After the Party

At the time of writing this, Glastonbury looms on the weekend horizon - lets hope the rain stays away this year - to do battle with the World Cup (particularly England's game on Sunday) and of course Wimbledon reaches the half way stage.

But what happens after the 'party'? Once everyone's gone home, back to their usual everyday lives, what grabs our attention - what fills our days?

I think it's a bit like that with Solar Energy and the recent feed-in tariffs announced.

There was a lot of build up and I mean a lot of comment and anticipation, there was the launch date and then.... well not much it seems. At least not in my neighbourhood.

The web seems not only full of stories of solar installation companies being busy, but also of reports of homeowners being given false information by unscrupulous installers and shoddy installations.

But I don't see a lot of evidence of massive installations on my travels around Derbyshire. In fact I don't think I've seen one more house with solar panels on it than before April.

So what's stopping people or are they really not aware of what a good installation can offer them?

The Government announced last week that it's planning to scrap a load of 'under-performing' websites after reviewing current web activity and realising they'd spent over £94 million on 46 websites with an additional cost of £32 million in staffing costs for 2009-2010 alone.

One website they could do with keeping, or at least improving is one on advising homeowners on green energy and spelling out exactly how much a solar system could cost, and how long it will take a homeowner to recoup their investment after feed-in tariffs and installation grants have been taken into account.

This, to me anyway, seems to be the biggest hurdle to mass take up by homeowners of solar energy. We all know it's good, we just don't know how much it's going to cost us.

One cost you can get for yourself is a quote on an installation - photovoltaic or hot water solar system - from Solar Panel Quoter.co.uk. A free online resource that afterwards, if you choose to, can put you in touch with reputable local solar panel installers near you.

photo credit: infrogmation

But the sun never shines at Glastonbury

Spotted on This is Bristol was this story about Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis renewable energy effort.

In what will become Britain's biggest privately owned solar farm, the project will see more than 1,100 panels, weighing 22.5 tons, installed on a specially re-inforced barn roof.

He expects the system to pay for itself in 6 years, through the feed-in tariffs as well as reducing his own energy bills.

In a recent call for all outdoor festivals to become greener, you may be interested to know that the Festival organisers have already bought all the used chip shop oil they can which will be used to power the onsite generators.

It's a fascinating story and illustrates what you can achieve with solar energy if you've got a roof big enough.

Click here to read the full article now.

photo credit: foxypar4

Welly good idea - phone & mp3 charging for Glastonbury

The nearest I've got to seeing a live band is watching Abba The Movie so although I'm not an expert on music festivals like Glastonbury (nasty muddy places), I can appreciate the technological endeavours and creative minds that come up with eco-friendly ways to charge mobile phones and mp3 players etc when there's not a wall socket in the nearest bush.

Like the Orange Power Wellies - wellington boots (the optimal foot wear for any serious festival goer apparently) which generate and store power from a thermoelectric power generating sole.

All you have to do is walk around, dance etc and the heat generated by your feet is converted into energy. At the end of the day, you simply plug in your device to the power outlet at the top of the boot to recharge it.

The wellies have been developed by GotWind, working with Orange for the fourth year on their special Glastonbury eco-projects which in previous years have seen a kinetic device which generated energy from dancing and a special foot pump which could generate electricity.

Read more by visiting GotWind.org - click here.

photo credit: russell j smith