From: NickW )

Hi tech stuff is all very nice but have you checked on the price of a
suntracker lately? These types of system often don't pay you back for
maybe 20 years or so.

About £35. See redrok.com. Payback is quite practical with such a
tracker.


IMM replied:
R&D is still ongoing and the prices will drop accordingly when
packaged
solutions are available.

£35 not cheap enough then?


Nick wrote:
There's a lot that can be done with simple materials. You might
achieve a collector efficiency of only 60% compared to maybe 80% of a
vacuum tube collector or a suntracker but if it costs 1/10th the
price
then it could be worth it.

Exactly. You can't count on getting 60% off a flat plate, but then you
dont need to. Its more liekly to drop to half that when the water's
hot.


Having said all this, I've done some checking and active solar space
heating is considered not to be viable in the UK since it is usually
overcast in winter time... ah well.

There are a lot of different technologies, a lot of different designs
with each one, and a lot of differnet takes on them all. I definnitely
wouldn't assume active solar heat is no-go - tho most systems are.


Bigwallop wrote:
What I have noticed with the wind power suggestion, is people are
working on
the assumption of just one turbine and blade system, yet there's
nothing to
stop the use of three or four smaller turbines being used to power
the
system.

Planning permission. You'd have no chance.


From: IMM )
too many errors to reply to.


Regards, NT