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Considering tomorrow today<\/strong><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Solar Photovoltaic Panels<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n We wish you a Happy Christmas and may the New Year bring you good fortune. Let us all hope that 2023 is the turning point for addressing climate change; let us all take action and create change. This month Forum member Ken looks at Solar Panel installation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Solar Photovoltaic Panels <\/strong><\/p>\n If you ever considered Solar Panels to be an unreliable investment with a long payback, think again! The current price of energy means that you will have to pay a lot and you can choose whether you want to keep paying for all your electricity or use at least some of that money as an investment with a typical simple payback of around six years and free power thereafter. This paper identifies potential pitfalls so that you can take care.<\/p>\n The rise in prices for energy have resulted in havoc for the solar energy market with large numbers of suppliers being inundated with enquiries and orders. Some have simply stopped considering new enquiries because they already have enough work until spring. Many entrepreneurs have recognised the opportunities of this market and started or bought small businesses to quote for supply and fitting of solar panels and related equipment but I wonder how many of these will fail, as do most new small businesses, within the first few years. Customers risk price increases before installations are completed and the lack of assurance that the supplier will exist to provide any follow up.<\/p>\n For most new customers, the potential purchase of solar panels is comparable in size to that of their car but there the similarity of transactions ends. For cars, the market is awash with product information and comparisons and innumerable registered dealers backed by the car manufacturers. For Solar Panels every request for information seems to result in a sales person making their assessment of what you need and giving a quote which may include product brochures but little opportunity to compare and assess anything more than total cost and a payback calculation that is totally dependent on the assumptions made by the sales person.<\/p>\n The general assumption that your current annual consumption is a good basis to identify the number of solar panels is not good enough unless you really use the same amount of electricity every day. Check your electricity bills and note the amount used (in KWH) each month. Identify reasons for peaks and troughs and whether they should be included in forecasts of the future.<\/p>\n Typical usage will be highest in the winter and unfortunately that coincides with the period in which the solar panels produce the lowest amount of power. It is not worth quintupling the number of panels in order to cover January, but simply doubling the number needed to cover June will cover March to September and make a good contribution in the other months.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Free solar power is not the only benefit of installing solar panels and a battery. The battery can be charged with relatively very low cost electricity overnight and that has clear benefits in the darker 4 months. So choose your electricity provider on the basis of both day time and night time tariffs and what you can get for exporting your excess power.<\/p>\n Before you contract and pay a deposit, investigate whether the company is one you want to rely upon and whether any deposit would truly be covered by any guarantee scheme. It took me a long time to recover my deposit from a company that was not a member of the scheme stated in their contract.<\/p>\n The author has no financial interest in any related business and readers are welcome to address any questions on this subject directly to Ken @gwenfo.forum@gmail.com putting Ken Solar Panels in the title box.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To join our Facebook group, please \u2018friend up\u2019 with the Gwen Fo account @ https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gwen.fo.1 and then jon the Wenvoe Forum @ https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/635369267864402<\/p>\n Some further information and updates, blog site https:\/\/wenvoeforum.wordpress.com\/. Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, which are normally held 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. E-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WENVOE FORUM Considering tomorrow today Solar Photovoltaic Panels We wish you a Happy Christmas and may the New Year bring you good fortune. Let us all hope that 2023 is the turning point for addressing climate change; let us all take action and create change. This month Forum member Ken looks at Solar Panel installation. Solar Photovoltaic Panels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[384],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3hS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1056,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1056","url_meta":{"origin":12640,"position":0},"title":"September Planning Applications","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \uf0b7 Sutton Mawr Solar Farm, Barry - Variation of Condition 2 of Planning Application 2013\/00617\/FUL for the installation of ground mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar arrays to extend the operational period of the facility from 25 to 30 years. No objection. \uf0b7 Port Road, adjacent Quarry Road, One double advertising\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning Applications"","block_context":{"text":"Planning Applications","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=151"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12788,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12788","url_meta":{"origin":12640,"position":1},"title":"What 2023 Might Spring On Us","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering tomorrow today Wishing you the best of the Season\u2019s Greetings As the year turns and we wonder what 2023 might spring on us, we wish for you all a space and a place to celebrate the New Year with family and friends, ready to look forward. Here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Picture7-300x270.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15635,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15635","url_meta":{"origin":12640,"position":2},"title":"All This Sunshine!! It Makes You Think.","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering Tomorrow Today All This Sunshine!! It Makes You Think. Have you seen leaflets like this recently dropping through letterboxes in Wenvoe. They are primarily about installing solar panels and batteries. Is yours maybe, hanging around waiting to be read properly or did you sign up immediately to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for June 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for June 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=422"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Forum-2-300x283.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14923,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14923","url_meta":{"origin":12640,"position":3},"title":"Energy Security","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering Tomorrow Today Why not build into the Community plan , - Energy Security One of the potentially biggest problems facing us, here in the UK in the next couple of decades is the failure of our power generation and distribution network. The world around us has changed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12863,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12863","url_meta":{"origin":12640,"position":4},"title":"Bees, Beer, Boilers and Brilliant Brains","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st February 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"WENVOE FORUM Considering tomorrow today Bees, Beer, Boilers and Brilliant Brains Bees Did you know that there are 25 species of bumble bee, 260 species of solitary bee and 1 honey bee species in the UK. These only account for a few of the 500 species of insects that pollinate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12215,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12215","url_meta":{"origin":12640,"position":5},"title":"Danger And Uncertainty Or Creative Energy?","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd September 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Considering tomorrow today Danger and uncertainty or creative energy? In a speech in Cape Town in June 1966, Robert F Kennedy said: \u2018There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Forum"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Forum","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=384"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12640"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12640"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12643,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12640\/revisions\/12643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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