It is extremely rare that I feel that I can contribute anything useful
to this knowledgeable list and so I must seize this opportunity. Sadly
it is not a Linux related technical question and I feel I must wait many
years for that to happen.
However there has been a revolution in PV panel economics since April
1st (seriously) when the Government introduced extremely generous Feed
in Tarifs.
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Sell-your-own-energy/Feed-in-Tariff-Clean-Energy-Cashback-scheme
Anybody producing from wind or solar will get a payment of 41p per kwH
generated whether you use it yourself or export it. To compare
electricity costs about 11p /Kwh. In addition you get 3p /kwh for
exported electricity. All this is guaranteed for 25 years and is tax
free. It is looking like a 7-8% tax free return on an investment of
about £9 - 10,000.
However critics such as George Monbiot say this is a waste of money
because only the middle class benefit and non roof owners will have to pay.
I have been thinking of installing PV myself for some time for the "feel
good factor" . To cut costs I was planning to import the equipment from
Germany (surprisingly they generate over 50% of the worlds solar
electricity) and install it myself but a self install would not qualify
for the old grants. Unfortunately the feed in tariffs will not be paid
to self installers either.
However having looked at what is required to become a certified
installer I am toying with becoming one.
When I eventually get my PV panels, I want to do some serious domestic
monitoring of energy in and out to see for myself whether this is a
viable contribution to the climate problem. This would probably be based
on something like the Sheeva plug or a using a Linksys router with Linux
providing I can get some data into them. So any advice on current
monitoring would be helpful.
Roger
