# I might be getting PV panels! :D



## Black Panther (Mar 20, 2010)

18 panels + 1 inverter to supply 15 units (minimum assuming cloudy days) of electricity catering for the entire house!
I've already ordered them and paid a deposit. But it's subject to being in time for the 'first come first served' basis to get a government grant.

If I don't get the grant I won't be able to afford them because the whole thing would cost nearly €12,000 

If this comes true for me, I'd be able to build more pc's and afford to leave them running 24/7 for crunching. I've already got psu's, ram, hdd's, odd's lying around.... what I'd be needing is a couple of 775 mobos and a couple of quads and easily I can make crunchers to run 24/7 at home! That apart from 3 single core pc's which I never run ie a Pentium II and two Athlons single core  Please keep your fingers crossed for me so this works out!


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## blkhogan (Mar 20, 2010)

Fingers crossed. Good luck.


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## Fourstaff (Mar 20, 2010)

Yeah, the last time I calculated the costs for PV, they ran up to tens of thousands. Good thing is, once you have them you don't need to worry so much about electricity bills and they last long.


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## Black Panther (Mar 20, 2010)

With this system I can run my bill to twice as much as I do now and not pay a single cent in bills. There's a 7 year warranty on the inverter and a 20 year warranty on the panels.
I'd still be forking around 7.300 Euros for the initial purchase.... gulp.... but I'm looking at it as a one-time long-term investment made possible for me only through the government grant...


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## hat (Mar 20, 2010)

Man, I really hope nobody steals them... something that expensive is sure to draw attention.


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## Arrakis9 (Mar 20, 2010)

hat said:


> Man, I really hope nobody steals them... something that expensive is sure to draw attention.



most people when they see them are like "wtf are those" and dont even know what they are


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## Fourstaff (Mar 20, 2010)

What is the wattage of the PV panels? I would kill to install PV for my house for €6000 euros. I assure you its going to be the best €6000 you have/will spent/spend.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 20, 2010)

Arrakis+9 said:


> most people when they see them are like "wtf are those" and dont even know what they are



Over, Specifically my county of Essex, people take the ones that light up street lamps let alone big ones


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## Black Panther (Mar 21, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> What is the wattage of the PV panels? I would kill to install PV for my house for €6000 euros. I assure you its going to be the best €6000 you have/will spent/spend.



They're 180W per panel and there's going to be 18 of them on the roof. Lol don't ask me how to work out the electric power generated because I don't know! 

Tbh them being stolen never entered my mind..... hmmm O_O
Can they easily be 'plucked' out?


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## WhiteLotus (Mar 21, 2010)

damn - hope you get them, that is an awesome investment.


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## Mussels (Mar 21, 2010)

since i cant afford this stuff, i too would have to kill someone for them.


I'm shocked that the aussie government doesnt install them on the rooftops of government/school buildings, and offer grants for aussies to get it on homes - the more common it is, the less likely they are to be stolen, and it would solve much of our energy/pollution concerns.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 21, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> Can they easily be 'plucked' out?



Yup, probably probably 20 seconds to remove a single panel, they're generally bolted down rather then stuck down so anyone with tools could easily steal them if they fancied.

I'd recommend getting theft insurance on such an item, especially considering your roof!



Mussels the reasons they don't install them everywhere is because in reality the "carbon footprint" of PV panels is enormous, like getting double glazing windows it will take a life time to pay back what they cost : ]

Tidal/wind energy are the way forward, at-least until PV panels are not so disgustingly inefficient!


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## Mussels (Mar 21, 2010)

ah i see. just that here in AU we have a massive abundance of sunlight you see, so it'd cover the electrical consumption of our air conditioners 

(and god damnit, i want a solar powered car!)


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## pantherx12 (Mar 21, 2010)

You've got loads of just open areas with nothing at all, not even Aboriginals XD your government should completely fill areas like that with wind farms : ]


Or PV towers ( big ole tower with a mirror array around it so the tower is the focal point for concentrated light energy ) since then you need less PV panels and compensate with cheap shiny metals/plastics 


Although maybe people would hate those ideas ha.


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## Mussels (Mar 21, 2010)

i completely agree, actually.

