I'm writing a book

[theauthor]

Greetings,

I'm writing a book about solar energy (probably just PV but haven't decided yet).

I have sought (and gained) the permission of a moderator to place this post here. Thanks Martin 

The book will be a guide for those thinking of getting in to solar energy and I would love to hear suggestions from anyone who has ideas that they think should be included: tips, tricks, what to avoid, what to look for etc. etc..

It will be aimed at the global market so I'm not too interested in specifics about the change in FiT in UK.

Thanks in advance.

[djh]

The book will be a guide for those thinking of getting in to solar energy

Do you mean as a punter or an installer? Or some other role?

[smegal]

From my observations the following points need HAMMERING home!!!

Expalin about not getting hung up about module efficiency.
Labour the point on irradience and what that means, discussing spectral response.
Explain how shading is the devil.
What STC is and why it is relevant

I'll add some more points later

[clockmanFR]

I would have thought that your First Duty is to spend many, many, days reading/going through all the energy creation topics on this Forum, not necessarily just the PV sections as most of that is "Mine is bigger than yours" type.

There is some damn good stuff here, and written by real people with real experiences.

Read Read and Read.

[theauthor]

The book will be a guide for those thinking of getting in to solar energy

Do you mean as a punter or an installer? Or some other role?

Primarily punter but it may develop to be of interest to installers too.

[biff]

 
       like the man said,, read,,read,,read,
                                                    biff

[clockmanFR]

Perhaps biff, we should write a book.

 Quick because we have read everything ?

'Turbineers Allways Watch the Weather'

[billi]

Hello  theauthor

Hope you get some information here , seriously and silly  ones ......

Here is a picture  of me , i postet here on November 03, 2007, 05:59:07 PM  , when i installed my first PV panel (for my own) of the whole 1.6 kw array i bought   four (and a half) years back  (do not look to close     its like opening christmas parcels so  ....this is Billi the Kid )



I paid about  3.5 Euro per watt  to my door ,  ok came  from China  and  agreed was 3.5 dollar per watt , but ended up  being 3.5 Euro per watt  all inclusive (transport customs, vat.... )
 Two years back  i found a good deal on new B quality panels  for 1.3 Euro per watt delivered so got 2.4 kw more

At the moment  , we are under a Euro per watt (ok mainly chinese Modules with good quality)

Just yesterday  i missed an oportunity to buy  new 1.3 kw Chinese (Yingli ) panels for under 50 cent per watt in a German shop (they sell mainly leftover panels from  bigger installs)

So i  think , while not much arround us gets cheaper , that is an intresting development  (or is fuel getting cheaper , el. units, concrete, materials, food , nuclear plants ,transport,


And surely as they get cheaper  most people find a way  to even like them  nowadays  

So i would think ,that (price) development would be an intresting to follow up 
Billi

[M]

Perhaps biff, we should write a book.

 Quick because we have read everything ?

'Turbineers Allways Watch the Weather'

Might I suggest,

'Real Men Have Wind'

Mart.

[clockmanFR]

billi,

I see you have a safe ladder?  

When i said look at the energy creation bits in this forum, i really did mean it.
It just saves me going on about stopping 'Hugh Piggott' 3.7m dia wind turbine manufacturing, because all the component parts have risen about %20 in one year. And the fact that i will be buying 3kw of PV for £3,000 for my PV tracker units is now just slightly cheaper than my windturbine constructions at approx £1100 per Kw.

Very strange just realised something about us windturbine folk, the mast, and that its up there in the sky really does get under one's skin. The fact that I am now sticking PV panels on a slowly moving pole in the sky again, where most normall folk stick PV on to something solid. drr

  

[billi]

na , was not my ladder , but i saved her 

Anyhow , us small  guys   perhaps only profit from that development  , i wounder  if the Desertec idea based on concentrated solar thermal  did their calculations right   

[ecogeorge]

billi,

I see you have a safe ladder?  

When i said look at the energy creation bits in this forum, i really did mean it.
It just saves me going on about stopping 'Hugh Piggott' 3.7m dia wind turbine manufacturing, because all the component parts have risen about %20 in one year. And the fact that i will be buying 3kw of PV for £3,000 for my PV tracker units is now just slightly cheaper than my windturbine constructions at approx £1100 per Kw.

Very strange just realised something about us windturbine folk, the mast, and that its up there in the sky really does get under one's skin. The fact that I am now sticking PV panels on a slowly moving pole in the sky again, where most normall folk stick PV on to something solid. drr

  

Sorry to hijack the thread but Clockman why do you not turn your obvious skills to manufacturing and selling pv trackers ?
There is not a uk tracker on the market.
Lorentz and others are mainly german (but good).
Slovenia had one good one but would not accept credit card and I would do bank transfer to slovenia!!
rgds George.

[clockmanFR]

ecogeorge, I have posted somewhere on this forum that i have a design drawn out, for PV trackers,  (based on an American Chap who has some structural knowledge on Fieldlines Forum), and 2 new designs of tracker circuits on there way to me, and i mentioned pinching, sorry, borrowing a gate entrance opening arm as the activator for east to west. If you go back through my old postings on my profile you should find my jottings.

I agree the market will get better for trackers if the price of PV stays put, but present available trackers are just over the top for price and materials used.

Let me get a couple up and working first, but at this stage the design looks a goer. For the 6 panel version I can keep the weight of the frame to about 150Kg, and the panel's would be approx 120Kg. The centre pole would be around 200mm dia and base would be in the ground with minimal concrete, (depends on ground conditions), max height 5.2m and ground clearance at full tilt east or west would be 1.3m, (sheep clearance). I have done a 8 panel version but then wind constraints take over and the frame gets heavy.

I have a good friend who lived in Slovenia but now he has moved to inland Bordeaux because he said it gets mighty cold in Slovenia. But he is a damn good welder and we have worked together on many a project.

[ecogeorge]

Would the control circuit be from Redrock ?
There is also a good australian pcb about -search ebay.com (not uk) for tracker.
Can forward you installation manual for Lorentz if any help -useful diagrams of how the design works.
I guess any good linear actuator would do.
rgds George.
ps -hurry up and design one-in the market next yr to transfer 1kw to tracker.

[wookey]

I'd suggest emphasising that solar thermal gives a lot more energy per m2 and is a lot cheaper (than PV), so shouldn't be forgotten in the rush to put PV everywhere. You need heat and that can't be remotely generated very easily, unlike electricity. There are enormous amounts of info on this forum about how to make cost-effective solar thermal systems. I won't go into those now in case you say 'nope, not talking about thermal at all in this book'.