Does solar even work in England? I mean, it requires the sun to shine once in a while...
The problem IMHO with solar, or any "new" technology, is the fact that the state of the art advances so quickly nowadays that the stuff becomes obsolete almost before you finish installing it. You can do a calculation that gives you some idea how long it will take for something like this to pay for itself in savings; you don't actually save any money until after that point. But...odds are excellent that by that time, there will be something better available which makes your new system obsolete...and then the pressure from the socially/environmentally-conscious loudmouths will begin anew.
How about an example, you ask? Okay...wait, you didn't ask? Tough; here it is anyway: Not many years ago, the Canadian gummint did its level best to make you feel like a complete caveman if you still used incandescent bulbs in your home; what kind of amoral moron would do so when CFL (compact fluorescent) was obviously the wave of the future? In an effort to maintain their position on the cutting edge of social consciousness, many folks bit the bullet and bought a bunch of these much-more-expensive new "bulbs"; others heard only the words "more efficient" and that was enough to sell them on the idea. The powers-that-be even had numerous incentives and rebates available to those who "upgraded"...which of course means that even the Neanderthals who didn't buy these lamps wound up paying for everyone else's, since it was everybody's tax dollars that fueled these incentives. Depending upon usage, it could take years for that expensive CFL bulb you bought to actually save you any money over replacing a number of incandescents.
And then, not many years later, before many of those original CFL lamps had even burned out...LED's took off. They (Light Emitting Diodes) are even more efficient, last even longer, produce even less heat...and, at least at first, cost even more. Suddenly, CFL's were anathema; what kind of amoral moron would use them when LED's were obviously the next wave of the future. Somehow, the high mercury content of CFL's...which had been a known quantity all along...was now able to morph into the next looming environment disaster. Look! He's still using CFL's! Burn the witch!!!
And throughout all this nonsense...incandescent lamps continued to be manufactured and sold. If the government really wanted to save the world, why are those old bulbs still legal to make and sell? LED's screw right into the same fixtures, and are undeniably better in every meaningful way; they've even dropped dramatically in price. And, this is Canada...
everything here is illegal!...and yet the store shelves are still awash in incandescent bulbs, still the cheapest to buy, but still burning up energy and requiring replacement at frightening rates...and still 100% legal.
So, be very careful, Esox, before you dive into the solar quicksand. My wife asks me about it periodically; but between the panels, the equipment, the banks of batteries, the storage of all that equipment (certainly no room in my little house)...plus the labour to install all that crap...I simply don't see myself living long enough to pay for all that stuff and do all that work and then run it long enough to hit the break-even point and
only then actually see any benefit. And, of course, there looms the ever-present spectre of
the next big thing, better than the last rearing its "woke" head and turning you back into a social dinosaur, newfangled solar panels notwithstanding. Buyer beware!