming a swimming pool and it
works quite adequately - it's also very large and pretty hideous.
Where we built it it was possible to hide it behind a large hedge but
not many people have a farm to play with.
True also. I'm fortunate in having a large building with a South-facing
gable wall which can accomodate several panels at ground level.
--
Dave
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