Why is my neighbour installing solar panels?

[big-all]

sooner or later, some one is going to say that we only have so much sun light, but imagine the vast expanses of our land and roof spaces, we have enough technology, ie batteries, inverters, mirrors, change over switches. The sun always shines somewhere in the world.. Think of the future and what is possible. Not just head in the sand stuff about it being a bit cloudy here.

whilst i agree with saving the planet i do object to subsidising someone to the tune off 45p a kw soon to be 22p a kw to produce maximum output when we dont need it
i have to pay around £6 to buy a 430lm bulb to replace a 15w le bulb and my payback is around 2 years but i am not subsidised

the problem is to transmit power across the world from solar collection to here the transmission losses and new infrastructure would mean little or no usable power would reach us if the solar power was free and new infrastructure was also free you would still have to pay for it
i suggest you ban down lighters power showers and patio heaters that will save the planet

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Can we add warm air curtains to that list?

 

[mointainwalker]

@xdave

I speculate that the answer to your question lies in the fact that the companies wanting the FIT are more likely to be financial than engineering experts.

In order to minimise fixed-costs they will be sub-contracting as much of the on-the-ground work as possible and they will therefore get some incompetent or crooked contractors leading to unsuitable sites.

The salespeople - as already said - are liable to be paid by results and since this is not going to be a long-term opportunity, many will be lying their heads off/falsifying data to get sales and installations heedless of the consequences. Look what happened with the door-to-door energy salespeople.

The problems with the installation ( for the FIT company ) will not become visible for a year ( or more I suspect ) and so the guilty parties may have already departed.

@ 17thman

Your contributions lead me to think that you will cheer for anything that is callled "green" without having the slightest glimmer of understanding whether that is true or not. Your contribution to this thread is worthless.

 

[Paul_C]

What I don't want is for him to waste other people's money on them.

When those other people effectively have no control over the matter, because they're being forced to pay for these hair-brained schemes through their electricity bills.

i suggest you ban down lighters power showers and patio heaters that will save the planet

Can we add warm air curtains to that list?

And how about those open-top supermarket freezers? Or hallways with perfectly adequate natural light from windows but which still have 1kW of lighting blazing away in them all day long?

 

[17thman]

Hey Bas, i respect most of your posts. you have a point of view, so do I . But your last one has become abusive and derogatory. Argue what you want mate, but dont get personal..I have a vision about how this country can support itself. For the record I have B.sc Physics. Dont get abusive.

 

[bernardgreen]

It's because of the government subsidy they are getting. Maybe they make money even with a poor installation.

It can be profitable ( for the builder) to build a windturbine that only generates one megawatt hour of power in its entire life. That is the extreme case but in general a wind turbine is a cash cow for the developer. The same applies for PV panels with a FIT contract.

The cash cow eats money from tax payers and the energy bills of everyone.

I am totally in support of re-newable and "green" energy but object to the profits that are being made by mis-use of the commercial incentives being used to promote green energy generation.

 

[mointainwalker]

wind turbine is a cash cow for the developer. The same applies for PV panels with a FIT contract

But not if it's on a NE-facing roof generating next-to-no power as the money comes from the FIT as the name suggests and not from any up-front installation-fee.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Hey Bas, i respect most of your posts. you have a point of view, so do I . But your last one has become abusive and derogatory. Argue what you want mate, but dont get personal..I have a vision about how this country can support itself. For the record I have B.sc Physics. Dont get abusive.

Then don't abuse me by calling me a nimby as if that's why I'm opposed to the FIT system.

And don't abuse humanity by saying that it's OK to kill old and poor people in pursuit of your vision and shrug it off with "you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs".

 

[doorBell]

(ignore - what's the point)

 

[seasickstevie]

Who, or what are we supposed to ignore?

I wouldn't like to ignore the wrong thing or person.

 

[doorBell]

Me and my comment....nothing to see, move along.

 

[xdave]

I thought it might be worth updating this thread.

The neighbour with the PV array has now sent me a letter requesting that I remove the Norway spruce on my property that is casting shade onto his roof. Although the reason was not given I suspect it is probably due to the poor performance of the array as that end of the property is unglazed due to it facing a primary school.

It is an unfortunate situation for them, but it is one entirely of their own making. My tree is independent so is not subject to the high hedge rules, is in good health according to the last report two years ago, and blocks out the view of the property in question after they decided to raise their ground level by six feet and add a second storey when building their bungalow despite the planning restrictions*. I am normally willing to accommodate neighbourly requests but given their blatant disregard for their neighbours that is one accommodation too far for me.
* the plot was created in the garden of a local councillor for his son to self-build so no enforcement was taken.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Please keep us informed.

 

[Iggifer]

I would write them a very polite letter back saying you've considered their request, but are politely declining.

Don't give a reason and see where they take it from there. So long as the tree isn't overhanging onto their property I don't see as there's a lot they can do

 

[xdave]

I would write them a very polite letter back saying you've considered their request, but are politely declining.

Don't give a reason and see where they take it from there. So long as the tree isn't overhanging onto their property I don't see as there's a lot they can do

That's basically what I have done:

Dear Mr ...,

Thank you for your letter dated 10th July 2013 regarding the Norway Spruce located on my property. I note that you are requesting its removal or a reduction in height to 3 metres.

I have considered your request, however in the absence of any actionable nuisance being identified in your letter I am unable to accommodate your request.

The tree is question is a standalone specimen towards the rear of my garden but wholly contained within it. It was last surveyed in September 2011 and is done so every five years to ensure it is in good health. At the last survey it was noted to be in good health with no signs of disease.

The roots of the tree are very unlikely to extend onto your property given its position away from your boundary and its location next to a stream. No roots were identified when I excavated and poured the concrete foundations for a retaining wall to prevent your garden collapsing onto our property when your ground level was raised by six feet in mid-2008.

Unfortunately a crown reduction is not suitable for this species of tree. About ten years ago the main leader was broken and the following growing season a side shoot moved upwards to become the new leader hence the very slight bend approximately ten feet from the top. The tree is a vertical growing species which will reach an eventual height of 150 feet in about 50 years from now. Attempting to remove three quarters of the height from the tree will very likely kill it.

I am happy to arrange a meeting to discuss your request if you feel that there is an actionable nuisance present that I have not been made aware of, or if there is anything else I can help you with.

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