Gary Manuel
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Posts posted by Gary Manuel
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1 hour ago, MattyB said:
I see what you are saying about it not being the best financial investment you could make, but the section in bold is not really true.
Yes, you may well have a life expired battery system, but the PV would have another 15 years in it at that point. By the time our battery system expires in 10 years we will definitely have an EV with V2G capability, so I doubt we will need to replace it at all. Even if we did I fully expect the prices of those to have gone down in the intervening period as volumes increase. Also whilst you are right that no-one has a crystal ball re: future energy prices, look a the factors that are going to come into play in the next decade - mandated reduction in CO2 emissions for grid power and vehicles, political turmoil around Russia and almost all of our current domestic nuclear baseload going end of life. With that context it is hard how prices can return to previous levels, so in the med/long term it is highly likely we will be paying more for our energy from the grid as % of income. Being as energy independent as you can therefore does make sense even if the numbers are not as compelling a financial case as a stock market investment.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Solar Panels don't make sense. I just couldn't justify it at the time. Circumstances have changed and I'm continually weighing up the pros and cons. The thing that would swing it for me is if the government did what they should do (needs to do?) in order to reach their CO2 targets and offered financial incentives. Half price solar panels anyone?
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21 minutes ago, Tim Kearsley said:
Well a PV system certainly isn't expired after 10 years. Also, I'd really be interested to know where I can invest my money and get 7% return without - to me - unacceptable risk.
Yes, there's a risk with any form of investment. The 7% I referred to is with Kuflink Auto IF-ISA, though there are many others out there. The risk is acceptable to me, but it may not be to others. As always, do your own research and understand the risks.
You are right that the system will probably have some life left in it after 10 years, but then it won't have a guaranteed life as the guarantee will have run out, so that in itself is a risk that needs to be understood.
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On 11/05/2022 at 22:06, Tim Kearsley said:
Well we've just installed a 4kW PV array, inverter and 5 kWh battery for under £10k. The charger cost around £500. Would you like to tell us where your figure of £30k comes from or was it plucked out of thin air? I really wish we could stick to something vaguely factual.
£10k was the exact best price I was quoted for a similar installation last year (just before energy prices went daft). This was for a GivEnergy Hybrid system with 5kWp array. It was also at a time when AgileOctopus tarif was available, which meant that in theory, you could buy cheap (or even free) energy at night, store it in the battery and then sell it at peak times. I calculated that I would save somewhere between £500 and £1000 per year on electricity (without the AgileOctupus tarif, the annual saving was less than £500 per year).
This appears impressive at first glance but you need to dig a little deeper before taking the plunge. Over 10 years the system "might" just pay for itself i.e. 10 x £1000 per year saving = £10,000. At this point I would have saved £10k on bills, have a bank balance of £0 and a life expired system (?) which may or may not be capable of producing energy. i.e. I would have broken even but not have much to show for it. On the other hand, if I invested my £10k wisely and got easily achievable 5% compounded interest on it, I would have £16,470 in the bank. I'm actually currently getting up to 7% interest on my investment, which equates to £20,096 over 10 years i.e. £1000 a year saving plus I will still have my original capital. It was a "no-brainer" at the time, so I didn't purchase the system.
The "temporary?" energy price rise obviously affects the situation, but I didn't have a crystal ball to predict this.
I'd love to invest in a Solar system, have an electric car I can charge cheaply at night and do my bit for the human race (the planet will be fine regardless). Unfortunately, the figures just don't add up and will never add up unless the government introduce incentives to help us all to do our bit.
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The way NOT to "save the planet" is for everyone to rush out and buy brand new resource hungry EVs. My thought is (always has been) to run a car for as long as possible until the end of its life. When it does reach the end of its life, that's the time to consider going electric. Mine is 12 years old now and due for it's MOT this month. That will decide my next move.
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2 hours ago, IDD15 said:
Rich
This may get you an electric car and prove an interesting retirement project in one. Keep that Fiesta going!
cheers
idd
Now THAT makes sense!
