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Wind turbines


Harley
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What annoys me about solar power is the cost of the equipment.

They have simple robust systems in many countries such as India and Turkey and they certainly do not pay the sort of prices we are quoted in Europe,

I have done some research and found some very reasonably priced Turkish systems both open and closed and have already negotiated discounts and am sure more are possible.

They come in a range of sizes and they come palletised.

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When I was researching costs for solar panels (actually for a boat not a house), Portugal seemed to be the best place pricewise in the EU since there may be duty to pay from elsewhere.I've no idea why it was cheaper there but costs seemed to be about 25% cheaper than the UK. Anyway, it might be worth a peek at suppliers there....

For me, I favour a solar panel for water heating as a summer source and and small wind generator for Winter (and any other times it's windy!).

 

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Hi darnsarf ... I think the expression concerning UK prices is "Rip off" .. Double glazing, wall cladding and conservatories are old hat so why not jump in on the environmental market ... the problem for the salesmen is that people who want to go solar are not usually that "green" if you see what I mean.. Just check the guarantee and wattage per m2 before buying the cheaper ones.
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  • 8 months later...

Resurrecting an old thread here, but I just read that in France the law prevents individuals from providing their own electricity - is this true? Seems odd if it is, particularly in view of some of the posts in this thread but I am interested to check it out.

Andy

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[quote user="andyps"]

Resurrecting an old thread here, but I just read that in France the law prevents individuals from providing their own electricity - is this true? Seems odd if it is, particularly in view of some of the posts in this thread but I am interested to check it out.

Andy

[/quote]

No it isn't although there are other laws that would prevent you from building your own nuclear reactor....

 

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We are considering having a wind turbine  to help with leccy costs, especially as we are atop a hill and there is always a breeze up there to keep the thing going.   Maybe use it on a pump for the well too.

Are they expensive in France?  Can you buy them from a Brico like you can here in B&Q or is it a specialist purchase like solar panels?

Anyway not interested in a nuclear reactor.  Hubby (alias Dr No) is fed up with the upkeep on them, much less the amount of labour he had to employ to run the thing and the copious cash it cost to buy all those lycra catsuits they insist on wearing - we are downsizing after all!!   [:D]

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Wot?

Like that boy scout in the USA, Nick?

Went round for months collecting smoke alarms, removed and stockpiled the active "Pellets" and finally had enough isotope to build his atomic pile in the garden shed!

Apparently, he obtained the design from a scout's project on nuclear energy................

In the end, as the pile started to "Go critical", the neighbourhood had to be evacuated and a special team from the army wearing HM suits were called in to clean up. Which included taking away his Dad's garden shed, digging up great chunks of the garden etc.

Being serious for a bit, I think you will find, Old Raspberry, that the capital cost far outweighs any potential saving. It is like most things in engineering a matter of scale.

In order to have any measureable difference on average electrical consumption, the turbine has to be pretty large. The larger it becomes the more expensive it gets.

At present, it seems, turbines are really either for such as B&Q who make money selling a vision that fails to make any real environmental impact or dedicated ecologists who are prepared to invest significant hard cash with no return, purely to support their ideological beliefs.

In a pragmatic way, however, that to me is like attending an Oxfam "Hunger Lunch" to try and demonstrate empathy with the World's starving, by eating a dry crust of bread and drinking a small cup of water.

One would be far better served doing something practical to not only feed the starving once or twice: but trying to ensure they can feed themselves for life.

I have a feeling that wind turbines will eventually, like waste water and sewerage processing, become collective: by this I mean a group of ten dwellings will each invest in a bio-processor/Grey Water Plant (which will also produice methane gas for cooking/heating), wind turbine/s and solar arrays and power distribution, since ten individuals/families can collectively build a far more practical and much larger system.

If you will, a bit like the concept of an urbanisation with a large satellite array, which then feeds the signals to all subscribing dwellings. The benefits being stronger signals; more channels; prettier than dozens of little dishes!

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.

wind turbines will eventually, like waste water and sewerage processing, become collective: by this I mean a group of ten dwellings will each invest in a bio-processor/Grey Water Plant (which will also produice methane gas for cooking/heating), wind turbine/s and solar arrays and power distribution, since ten individuals/families can collectively build a far more practical and much larger system.

If you will, a bit like the concept of an urbanisation with a large satellite array, which then feeds the signals to all subscribing dwellings. The benefits being stronger signals; more channels; prettier than dozens of little dishes!

 

Again I am amazed.

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