solar power now at £1/W

[Simon]

solar panels from ebay? my dear i bet those effiency around 1%  not the current top few years ago i read somewhere they made some panels which was a few 10% efficient. my policy on ebay is to only buy stuff from it what cant be fake, the rest prices are nice but thanks no and im not fan of cheap chinese stuffs which will fail soon without any warranty or detailed datasheet

You have failed to take in many of the facts stated in this discussion mostly made by me. Efficiency relates to the amount of solar power in versus what comes out as electricity. If the panel is rated at 100W and is poor efficiency it will simply be bigger. As already stated I have 90W of panel outputting 30-40W but that is not efficiency, that is England sun versus equatorial sun.

Yes you get burnt on ebay but it's not all bad. Do you really think what you buy elsewhere is that much different from eBay ? As I stated (which you ignore) some eBay sellers have their own website selling the same panels for 2x the price. But then the government does not buy solar panels off ebay and will probably pay 3x+ what ebay sellers charge for the same panels from their own companies.

[SeanB]

Simon, where can you get good grid tie inverters ( 100W or so) and the panels for a good price?

[Simon]

well grid tie inverters are hit and miss on eBay, I have had one blow up when plugging a lawnmower in next to it. I have ordered another that promises this sort of problem has been addressed but I now use a battery lawnmower. It is made by the dreaded power jack but then knows who really makes them. Solar panels I have not yet been disappointed with but I have only made 2 purchases.

[M. András]

without facts some thinking, if a 100 watt panel needs the whole roof of a house, then its a poor efficient one, but if the panel needs only 1m² surface area to generate the same amount of energy then its a better one. i dont know the phisycal dimensions of that panel what you are using. for me the problem with ebay there is no warranty at all well maybe they will refund you but you still stuck with the failed stuff or they require to send it back to china! to get a refund while in the eu every shop must provide 2-3 year warranty or they cant sell anything sometimes you see that on the price but you know that you simply give them back the failed stuffs and from now on its their problem what they do with it

[Simon]

There are UK sellers as well. All of my 3 panels were bought within the eu. We seem to have reached a point where mass imports can get a good enough price for the seller to sell for just slightly more than the chinese sellers

[M. András]

on a quick search on ebay i looked at an american company who sells and make those rolled soler panels its a pretty nice idea to cover the whole roof with it. but the price.
as for mass import you already know that when you buy in large quantities manufactureres gives you nice discounts

[Chasm]

Stable mains electricity prices ? which of the fantasy worlds do you live in ? Prices in the UK increase at an overly predictable rate !!! we will fast reach a point where panels will become ever more feasible, not for the cost of the panels but the cost of the electricity you have to buy in.......

QFT

Energy prices are rising and will continue to rise. And whatever you think they will not come down in the future.

Also the energy produced with your solar panel does not have to beat the price of the coal or nuclear power plants, it just has to beat the price set by your utility company. We are coming close to the point where solar energy reaches this price parity - even without subsidiaries or feed-in compensation.

OTOH don't forget that that there are more cost to an photo voltaic installation than just the panels and the converter. In Germany the mandatory lightning protection alone can easily run into 5 figure regions.

[SeanB]

Lightning is a real problem. Friend of mine has had no problems with the CCTV ( touches wood) since we went and added multiple grounding rods, one per camera, one per galvanised roof, a great big one for the DVR, and more on the overhead caternaries. Did the same for the alarm system too, and it so far is working.

[Simon]

Energy prices are rising and will continue to rise. And whatever you think they will not come down in the future.

And here's me thinking I was the only one that was clairvoyant 

[Simon]

A UK company has just anounced a 9% price increase in electricity !!!

[SeanB]

You are luckt Simon, here it went up 16%, and water by 100% ( and the same charge again for water borne sewage as well if you do not have a septic tank). not to mention the rates increase.

[Simon]

Yes but electric goes up every winter, now in the summer too !

[M. András]

Yes but electric goes up every winter, now in the summer too !

+gas+food+products+taxes while the income of the every day people stays the same only the board of directors life gets better at the bigger companies

[Simon]

yep same here. People look at how much we earn in england and think we are rich, but we are a highly taxed country and there are charges all over the place. You can hardly go shopping without paying for parking and I bet soon they'll charge to park outside your house....