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12 hours ago, John Lee said:
It may seem a gimmick but used properly it works. This was the average MPG on my Prius plug-in over the total mileage shown.
Impressive MPG figures there John. Does the car (or meter) keep track of how many KWh of electrical energy has been added? I guess that "EV mode" as displayed on the screen means that the IC engine only kicks in when you run out of electrons?
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I wonder who'll be the first person to mention Trigger's broom.....
My first model from 2005 is still active. Can't say the same about Norbert the pilot unfortunately.
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1 hour ago, Engine Doctor said:
Hi Gary . You are correct in assuming that Weston heat treat all their ali exhausts . Alan will advise best action, just bending it could cause a stress area and subsequent cracking.
It did fracture after a few flight and has subsequently had a new header fitted and been OK since.
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Touch screen in stock here if it's of any interest:
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3 minutes ago, Erfolg said:
A positive for this season, is that it is no longer a no-brainer to simply select Mercedes and Lewis, Then put together the best low value driver and car, you could judge. In the past the real challenge was the fastest lap, pole etc.
In my case I was just average. That was knowing that the front row would have Lewis somewhere there and that more often than not, Lewis would also have fastest lap, as the fuel load would go down.
Now, which team and driver are already a bit of a conundrum, both immediately and later in the season.
I've never heard Lewis Hamilton being described as a Lightweight Filler before, but I suppose it's true. ??
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32 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:
It's a changing art.
I'd say that (technical) drawing is a changing art. I have a lot of respect for some of the "Caddies" I've worked with. I certainly would never be able to do what they can do. I just can't get used to looking at a large drawing "through" a relatively small screen, hence the comment about keyhole surgery.
I maintain that draughtsmanship in the true sense of the word is a dying art. It will only get worse (or better depending on your point of view) as pens and pencils are replaced by mice and keyboards at an ever decreasing age.
P.S. To answer the OP. Thick lining paper and a soft but sharp pencil with a good quality eraser.
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CAD is great (I used Bentley MicroStation a lot at work) but it feels a bit like doing keyhole surgery to me. You can zoom in to add / see the detail and zoom out to see the whole drawing but then the detail disappears. With a hand drawing on a drawing board, you can see the whole drawing in fine detail at all times. With CAD, I find that I need to print the drawing out at full size to be able to instantly spot mistakes which I have missed on screen.
Pen (Rotring) and paper or plastic / linen negative (anyone remember Pounce powder and electric erasing machines?) for me any day, but then one of the early skills I learnt was draughtsmanship, including hand printing of text. Some of the recent hand drawings / text I had presented to me by the yoof of today for checking looked like they had been done by an arthritic spider. Looks like draughtsmanship is a dying art.
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What surprised me even more than the lack of an explosion in the video was the lack of vibration. To me, this demonstrates just how accurate 3D printing has become.
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Even if you use 2 channels, the issue of the red wire doesn't go away. You would still need to cut / unplug one of them.
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You don't need to cut the red lead. Carefully use a jewellers screwdriver or pin to release the red crimp from the plug. Fold the released crimp back on the wire and tape it up. This allows it to be re-inserted at any time.
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Wow, that's a big wheel you've got there James.
It measures over 10 FEET / 3m across ?
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There should be some square(ish) nuts in there Adrian.
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Hi Stu
I may be wrong, but my gut feeling is that although your Dynatron starter feels too fast at the moment, it will be too slow once you gear it down. I suspect that the Megatron motor and all other geared motors will be designed with the reduction ratio in mind, to have a higher kv (rotational speed per volt) than your direct drive Dynatron.
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Basil. 95% looks to be way out of balance (or faulty). Are you sure that you are setting your charger up to do a balance charge correctly? It's not just a case of connecting the balance leads. You need to tell it to do a balance charge.
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An early Happy New Year to all, regardless of where you may be.
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Electric Cars.
in Chit-chat
Posted
Its the LiFePO4 batteries and inverter equipment guarantee that is limited to 10 years.