Wanlock Dod
Established Member
Wizer,
Nothing new here, but a few years ago I was at a brand new building in Newcastle University, where they had installed (at vast cost) a huge array of solar panels. This did wonders for the green credentials of the building, and had a display in the lobby that told you how much power they were generating. On the rather sunny day when I was there I seem to recall it managing an output of somewhere in the region of 600 or 700 watts. Certainly it's a start, but in a building that probably has over a hundered staff housed in it I suspect that it's hardly scratching the surface.
As I understand it (I'm no expert) solar water heating is more likely than most to pay back the investment within a reasonable timescale. I understand that heat pumps are pretty good, but work best with lower temperature systems (i.e. underfloor heating) so are not so easily retro-fitted into most homes (could be wrong though).
Cheers,
Dod
Nothing new here, but a few years ago I was at a brand new building in Newcastle University, where they had installed (at vast cost) a huge array of solar panels. This did wonders for the green credentials of the building, and had a display in the lobby that told you how much power they were generating. On the rather sunny day when I was there I seem to recall it managing an output of somewhere in the region of 600 or 700 watts. Certainly it's a start, but in a building that probably has over a hundered staff housed in it I suspect that it's hardly scratching the surface.
As I understand it (I'm no expert) solar water heating is more likely than most to pay back the investment within a reasonable timescale. I understand that heat pumps are pretty good, but work best with lower temperature systems (i.e. underfloor heating) so are not so easily retro-fitted into most homes (could be wrong though).
Cheers,
Dod