What next...

[RawRob]

You could see if http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/ would stock it. They sell lots of books (mostly published by themselves I think) on green topics including solar.

Rob

[MikeBoxwell]

Out of how many?

There are about 170-odd on Amazon UK and about double that on Amazon US.

I am setting up a different distribution outlet for specialist shops to be able to buy the book in bulk at a higher discount and I am hoping that I can use this to encourage eco-shops and solar specialists to stock it as a result.

The problem with selling through solar specialists is that I make the point in the book that grid-tie solar electricity (i.e. the expensive stuff that solar specialists make the most money on) by itself does nothing to reduce CO2 emissions and does nothing to benefit the environment. For obvious reasons, that does not go down too well with these companies, even though many solar installers have admitted in private that I am right.

That is not to say that solar power cannot be environmentally friendly and help reduce CO2 emissions, but you have to design the system in such a way that it does actually achieve that aim, and a lot of grid-tie solar systems simply don't.

[PremierPDS]

The problem with selling through solar specialists is that I make the point in the book that grid-tie solar electricity (i.e. the expensive stuff that solar specialists make the most money on) by itself does nothing to reduce CO2 emissions and does nothing to benefit the environment.

I never knew this, why so?

[MikeBoxwell]

Here in the UK, peak demand for electricity comes in the evening. Demand between 7pm and 10pm far outstrips power usage during the day.

As a consequence, the National Grid has to cater for this huge power demand and there are very few power sources that can be switched on and off like a tap - they generate a relatively constant amount of power all the time.

Of course, there are exceptions - hydro electricity for instance literally can be switched on and off like a tap, but coal, nuclear, gas and oil are a lot more limiting in what you can do.

So during the day, most of the electrical capacity of the national grid is unused. Power stations go into standby, still emitting large quantities of CO2 but the generation capacity goes unused.

A 'grid tie' solar system is designed to pump your surplus electricity out onto the national grid when you have it and then you take electricity back out of the grid when you need it.

The problem is, solar generates all its power during the day, when quite frankly the national grid doesn't need it. A grid-tied system doesn't store the energy anywhere - it has to be used there and then or it is lost.

Then, in the evening, when the national grid needs every spare watt of electricity it can get, grid-tied solar houses are taking power from the grid just like everyone else.

So what's the point? It certainly isn't doing anything to reduce CO2 emissions.

Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. If the energy was stored somewhere - in a battery bank for instance - so that spare energy during the day was stored and then used in the evening, that is then going towards reducing overall CO2 levels. Even better, if these systems could be feeding the national grid during the evening, it would start making a useful net gain to the national grid, even if the batteries were then charged up during the middle of the night using surplus energy from the national grid.

Don't get me wrong - solar does have its part to play. A carefully designed solar electric system can make a difference to CO2 emissions - especially if there is widespread take-up of the technology. But right now, the benefits for solar are just as much to do with getting power to remote locations as it has to do with the environment.

[PremierPDS]

I'm really tired- just worked a night duty so forgive me if I ramble here lol...okay so if solar energy can be stored (which I assume it can be) in domestic non grid tied systems then why isn't this done on a commercial scale so the surplus energy created during the day can be used at peak times of the day...is this what you're saying? I'm a complete novice on this stuff but I've got to say that it does really interest me!

[MikeBoxwell]

Well the answer is - they're working on it. At the moment, when we're running at peak power, huge diesel generators are being fired up all around the country and every power station is running on absolute maximum to make sure we don't get brown outs.

I'm not kidding when I say absolute peak energy demand is immediately as the BBC broadcast the 'bum-bum-bum-bumbumbumbum' that marks the end of Eastenders - the whole nation gets up and puts the kettle on to make a cup of tea!

The national grid can't rely on wind power for this peak time, because it is too unreliable. It can't rely on solar power because the sun is either gone or too far across the sky to generate enough useful energy. As you say, the answer is we need some sort of huge energy store.

We already have some: it's called hydro-electricity and you can switch it on and off with a tap. There are other projects going on at the moment, converting electricity and water to hydrogen and storing it during the night when nobody uses much electricity, and then using huge fuel cells to convert the hydrogen back again to water and electricity during the evening peak. The problem is that it is early days for this technology - its currently eye-wateringly expensive and only around 30% efficient - and we're probably ten to fifteen years away from getting that working on such a big scale.

The other alternative is to use electric cars to power the national grid. STOP SNIGGERING - there are some very important people with 'Professor' in their title who are proposing this and VW are doing a trial in Germany at the moment to see how viable it is.

The idea is that when you get home at night, you plug your electric car in to charge up. Whilst there is surplus electricity on the grid, the grid then charges up your car. When there is no surplus electricity on the grid, the system then runs in reverse and the car supplies the grid.

There are a couple of problems with this technology as well though. The first one is obvious - HANDS UP WHO OWNS AN ELECTRIC CAR? Hmmm. That's just me then. The second one is that with current generation batteries, the battery life could be significantly reduced by using electric cars to power peoples homes.

[PremierPDS]

Hmmmm, very interesting and I would never have thought it would be so massively expensive to store energy...

As for the electric car idea...I know Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port on the Wirral are going to start manufacturing these later on this year so maybe it'll be the start of a new trend and the idea that cars can power homes might not be as far away as it sounds!!! Lets see what results from the brilliant German experiment...

[MikeBoxwell]

It isn't confirmed yet whether Vauxhall will be building the Volt-based electric car, and it certainly won't be in production this year.

Meanwhile, there are lots of other electric cars on the horizon. Renault will be announcing the BeBop Electric car this September, and previewing the new electric Meganne which is scheduled for production at the beginning of 2011.

I was over in India at the start of the year with another electric car manufacturer. They also have some very exciting plans for the future...

[PremierPDS]

You're right, just spoke to my fella and I must have got things mixed up about the new electric car and the new Astra. It's the new Astra they're building in September and maybe I was thinking of Renault- he reckons the electric car is about 6 years away at Vauxhalls and that's IF Ellesmere Port survives that long!!! Can't you tell I never listen to anything he says lol!!!

[chris.roland]

I'd recommend the online marketing side of things, use twitter, facebook and the like to get loads of info out there about it. Maybe even think about doing some search engine optimising for main sites. So many people browse through stuff and buy on a whim online, I'd honestly recommend it!