PV solar panels for a crazy world




A powerful argument for PV solar panels

April 25th, 2014

This sentence is the most profound statement I have heard over the last ten years since working on Power My Power. It now marks this point in time, in which the benefits of installing solar panels, exceed the reasons not to.

This statement came from one of our regular contributing experts within our solar enthusiasts’ forum, where the age-old question of, ‘are solar panels worth it’, occasionally gets asked.

This once common question now gets asked far less frequently than even a couple of years ago.

Since the start of the German-inspired feed-in tariff scheme (FIT), the incentive reduced to newer adopters, several times to align the reward scheme with the reducing price of an average solar panel installation today. Read the rest of this entry »


Putin is a promoter for solar panels

April 17th, 2014

You don’t need me to tell you that Vladimir Putin has the whole of Europe in a ‘cheque mate’ position, with his hands firmly on thirty per cent of the energy resources we use and ultimately the affordability of heating our homes.

The squabbling for thinner and thinner energy resources has begun, and we are not in a good position.

An alliance which will affect your ability to heat your home.

An alliance which will affect your ability to heat your home.

Firstly, you need to know the historical context in which we find our current predicament and more importantly, how you can protect your family – despite the power wrangling and muscle-flexing now going on within current world affairs.

I used to wonder in my uneducated years, why Adolf Hitler, spread his forces so thinly, which ultimately cost him the war. It wasn’t until I learned about peak oil and the continued fight for energy resources that it became clear. Hitler was attempting to gain full control of Europe and Russia’s primary oil fields. Read the rest of this entry »


I won’t eat Tuna Fish anymore!

April 4th, 2014

There is a saying “what goes around comes around”, and this has never been truer where Fukushima radiation leaks are concerned.

If you think this problem is a long distant newspaper headline, then think again!

If you only obtain your news from the mainstream media, then you can be forgiven for not knowing the real scale of the problem because there seems to be a real effort to conceal the true extent of this disaster.

Three years on from the radiation leak of an immeasurable scale by the meltdown of three of the plants six nuclear reactors, the true extent of this radioactive leakage, which still occurs even today, is avoided by the global mainstream news. Read the rest of this entry »


Why install PV solar panels?

March 27th, 2014

In a verbal exchange, the wisdom of adopting solar panels was brought into question. I was unwillingly brought into this mild-mannered dispute as a third-party expert to cast a professional opinion on this particular solar panel quandary.

Don't argue about installing PV solar panels.

Don’t argue about installing PV solar panels.

Commonly known as ‘Solar Stu’ to my friends for my undiminished enthusiasm for all things solar panelled, I suppose it was this that brought about this situation, but the question posted and this couple now each stood to hope for me to back-up their point of view.

Using my best diplomatic skills and to somewhat ‘sit on the fence’, I realised that both sides of this argument were correct.

The question should be, “will a solar panel installation be affordable for your circumstance?” Affordability is subjective and differs depending on many different factors, but installing solar panels should not be undertaken if it breaks the bank. Read the rest of this entry »


PV solar panels are cutting edge

March 19th, 2014

Feeling inspired by the recent Channel 4 series ‘Live from space’, I remember being influenced by the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) a decade ago which ultimately contributed to my enthusiasm for PV solar panels (photovoltaic).

The PV solar panel apocalypse in the UK between 2012 and 2018.The most prestigious solar panel installation on Earth, or not, showed me that you don’t have to be connected to the grid in theory and also in practice.

Now for clarity, I am not saying every home can live off-grid solely on solar panel power alone because there are two main differences between the ISS and your semi-detached.

Firstly, on Earth we are subject to seasonal changes with below cloud-level weather differences, and in most cases, the amount of space available to accommodate solar panels is limited here on Earth.

Read the rest of this entry »


From the oil age to the spoil age

March 13th, 2014

A college professor took a quick survey by asking his undergraduates, whether they cared that their modern lives were heading down a cul-de-sac within their lifetimes.

The question put to them:

“Would they make the difficult changes in their lives to prolong the technological age or just drive this ship into the ground to keep their current lifestyles today?”

Entering into the spoil age.

Entering into the spoil age.

The telling and winning answer amongst the group was to drive this ship into the ground to keep their current lifestyles. An attitude which is also prolific amongst the general population.

For all the brilliant technologies we have created, humanity has done the classic comedy scenario of painting itself into a corner. The thin and oily vail that holds together our modern world is reliant on a single oil-producing nation in one of the most volatile regions of the world.

And the signs from Saudi Arabia are not good. 60% of the kingdom’s oil comes from the Ghawar oil field that has been producing since 1951. The indications are showing that this strategically important oil field is struggling to keep up with not only our western demands but global demand too. Read the rest of this entry »