# Solar Energy



## donz (May 5, 2010)

Hi guys, we are now here, move done and dusted - all went well!

So I am wondering about solar power and how it could help us to reduce our energy bills - does anybody have anhy insights before I start going to talk to companies?

I had heard a rumour that it could only assist in heating our water and not reduce the electricity bill (as I had hoped)...


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## Jaxx (Apr 21, 2010)

donz said:


> Hi guys, we are now here, move done and dusted - all went well!
> 
> So I am wondering about solar power and how it could help us to reduce our energy bills - does anybody have anhy insights before I start going to talk to companies?
> 
> I had heard a rumour that it could only assist in heating our water and not reduce the electricity bill (as I had hoped)...



Yes i will be interested also as i think its the way to go these days as we have been told electric is very expensive in Spain!:help:


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

donz said:


> Hi guys, we are now here, move done and dusted - all went well!
> 
> So I am wondering about solar power and how it could help us to reduce our energy bills - does anybody have anhy insights before I start going to talk to companies?
> 
> I had heard a rumour that it could only assist in heating our water and not reduce the electricity bill (as I had hoped)...


It doesn't work because it's too expensive with current technology. Check this site out.

Solar Energy Facts

However, New properties (in Galicia in any case) are having to install what I call the plastic tubing. The units on the roof (or wherever they place them) look like most others, electric or solar heat collectors, but they are in fact panels holding a lot of small tubes taking the water from the mains and letting the sun get to it, thus it arrives at the tank warmer than from the mains, thus not so much energy is required to get it to temp X. Though how much warmer the water arrives at the tank depends where you live and how much sun the panel gets of course. Once in the tank, it circulates in the panel getting hotter and hotter, that's the theory. Take an outside hose pipe in the middle of summer that's been exposed to the sun during the day. Turn it on and put your hand in front as the water that was in the pipe comes out. You get the basic idea from that.

As for the other options, not worth considering until A) Price of pannels and efficiency per Sq Metre gets a lot better and B) They come up with an effective way of storing electricity. 
You could always sell that unused to the national grid, but that's another very different, complex and expensive issue.... and it assumes you have a Wembley stadium + coverred in cells otherwise you won't have enough to meet an average household's 4-10 Kw rating needs.

Xose


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Xose is right, the installation costs are still way too high to make it a viable proposition if you want to save money. We were going to install solar water heating (we are in Andalucia where there is no shortage of sunshine) but it would have taken 20 years to recoup the cost. We currently only spend about 10 euros a month on hot water, using a propane gas boiler.

If you are having a house built or buying a new property, it would make sense to have it installed and would add to the value of the house. Installing it into an existing property, sadly, is only for those worthy people who are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and prepared to spend money to do so.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Jaxx said:


> Yes i will be interested also as i think its the way to go these days as we have been told electric is very expensive in Spain!:help:


Electricity here is about the same as in the UK now.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

The law in spain now is that all new builds & major reformations have to install some type of renewable energy . Many developers didn't bother around here & found themselves being forced to install it ,retrospectively, by the council who was , rightly, refusing to iossue the licence of 1st occupation. Most people who were building for themselves incorporated it from the begining , usually solar water heating. The solar panels for electricity are far more wide-spread down here in the south owing to the governments original scheme paying large feed-in tariffs.
The spanish scheme works similarly to the UK scheme where you are paid for the electricity you produce at a far higher rate than you pay for your consumed kw/hrs. Although these amounts have been reduced now due to the sheer amount of installations put in from the outset. Spain's Solar Market Crash Offers a Cautionary Tale About Feed-In Tariffs - NYTimes.com

In the UK if you have an installation put in they fit a 2nd meter which measures the amount of electricity produced & for which you are paid 41p per kw, whether you use it or not. You pay for your consumed electricity at the rate of around 9 /10 p. So it does help to reduce your bills. 
As Xose rightly says if you are wanting to put in a system to run your house totally it needs to be huge & the cost would be prohibitively expensive. Most systems have a payback time of 20 years, which is just about the life expectancy of current technology.

I have a neighbour who built a new house & behind has a bank of motorised panels that produces approx. 6kw. You need approx. 6m2 of panels to produce 1kw of electricity.
another law we have had here for at leasst 5 years is if you construct an industrial building , nave , etc; you cannot have an electricity supply . You have to put in a solar system ,although many put in a token system & then use generators, which defeats the object.


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## donz (May 5, 2010)

Blimey so really not as good an option as I was hoping then?!

The hot water option may be something still worth considering though? We are also in Andalucia & so again sunshine for much fo the year is not a problem


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

donz said:


> We are also in Andalucia & so again sunshine for much fo the year is not a problem


 Huh, not today tho! Have they invented anything yet to harness lightning???? 

Jo xxx


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jojo said:


> Huh, not today tho! Have they invented anything yet to harness lightning????
> 
> Jo xxx


Frankenstein did!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Definitely not today!! We are currently pumping water out of the reservoir in our garage that takes the swimming pool overflow.
Had a shower, changed, now camping out in bed.
Even Our Little Azor took one look outside and headed back indoors.
He has amazing bladder control...


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## donz (May 5, 2010)

lol no true enough!! We run a kennels and so as you can imagine it's extra wet for us!!

Stopped for a few mins now tho - at least gives it a chance to run off the mountain


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

donz said:


> lol no true enough!! We run a kennels and so as you can imagine it's extra wet for us!!
> 
> Stopped for a few mins now tho - at least gives it a chance to run off the mountain



Is it a private kennels or a refugio?
Our ADANA refugio is perched atop a mountain....it's not nice when it rains like this, neither for the dogs or the people who look after them.


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## donz (May 5, 2010)

private

our dogs all have a nice large kennel building plus a large run so they can choose their preference and they are built so the water all runs off thankfully


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

donz said:


> private
> 
> our dogs all have a nice large kennel building plus a large run so they can choose their preference and they are built so the water all runs off thankfully


We have several large pens with long runs at the back. Our dogs have to be carefully placed as some are terrified when they are brought in, especially those who have been house pets. We also get a lot of very young puppies.
Most of the water runs off but we have a lot of dogs so you can imagine what else we have to cope with.....


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