Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:49:57 +0100, R D S wrote:

I have been thinking about getting a solar panel to keep a fridge
runnning and keep a battery charged while camping.

It'll have to be a *big* (expensive) photovoltaic panel to run a fridge
even under bright sunlight conditions. Battery top up is practical against
self discharge and light use.

Also with energy prices being the way they are has anyone gone further
than this and installed solar in the home? Likewise with wind, a local
electrical supplier reckoned he could get me a 2kw turbine for approx
£1500.

Does that include the control gear, grid connect, invertor, etc etc. Bear
in mind that even well sited turbines struggle to produce more than 1/3 of
their rated capacity over a year, so think of that 2kW as more like 600W,
if your lucky.

At one point I would have thought alternative power was prohibitively
expensive but now it looks as though it may sense.

£1500 buys 18750kWhr of mains lecky at 8p/unit.

18750 / 0.6 = 31250 hrs, 1300 days, 3.5 years assuming a good site with
wind strong enough (and not too strong) to have the turbine generating
it's rated output for at least some of the time. You'll still be buying
mains power when the wind doesn't blow as well, you might be able to sell
a bit to the grid but not much.

Recovery of capital takes a long time, but not paying utility companies
for their (mainly) fossil based energy should not be ignored.

Do not assume a wind turbine will run maintenance free forever.
I wonder how much fossil fuel is used making a turbine?
Will it need planning permission?
I believe solar panels might have a bit more going for them.
If only there were a cheap way of storing some of the heat we have today.