Wind farms may mess with the environment a bit (they do very bad things to migratory birds flying past ), but holy shit - we have these massive desert areas they could build raised solar platforms on and pipe the energy to nearby cities with no real worries.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 21, 2010)

By the way in terms of power PV panels ( good ones) convert about 22% of the energy they absorb into electricity D:


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## Mussels (Mar 21, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> By the way in terms of power PV panels ( good ones) convert about 22% of the energy they absorb into electricity D:



i wish we could convert heat to electricity. summer would be solved then.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 21, 2010)

I've been designing a steam turbine that operates on solar energy actually : ]

Won't post details here though XD

Concept is sound though I just need the materials to built a prototype : /


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## Black Panther (Mar 21, 2010)

If only the entire world would agree on this project 



> The unpopulated area of the Sahara desert is over 9 million km², which if covered with solar panels would provide 630 terawatts total power. The Earth's current energy consumption rate is around 13.5 TW at any given moment (including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric).


 (from Wikipedia)

*Mussels* the whole of Australia would have free electricity were PV panels to be installed in your desert...

*Pantherx12* I'm considering antitheft insurance, but well my house is so well surrounded by other houses and humongous apartments being erected after older houses like mine were demolished, there's barely enough privacy even for us  let alone for a robber.


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## sneekypeet (Mar 21, 2010)

BP look into your homeowners insurance. Here if its bolted down its covered, at least with the more reputable insurance companies.

A second note. For those in the states who use PV panels, they are connected to the main grid. So lets say I get 20K worth of panels installed. I dont use all the energy they produce, so the excess gets passed back into the grid, and our meters actually spin backwards. So on a really sunny month in the US we can actually get paid for our extra production


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## Black Panther (Mar 21, 2010)

sneekypeet said:


> BP look into your homeowners insurance. Here if its bolted down its covered, at least with the more reputable insurance companies.



I... have never insured my home.... yet.... 



sneekypeet said:


> A second note. For those in the states who use PV panels, they are connected to the main grid. So lets say I get 20K worth of panels installed. I dont use all the energy they produce, so the excess gets passed back into the grid, and our meters actually spin backwards. So on a really sunny month in the US we can actually get paid for our extra production



That's the way it is here too.  


If this works out, nothing's gonna stop me from building crunchers out of a room I have full of parts, and leaving them running 24/7


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## sneekypeet (Mar 21, 2010)

maybe ask the guys who install it if they use a special bolt or head on their screws. Just an odd head would thwart most theives. Or see if they have a way to lock a bar across them with a spot for a real padlock.

Good luck with it all BP, I hope it does come true for ya


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## pantherx12 (Mar 21, 2010)

sneekypeet said:


> maybe ask the guys who install it if they use a special bolt or head on their screws. Just an odd head would thwart most theives. Or see if they have a way to lock a bar across them with a spot for a real padlock.
> 
> Good luck with it all BP, I hope it does come true for ya



Nice idea 

Hell even if they use standard bolts/fittings you can go up and replace the bolts for something more fiddly in your own time afterwards BP!


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## Chicken Patty (Mar 23, 2010)

Good luck BP, fingers crossed here


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## Fourstaff (Apr 16, 2010)

Resurrecting this thread! BP, have you got your panels of free power yet?


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## Black Panther (Apr 16, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> Resurrecting this thread! BP, have you got your panels of free power yet?



The applications are due to come out later on this month.
Well, I've already paid a deposit so I'm keeping my fingers crossed


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## Fourstaff (Apr 16, 2010)

Awesome


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## DriedFrogPills (Apr 16, 2010)

Mussels said:


> since i cant afford this stuff, i too would have to kill someone for them.
> 
> 
> I'm shocked that the aussie government doesnt install them on the rooftops of government/school buildings, and offer grants for aussies to get it on homes - the more common it is, the less likely they are to be stolen, and it would solve much of our energy/pollution concerns.



they did offer grants for Aussie homes to get them, we have them here on our house. Thanks to K-Rudd


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## Beertintedgoggles (Apr 16, 2010)

If you want to improve the efficiency of the panels they make panel holders that will track the position of the sun throughout the day to minimize the angle of reflection for the sunlight.  I can't remember the price since the last time I checked them out but if I remember right it's pretty negligible compared to the cost of the panels.  Most include some software so all you have to do is enter your longitude and lattitude and they do the rest.


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## Black Panther (May 13, 2010)

Update... 

