Is green energy supposed to mean cheaper energy?

EarthRod

I agree.

As you can see from my earlier posts I was astonished my new house had such good insulation it saved £190 in the first year. To give you some idea how good the insulation is, condensation forms on the outside of the windows, not on the inside! Never seen that before!

I don't have solar panels, asked the builder not to fit them as they are IMO not worth the money.

Still have the problem of providing the country with a good, reliable and cheap source of power. The 'green' methodology does not fit the requirement.

johntheexpat

I have come across one installation where its hard to knock them.  A client of mine had them installed with the main intention of using the solar panels to power an air based heat exchanger to warm his swimming pool.

The objective was to heat the swimming pool for May through to Sep.  Now, we have reasonably relaible sun here from April onwards (sometimes earlier) so that was no problem.  Then of course the air temperature is variable but we can expect, with some degree of certainty, sunny days when the temp gets up to high teens at least.

And of course, the most efficient way to run a heat exchanger is not to have too high a temperature difference, between source and output.

So, on a nice sunny April day your solar panels are sparking away merrily and the heat exchanger is only having to cope with a temperature differential of maybe 10 to 15C.  I must confess, I don't know what the COP is under these circumstances, (6 wouldn't be unbelievable, given the low temperature difference) but he is very pleased indeed with his investment.

EarthRod

Heat exchanger requires quite a bit of power for the pump and compressor. But the scenario to help heat the swimming pool during the summer months using the power of solar panels is clever.

The solar panel power must improve the COP under any climatic conditions during the summer months by reducing the temperature gap during the extended daylight hours.

Yup - good one. Ideal use of solar panels in the UK.

Member 639844

Pretty sure you can get pool covers that heat pools now. Obviously they dont work while your using the pool and the covers off, but I suppose the water stays warm enough for the duration of a typical user. Ive seen such adverts over here anyway, though if the tech would work well enough in the UK I have no idea.

dianbolden

The cost of green energy must not be passed all at once to the consumer. The government must provide a subsidy for it so that people can pay for the investment they have placed over the years. It is not just to receive a huge bill just because your country chose to go green.

We all want to participate in a greener world but if it means inserting so much extra on top of our bills, we might think that going green is just going more expensive and who would want that.

EarthRod

Hi Dian, welcome to the forum.

Subsidy comes from taxes. Who pays taxes? You and I!

Therefore, either bills or subsidy, you and I will pay for the huge additional cost for 'green' energy if the government continues to go down that route.

I wish the word 'green' would stop being used. Nothing 'green' about the manufacture and maintenance of huge wind turbines or solar panels and associated equipment.