"John" wrote in message
news
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.
Has anyone any experience/opinions?

How many solar panels would you need in addition to the deep cycle
batteries to run it and how much would it cost?

I reckon I could do it (suitable for camping) for about 200 quid at Maplin.

Some bloke down south spent an absolute fortune installing a wind
turbine for his house and he doesn't generate enough electricity to
power a shaver.

You would have to calculate where you live, how much wind you're
likely to get (realistically) and whether that would generate enough
electricity to repay the costs of the turbine within a reasonable
timespace.

It is rather windy where I live, slates regularly shifting about on the
roof.

Maybe if energy prices go sky high a solar thermal system may become
an option for a lot of people. But you'd have to hope that the climate
isn't going into a cooling period and we start getting less sunshine,
and that it pays itself back a bit quicker.

Surely if we have a cooling period there will still be the same amount of
sunshine.

I'm toying with a DIY version.
http://www.iwilltry.org/w/index.php?...water_ heater