So like our government. First it promises stuff, then a press release was made declaring that the date to receive applications for the panels is now postponed to late June! :shadedshu 

I just wish I could similarly postpone paying my tax return!


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## PaulieG (May 13, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> Update...
> 
> So like our government. First it promises stuff, then a press release was made declaring that the date to receive applications for the panels is now postponed to late June! :shadedshu
> 
> I just wish I could similarly postpone paying my tax return!



LOL. Who says EU is all that different from the US?  I just wish a program like this existed at all in the US.


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## Fourstaff (May 13, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> So like our government. First it promises stuff, then a press release was made declaring that the date to receive applications for the panels is now postponed to late June! :shadedshu



Just like everyone else's. At least its not cancelled, and during summer months you don't use as much power.


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## Black Panther (May 13, 2010)

With the panels I can set up a couple or more Pentium 4's I got lying around to crunch together with my desktop, kid's pc, and try to get a couple of good-priced quads to leave crunching 24/7.
I've got enough parts to build another two pc's - just need the 2 mobos and 2 cpu's.
Without the panels the husband starts questioning why I'd need to have computers turned on while we're asleep or not at home. He's very computer illiterate and can't understand the concept behind crunching - the last time I tried to explain how it works he replied that it's better to just write out a cheque and post it to some charity...


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## Fourstaff (May 13, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> Without the panels the husband starts questioning why I'd need to have computers turned on while we're asleep or not at home. He's very computer illiterate and can't understand the concept behind crunching - the last time I tried to explain how it works he replied that it's better to just write out a cheque and post it to some charity.



 Your husband should be ashamed of himself, letting his wife do all the tech things for him.


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## PaulieG (May 13, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> With the panels I can set up a couple or more Pentium 4's I got lying around to crunch together with my desktop, kid's pc, and try to get a couple of good-priced quads to leave crunching 24/7.
> I've got enough parts to build another two pc's - just need the 2 mobos and 2 cpu's.
> Without the panels the husband starts questioning why I'd need to have computers turned on while we're asleep or not at home. He's very computer illiterate and can't understand the concept behind crunching - the last time I tried to explain how it works he replied that it's better to just write out a cheque and post it to some charity...



It's funny, this is about the same thing the wife said to me about crunching.  BP, I swear if you weren't married, you'd be a geeks dream.


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (May 13, 2010)

I live a 2 miles from the sea in a tropical country, i've been doing a feasibilty study on wind and solar but right now im so broke its not funny ... maybe ina few years ...


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## Chicken Patty (May 13, 2010)

Paul, what we talked about?   You'll have it tomorrow morning, I'll pm u later, at work right now so I'm doing my best to get a post or two in via my iPhone.


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## Black Panther (May 13, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> It's funny, this is about the same thing the wife said to me about crunching.  BP, I swear if you weren't married, you'd be a geeks dream.





Chicken Patty said:


> Paul, what we talked about?   You'll have it tomorrow morning, I'll pm u later, at work right now so I'm doing my best to get a post or two in via my iPhone.



Lol taken in context that sounds really funny...


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## Chicken Patty (May 14, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> Lol taken in context that sounds really funny...



Dammit BP, always!  


We still luv you though


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## Delta6326 (May 14, 2010)

that would be sweet if it passed. to bad your in the EU then i could sell my Q6600, and mb and get a i5


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## Black Panther (Jun 28, 2010)

I should have known it was too good to be true.

Hell I paid a €1000 deposit last March for these.
It was said the government will give the go ahead in April.
Then it was postponed to May... and then to June........ 

Now that it's late June we just heard on the news that the scheme is to be postponed for "indefinitely" 

F........ sorry I'm losing it now but heck they didn't postpone the building of a 'new' powerstation which pollutes more than those built in 3rd world countries and for whom someone's getting a €4,000,000 commission as long as it's BWSC who's taking care of the middle-person-guys notwithstanding that it's BLACKLISTED by ALL the major banks of the world OMG......

I don't have any choice except to demand my deposit back. Heck there's so much I need to have done with €1000, I don't need to have them tied up for the government to decide at someone else's own whim when it's comfortable for some persons' pockets to have solar panel contracts done in Malta... shadedshu:shadedshu

I better stop ranting now because I feel so pi.... I'd got to ban myself if I really vent out!


