PowerSwitch

Dear All,

I am in the process of having a Photovoltaic system installed in the UK on my house near Bristol. In order to make a wise choice of material and installers I did a lot of research. help:

The best help I had was from a Database of user's installation showing for each site : Panels used, inverter, installer, output expected and much more. ;D So far it has 4 different coutries : France (83%), Belgium (12%) Switzerland (2%) and Germany (1 user). And now UK with 1 user (me...).

The lot is also available on a google map where you can spot where other people's system is set up, how far from you and therefore compare the efficiency of your system for that location. This is very useful as well for people who want to assess the resulting output they can expect from the installation.

The one problem so far is that it's all in French (I am French...). I have contacted the administrator and maker of that site and he is in the process of making the database English-friendly. So far I have sent him a list of all the counties from England, Scotland and Wales in order to make the registration by geographical region.

The interest for us, Uk users, would be to have a geographical database of microgeneration in the UK, showing that we too can produce electricity despite a location which could seem at first challenging.

So please go and visit this site and I would be very greatful if some PV systems owners could try and register their installation.

The link :

http://www.bdpv.fr/
Map:
http://www.bdpv.fr/carte_installation.php
Quick Presentation:
http://www.bdpv.fr/wink.php
Photos of the site:
http://www.bdpv.fr/copie_ecran.php
Link to my (very small) Installation so far:
http://www.bdpv.fr/fiche_utilisateur.php


On the map each sun shows and PV set-up producing electricity. A cloud is where the user has not yet entered any productions.

If you try to register and get stuck, contact the administrator (http://www.bdpv.fr/contact.php) who will forward your email to me and I will help you.

I hope you get as much as I had from this site, I look forward to see loads of UK systems on there!

Stef

For anyone trying to register, the British counties have now been added, they are at the end of the list of French departments.

Thanks again,

Stef

I am afraid that I, and possibly others may not be too keen on registering PV systems.
Firstly it might set the part pee police onto us, and secondly is it wise to be on a publicly available database?
Risk of it being requistioned or stolen in the event of any sudden crash.

I doubt that it matters much for grid tied, these are already on all sorts of databases anyway, but for standalone perhaps discretion is better.

Umm, interresting opinion Adam, my PV are not really discrete, it's 14 m2 of roof in direct public eye.

I am not scared, they are part of the house and therefore insured, most of it tied to the grid. Also, My neighbour also has a car which cost more than my system and is easier to steal/easier to trade...

Furthermore the database does not contain any adress and is strongly protected by some IT security experts. The Database is very useful to compare materials/panels/inverters and prepare beginners to choose them.

I believe in showing the Solar installation, yet with a certain degree of risk, in order to show that solar power IS available in the UK so the weather can not be blamed in not trying alternative energies