Wind farms paid not to produce electricity

Wind farm paid £1.2 million to produce no electricity - Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/en...down-wind-farms-when-the-wind-is-blowing.html

Is this what we pay levies on our fuel bills for?


Another one to add to the list that includes hydro electric plants producing no electricity except when kettles go on after 'Eastenders'.

 

I've always been a bit sceptical about wind farms anyway to be honest.

It seems to me that a lot of energy must go into their production, transportation and assembly, and ultimately, their disposal when they've worn out. And yet they can only work when the wind is within a fairly specific range of speeds.

I'm all for 'green' energy, but I'm not convinced wind farms is it. My dad and I figured way back in the early 1980s that wave power or tidal currents were the way to go, and then best part of 30 years later the engineers are just starting to make some slow progress on that one.

 

I know a lady -Louise Smith-, I did babysit for her sometimes, she moved from around here to Turso and she builds mostly wind turbines although she used to build bridges.

She is a very clever and smart lady and I don't think she would be into turbines unless it made sense.

I found an interesting link on her site

Scotland to launch world

Good luck to her!

PS That telegraph article, if I understand it right, refers to a precaution taken not to overload the system.

 

I work for a guy that installs solar panels for electricity and hot water

very good business to be in .... he told me last week, that he has installed 20 of his systems in the last 8 weeks and has 2 crews working full time ... with loads of orders still to be installed

he imports the panels from Germany (but they are made in china)

costs over £10k to have a system installed but he also said that the government pays you back some of that money annualy ...

takes a while to recoup your costs, but your house value also increases considerably

 

But these windfarm subsidies seem even more crazy than the EU's agricultural policies, being paid more not to produce anything.

If electricity generated by tidal power was paid for along similar guidelines, power companies would receive massive payments for supressing generation every time there was a full or new moon - how loony can you get?

 

The problem lies in the grid itself. It was constructed fairly quickly to supply electricity to the whole country yet with only a few ways of storing excess power, i.e. the pump storage stations which use electricity in the grid during quiet times to pump water up a mountain so it can be released to power turbines when there is more demand.

These are big and require a lot of money and half a mountain to set up.

Now it would be near on impossible to put actual batteries on the grid, but I have thought of using excess power to heat a "reactor" type structure, similar to a Nuclear power station, only the reactor bit would contain a liquid that could absorb a tremendous amount of heat. It would have to remain liquid under pressure until needed to drive turbines, then, as the pressure was released, become gas, drive the turbine, produce the electricity needed and then, once the potential energy was spent, be re condensed ready for the next period.

I looked into this about 20 years ago and was considering Napthalene as a material, but gave up when I realised if I built a prototype, i'd probably blow myself up.

I did build a similar prototype using a solar panel as the heat source to drive a turbine. It got upto 111c in a "dry run." Again, I realised it could blow up on a real run, so while I was googling for an expansion vessel I found that the Germans had already built the same system:DOH:

 

Energy from waves, that was on "tomorrows world" many years ago, something to do with a zero in the wrong place and the government never funded it. James May did a bit about it, and met the original chap, who is now into making a sea snake, to make energy.

As for solar panels making money, I have yet to be convinced on that one.

Your house has to be suitable (Pointing the right way for optimum sunlight) so that rules a lot of people out.
You are supposed to be able to make money in 15 years (I am lead to believe its about £1k/pa, so after 15 years its all profit) But The panels are only g'teed for 10 years
and for me.
The nail in the coffin for me is, this is the UK, we don't have that much sunshine.
Lets look at a year, 12 months

Winter = 3 months, we get rain, short days, wind, rain (we get a lot of rain, that's why its said twice)

Spring = 3 months, rain, snow (If we didn't get it in winter) rain, some sunshine

Summer= 3 months, rain, wind, sunshine, sun, overcast days, wind

Autumn = 3 months, rain, sun, wind falling leaves.

oh how about a small wind turbine instead, they work if its dark or raining, see

wind turbine

 

not 100% sure, but you are thinking about old technology ... the new panels work on light, and not sunlight? .... it's like the calculators that have the solar batteries .... you don't have to sit outside in miday sun for the calculator to work

I may be wrong though?

 

Are they called solar panels or something else?

 

Solar panels

No they need sunlight to work. Don't get me wrong they do work with "some" light BUT they don't give 100% unless the light is bright (what you and I call sunshine) That's why it takes so long to get your money back.

Calculators

Calculators work indoors because if you take one apart you will find a battery inside, the calculator itself uses very little current and you don't use them for hours on end that the battery will last for a few years from when it was charged at manufacture.

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They are called solar panels, but you may be thinking of PV panels, Photo voltaic, same thing. New name.

A short while ago I looked into solar panels, (not having them installed, just about the panels) I can't remember which company it was, but they only G'tee them for 10 years, but the "solar panel installation companies" are saying you will get your money after 15 years, but wait, the panels are only g'teed for 10.

The other way of looking at it is:

When double glazing came out, look how many companies sprang up to install it, how many of them are left now, they only did it to make money.

Oh and some of the panels / installations are subsidised. By...................

Yes, you and me as the subsidy is from the electricity supply company

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They sound good in theory, they are good at running very low power items such as LED signs, but a house, no, not yet.

One other thing. Soon there will be solar panel cleaning companies springing up who really will go on you roof to clean them. You have heard of window cleaners? well solar panels will need cleaning too.

 

even Tesco has jumped on the bandwagon:

Solar Electricity from Tesco Renewable Energy

I like the idea of cleaning solar panels ... could be a good source of income during winter months when gardening jobs are at a low?

sadly, I'm afraid of heights

 

So why set up contracts with wind farms which mean we all have to pay (in taxes and levies) more for energy we can't use, than for energy we can use?

Wouldn't our money be better spent on improving existing infrastructure?

 

Absolutely.

 

My Solar water heating has been a godsend since evil wife broke the glass on the woodburner. Most days it will heat the water enough for a bath.

Its really cloudy here today so its only coming on intermittently. Water in tank currently 27c.

It cost about £2,200 plus about £50 for the plumbing. On a sunny day it will heat the tank to 60c+

Not worried about how long its guaranteed for as there is so little that could go wrong. Something could fall out of the sky & break one of the tubes but thats not very likely, if it did, you simply unplug the broken tube and replace it, £15 for a spare tube. There is no running water in the tubes, heat goes into a solid copper rod and is transfered to a manifold that the water is pumped through.

I would expect to have to replace the pump at some stage, but that is just a standard central heating pump, about £35.