PV Gap

Raymond Said:

Low-cost, mass-produced solar starter homes - when will it dawn?

We Answered:

Vested interest by the architects,developers,planners,banks,mor…
lenders.politicians both local national are in the pot and all want to fell that their needs are meet before they will move towards a future which should have been deal with in the late 1940, in scotland they had tar paper and wood planks to help with heat retention,in england only tar paper with wood slats on which to hook the tiles,Then you take into profit that will only motivate the developers or Government regulations and the bureaucrats in whitehall are not known for hard work, then it has to go out to consultants amendments made put before a quango, made up of old farts that would not no why the change needs to take place fast, as they have warm beds large pensions to pay for the hype in utility costs.Popa

Kristin Said:

Solar/wind power for homes?

We Answered:

Such a concept does exist. An experimental station was built in Spain. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCGVTYtJE… Essentially it combines a hot air solar thermal panel with a wind turbine. Calculations tell us that a bigger station is more efficient, but this is not to say it cannot work on a home scale. It is like a hydroelectric generating facility in reverse. Instead of water falling to run a turbine it uses hot air rising to run the turbine.

A more modest use of the same principal would be to use the air flow to draw hot air from your home. All of this would have to be specifically designed for your home as there are no commercial systems available. The good news is that hot air solar thermal panels are relatively easy and cheap to build.