Aug, 2020 update. Nine years on and the panels have generated 17,818 kWh of electricity. The original estimates of what we would generate have proved to be uncannily accurate. One was 1970.072 kW p.a., so 17,730 for nine years. That was based on the government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for energy rating buildings. The second estimate was based on PVSol… Continue reading
Posts tagged solar panels
Climate charity 10:10 calls for new buildings to have solar panels as standard
The climate action charity 10:10 has launched a campaign to persuade the government that all suitable new buildings should have solar panels fitted as standard. In a tweet it argues: “If every new home came with built-in solar panels, we’d increase our capacity to produce clean solar power by 50% in just seven years. British… Continue reading →
Five years on – how solar panels cover our electricity bill
Five years ago this week, we installed 13 solar panels on our roof. The array, with a capacity of 2.47 kilowatt hours (kWh), cost us £7,862. Today I would have to pay less than half that. Take the real example of the Guardian’s Patrick Barkham, writing in 2015. His 4kWh system of 16 panels cost £4,630 to… Continue reading →
Regions go it alone as Govt dithers on green growth
With the government rowing back on green growth – Chancellor George Osborne’s speech to the 2011 Conservative party conference, when he voiced his scepticism abaout green industries‘ ability to boost economic recovery – does it make more sense to look for sustainability progress in our cities and regions? This, after all, is what is… Continue reading →
Body builds its solar energy future – just in time
I’m writing this on a grey last Friday in July morning, but I have some defiantly sunny news to impart. The Body Shop has just completed, in 9 weeks, Britain’s largest self-funded (paid for by the company itself) rooftop solar energy system at its head office at Littlehampton in Sussex. 3,840 solar panels covering an… Continue reading →
More efficient solar panels catching carbon's shadow
It’s been hard to feel particularly positive about the state, and future, of the planet over the past few days. Record global CO2 emissions, after a fall during the recession. Germany easing back on nuclear power. Ongoing climate change denial among the crazy right in the US. And in the UK, a huge number of… Continue reading →