Solar Panels

[papillon]

If I was planning my retirement to LOS I would have to seriously consider producing my own electricity.

 

Anybody that buys their own house must have considered Solar Panels.

 

Does anybody have them?

 

Can you insure against theft?

 

How long before they pay for themselves at current (no pun) rates?

 

Can you pump excess back into the National Grid and get paid for it like you can here in the UK?

 

Would it just be cheaper to pay a few Thais to generate electric on a treadmill?

 

 

Your thoughts please Gentlemen.......

[blacknight]

Only ever seen them on one estate as you go up Siam CC road. They all have them so I assume they were fitted as standard.

 

I once enquired about the Edwards hot water solar system but I would have to have lived in the shower at least 10 hours a day to make it worth while.

[cousin]

If I was planning my retirement to LOS I would have to seriously consider producing my own electricity.

 

Anybody that buys their own house must have considered Solar Panels.

 

Does anybody have them?

 

Can you insure against theft?

 

How long before they pay for themselves at current (no pun) rates?

 

Can you pump excess back into the National Grid and get paid for it like you can here in the UK?

 

Would it just be cheaper to pay a few Thais to generate electric on a treadmill?

 

 

Your thoughts please Gentlemen.......

I know that when I used to go on lads holidays in Greece that all the hotels had solar panels and kept water tanks on the roof in order to get hot water.

 

There are plenty of burgularies in Thailand and they take everything including the air conditioning units so theft of the solar panels is likely IMHO.

[Owen`]

Do more than just your homework on this. Look past numbers that are quoted, because many are wishful thinking at best, and outright lies at worst.

 

There is an enormous disconnect between sales and engineering. It's almost inconceivable that you could have enough surface area in panels to power air conditioning. The technology just is not there yet, and frankly, physics being what it is, it may never be there.

 

Don't think in terms of payback. Think in terms of possible.

Edited May 13, 2009 by Owen`

[js007]

Maybe some sort of passive solar for hot water would work without too much trouble. For example, tubing and a hot water tank on the roof to heat water for showers. I think the solar panels that produce electricity might be too expensive without tax credits and the like.

 

And don't forget regular old insulation. If you're using AC, there's no use trying to cool down half of Thailand.

 

J

[dontheturner]

Maybe some sort of passive solar for hot water would work without too much trouble. For example, tubing and a hot water tank on the roof to heat water for showers. I think the solar panels that produce electricity might be too expensive without tax credits and the like.

 

And don't forget regular old insulation. If you're using AC, there's no use trying to cool down half of Thailand.

 

J

Oh! Dear! Perhaps I have been on a different page to everyone else.. I was given to understand, there is a government website, offering I think it is £500 for every installation that some enterprise will install outside of Bangkok. A company in Bangkok have been making them for about two years now, but are not big enough to spread their installation network across Thailand. or am I wrong? I would stand corrected.

[BBB]

Oh! Dear! Perhaps I have been on a different page to everyone else.. I was given to understand, there is a government website, offering I think it is £500 for every installation that some enterprise will install outside of Bangkok. A company in Bangkok have been making them for about two years now, but are not big enough to spread their installation network across Thailand. or am I wrong? I would stand corrected.

 

Yes you can get free solar energy we have 1 and the sister in law has 1 on our land in the jungle where there is no electricity supply but you only get 1 panel which is just enough for a light bulb.

[papillon]

Yes you can get free solar energy we have 1 and the sister in law has 1 on our land in the jungle where there is no electricity supply but you only get 1 panel which is just enough for a light bulb.

 

Who pays for the light bulb?

[Gary]

Solar hot water is VERY efficient and viable although commercial units are expensive. As far as solar electric, I did a lot of research and found that it would take a minimum of fifteen years for payback. Batteries and electronic components won't last fifteen years even if the panels hold up.

 

Unfortunately Thailand is not very friendly as far as importing components. The government did have a program for areas without electric service. They furnished three solar panels and the system that would power a few lights and a TV. The person getting the system had to pay monthly for it and it cost way more than than the electricity was worth.

[dontheturner]

If I was planning my retirement to LOS I would have to seriously consider producing my own electricity.

 

 

 

Would it just be cheaper to pay a few Thais to generate electric on a treadmill?

 

 

Your thoughts please Gentlemen.......

 

Cheaper and much more entertaining to get the females out of Robinsons, Naked , on a treadmill, and I will come over, and prod them along (Aslo naked of course - and I have a big 'un) Horny old goat.

[Eneukman]

Some houses across from where I live have small solar panels. but they seem to be rather small to me to provide sufficient electricity, but I could be wrong. I did wonder briefly about the feasibility about installing solar panels on the roof of the condo where I live but after some ultra basic computations I quickly came to the view that the amount of electricity they would produce would be minimal compared to our needs - and that was without considering the cost of installing and maintaining them.

 

Alan