• Looking for a smarter way to manage your heating this winter? We’ve been testing the new Aqara Radiator Thermostat W600 to see how quiet, accurate and easy it is to use around the home. Click here read our review.

Reform party: just a front for fossil fuel lobbyists

Joined
15 Sep 2017
Messages
51,943
Reaction score
5,099
Location
Sussex
Country
United Kingdom
Farage says all renewable energy projects in Lincolnshire will be blocked



Reform-Map.jpg.avif
 
I must admit, I'm not convinced about solar farms of this scale. I think it works better for the PV to be installed on a building and provide power without the need for huge pilon infrastructure and loss of farm land

solar-farm.png
 
thats the project they want to block btw.
Reform UK's plans to obstruct green energy projects in Lincolnshire put at risk almost £1bn in local investment and more than 12,000 jobs, ...

Reform want to make Britain Great Again by stopping 12,000 jobs


I’m sure Vlad will be pleased his mate Nigel’s efforts to keep U.K. reliant on fossil fuels
 
I must admit, I'm not convinced about solar farms of this scale. I think it works better for the PV to be installed on a building and provide power without the need for huge pilon infrastructure and loss of farm land

solar-farm.png
Buildings are more expensive and smaller.

The largest building by area in the UK is apparently a jaguar manufacturing plant at 85 acres.

If that's the Springwell solar farm it will be covering 3,000 acres. You'll never be able to build PV powerplants by picking a building and then slapping PV on it, the small scale and higher installation cost, plus legal concerns make it uncompetitive.

Now should the JLR plant put panels on its roof? Absolutely. In fact they already have. Roughly 8MW of panels and it's only a small fraction of what the factory needs. It is economical for them even on such a small scale as they save on the Industrial rate electricity rather than earn the market rate supply.


All buildings should have PV on them now.
 
Last edited:
The benefit of installing PV solar on the roof is that it doesn't take up large amounts of land. What are the legal concerns?
 
The benefit of installing PV solar on the roof is that it doesn't take up large amounts of land. What are the legal concerns?
If you don't own the property then you've got to have some agreement with the property owner if you want to install PV on it.

Roof mounted PV is great, but it's also the most expensive way to do PV.

Imagine you're the company trying to build this 50MW array and you had to find 10,000 domestic properties that'll let you rent their rooves for 20 years and not get to use any of the electricity their panels generate.
 
If you don't own the property then you've got to have some agreement with the property owner if you want to install PV on it.

Roof mounted PV is great, but it's also the most expensive way to do PV.

Imagine you're the company trying to build this 50MW array and you had to find 10,000 domestic properties that'll let you rent their rooves for 20 years and not get to use any of the electricity their panels generate.
5% of homes now have solar installed. Imagine what 25% could do. Yes it costs more, but it's the right approach. The roof is wasted space, our country needs farm land for farms, or houses etc.

I installed my first solar back when you could get 63p per KW generated. Back then a 2.4kw system was costing £15k. Now you can get double that for half. The business case is sound and it avoids using up valuable land. The alternative is to have all this farm land locked out for 40 years.
 
5% of homes now have solar installed. Imagine what 25% could do. Yes it costs more, but it's the right approach. The roof is wasted space, our country needs farm land for farms, or houses etc.

I installed my first solar back when you could get 63p per KW generated. Back then a 2.4kw system was costing £15k. Now you can get double that for half. The business case is sound and it avoids using up valuable land. The alternative is to have all this farm land locked out for 40 years.
Im with you on rooftop PV, but Rooftop power isn't enough and will never be enough. That JLR plant is a good example, they out in a huge array and it's only a small fraction of their power drawn. They need more.

And ground mounted PV is absurdly cheap power. Rooftop PV is something like 2-3x more expensive per W.
 
The growth in Solar PV annually would power 2 JLRs. This is a tech, that improves year on year, I'm not convinced we need to go much faster than we are, otherwise you end up needing to manage the end of life and replacement of all these legacy units.

Anyway - the OP was arguing that Reform's links to fossil fuel are the reason they are trying to block the solar farms. Other sources suggest its concern from locals at the scale.
 
The growth in Solar PV annually would power 2 JLRs. This is a tech, that improves year on year, I'm not convinced we need to go much faster than we are, otherwise you end up needing to manage the end of life and replacement of all these legacy units.

Anyway - the OP was arguing that Reform's links to fossil fuel are the reason they are trying to block the solar farms. Other sources suggest its concern from locals at the scale.
it's nimbys, it's always nimbys.
 
The panels look like they'll last 30-40 years at the moment. Retirements are a way off yet

PV growth is huge, 600GW of panels last year. Most of it in China. We're pretty slow at large scale PV and Grid batteries.
 
The panels look like they'll last 30-40 years at the moment. Retirements are a way off yet

PV growth is huge, 600GW of panels last year. Most of it in China. We're pretty slow at large scale PV and Grid batteries.
I think they have a 20 year life, based on my own installs.
 
Back
Top