This looks like a bit of fun....

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 06 Jun 2011, 12:54

Plug-and-play system of 185WP Schuuco panel, natty frame mount and inverter for Eur799.
More...

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 06 Jun 2011, 18:54

Cool.

What do our experts here think of it?

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 06 Jun 2011, 21:29

Well I'm not quite the expert, but Schuuco panels are a good make, and at about £550 for 185 WP that's itro £3,000 per kWp, quite good value!

I don't know if it'd qualify for the Fit...but if you moved house it'd be relatively easy to take with you (warning: you'd definitely not qualify for the FiT in the new house if you did that, though).

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 07 Jun 2011, 11:18

The website, unless I've missed a vital page, doesn't give many clues as to how the thing actually works.

Post by **adam2** » 07 Jun 2011, 12:19

Whilst it presumably works as advertised, I doubt that these are feasible for the UK market.
Grid tied solar is not normally viable unless subsidised, and these subsidies are available as disscussed on these forums.

However to be eligable for for the payments, special metering and tarrif arrangements are required, and additional wiring.
This is unlikely to be viable for such a small system.

If simply plugged in to a standard socket outlet, then any financial gain would be very limited, and with some types of meter it might even make the bill bigger !

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 07 Jun 2011, 12:23

Does it work on the same principles as the Windsave thingy?

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 07 Jun 2011, 13:39

Certainly fun but you're not going to get the FiT payment so it's going to take a long time to pay for itself.

(The windsave thingy suffers from small size and the power law, which doesn't apply to solar pv.)

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 07 Jun 2011, 14:54

What I meant was, does it just plug into a power socket and get, errmmm, 'mixed in' with your regular supply? The website is unclear on this point and I don't know enough about elec-treacle things to make an informed judgement.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 07 Jun 2011, 22:09

Yup just plug-in. The result would be like "net metering", so payback would take a l-o-t longer than with the FiT of 42p/kWh. But as a hobby kinda-thing, with the flexibility of being able to hook up to battery charging instead, or indeed take it with you if you move, or if you think the price of leccy is going to skyrocket, it might be a goer.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 08 Jun 2011, 09:34

Thanks for that.

I suppose what we should be thinking about is, there are people out there trying to make a go of alternatives; if there are enough ideas and there's enough imagination, something truly useful might take hold and make a difference. Otherwise, it's just another bau situation.