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## Chicken Patty (Jun 29, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> I should have known it was too good to be true.
> 
> Hell I paid a €1000 deposit last March for these.
> It was said the government will give the go ahead in April.
> ...



I'm not really sure on the whole thing going on here.  However just relax for now, and get your money back.  I am sure they can't deny your refund if it got postponed indefinitely.


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## Black Panther (Dec 16, 2010)

*F i n a l l y*... (I just realized how long this has been dragging on through the uber-oldness of this thread:shadedshu) I got my application approved, actually I mean all the applications submitted and conforming to the requirements got approved,  mine included. (Our government's got a way of stretching things when it comes to paying........)

So yes, I will be having my 18 PV panels at last - bound by contract to be ready installed and functioning before April 2011... but better late than never huh..

This way I will be able to afford building keeping a couple of crunchers from the spares I got and have them running at my home 24/7 without the husband nagging me on the bills......


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 16, 2010)

WOW i wished we could get some type of setup like that here in americana!


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## PopcornMachine (Dec 16, 2010)

I support you in your plan.  Wish everybody did that.

Good luck.


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## Black Panther (Apr 8, 2011)

Update:

13 months later from my OP....

Well, my application got approved, a year and a month later...

I couldn't install our intended 18 pv's because for some reason our electricity company doesn't permit more than 3KWh in panels (which is weird, I mean wouldn't the more be the merrier for everyone?)

So we had to settle for 16 panels of 180W total rating 2.88KWh. Then entire system was a whopping €10,000 investment..... but one day we might get €3000 refund... bringing our expense down to €7,000.

Thing is that this happened like 3 weeks ago.
BUT yet the electricity company hasn't connected us to the main grid.

Meaning that I'm using up electricity during the dark hours, and when the house is empty during the day we're pumping power to our electricity company without it being accounted for! 

OK *it feels nice having the refrigerator power for free while we're not at home, but all the rest of the extra generated power goes now to the electricity company without being measured. While after sunset we use pc's, tv's, lights, cooking....  And I just received a bill for €500 for that. Whereas all the power we're pumping back to the grid during the day, that's not measured, so it gets lost and forgotten *:shadedshu And my country here, we're speaking of 8+ hours of pure sunshine in April. During summer it's even more.

If at least we get the appropriate meters installed, we'd be paying €0.19 per unit for energy used and €0.25 per unit for energy given to the grid.


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## Fourstaff (Apr 8, 2011)

Damn, that is some nice electricity company you have over there, scamming all your monies away! My solution: build a monster rig and run it when there is sunlight, and then turn it off when there is none  Or buy some big ass batteries and charge them. €500 Euros for how many months of power?


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## overclocking101 (Apr 8, 2011)

panther, if you do end up getting them, I do have a msi P7n diamond (775, nforce 780i) i would be willing to part with for the cost of shipping to you. it dont have a sound card. I am pretty sure it works i used to use it before i made my backup cruncher an 1156 rig. if your interested let me know, im always down to help out fellow crunchers

edit: so the elec company wont allow you to power your house via panels?? thats bullshit! im almost wondering if it is legal for them to deny you that, I know it isnt legal here in vermont. but your countries laws are probably different. it all boils down to them wanting to line their damn pockets! sorrt for the rant but that type of shit really pisses me off, lol.


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## MilkyWay (Apr 8, 2011)

You will recoup the cost over a period of "x" amount which is great but the initial cost is the biggest hurdle. They should offer grants or a scheme to get them installed. In places where there is a lot of sun its especially beneficial.

They should research it more because you can store the energy for use at like night almost like a battery or something in laymen's terms.


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## AsRock (Apr 9, 2011)

Nice i hope that works out for ya.



Mussels said:


> since i cant afford this stuff, i too would have to kill someone for them.
> 
> 
> I'm shocked that the aussie government doesnt install them on the rooftops of government/school buildings, and offer grants for aussies to get it on homes - the more common it is, the less likely they are to be stolen, and it would solve much of our energy/pollution concerns.



We have food places here that only use wind for all the cooking and lighting which is pretty dam cool..

Love to do it my self to but the cost is such a shame and there is another possible benefit too were the electrical company can end up paying you money but of course that depends on the weather..  Which the roof on our house is actually flat it be pretty dam cool with all those panels on it lol


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