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Why don’t the developers simply install off grid solar with batteries on these new homes? You can have a pretty solid off grid system for £20k

• mjbeswick 4y ago
  Because such a system wouldn't work in the winter. New homes in West London would almost certainly be in the form of multi story apartment building; so there wouldn't be enough free surface area to install solar panels to collect enough energy even if there was enough sunlight.
  • mytailorisrich 4y ago
    Yes, this does not even cover electricity needs in winter if fitted on an individual family house (my neighbour has this and tells me that they do need the grid in winter, and they still have a gas boiler) so on a block of flats this has to be more of a gimmick than anything else...
• sacrosancty 4y ago
  Solid enough to not have power failures after days of rainy weather? Maybe a more practical alternative is a generator.
• leoedin 4y ago
  Setting aside the day to day practicalities of off grid living (always watching energy use, no electric heat or cooking, the possibility of running out), the main issue is that this is the middle of the city. A block of apartments might be 6 storeys tall - a 50m2 flat would therefore only have 8.3m2 of rooftop - there's simply not nearly enough rooftop area to generate the power the building needs. Solar wouldn't even be particularly useful for peak compensation, as generally the UK peaks fall on winter evenings, while solar only makes useful power in summer. A better solution would be just the batteries. If these buildings had enough battery storage to compensate for usage during the few peak usage hours per day, the effect of new buildings on the grid would be negligible (as the grid is basically underutilised for most of the day). Then the solar could be built much more cost effectively in a field out of the city.
• acallaghan 4y ago
  The whole UK is on the grid, even if you have solar generation, you sell the surplus back to the grid
• yobbo 4y ago
  A single home with all of its roof covered in solar panels is barely self-sufficient, even during the summer half-year. It can be, but it depends on usage.
• vxNsr 4y ago
  Isn't london famous for its rainfall? kinda feel like solar wouldn't really work so well there.
  • smcl 4y ago
    I wouldn't say it's famous for its rainfall. It gets on average about half of the annual precipitation that New York City does, which itself isn't exactly known as a rainy place.
    • BongBongThrice 4y ago
      Doesn't NYC get heavier rain than London though. London just gets gray skies and drizzle most days of the week, without much precipitation. NYC gets a few days of heavy rain then lots of sun. NYC is also over 1000 miles closer to the equator than London is. People forget how far north the UK is, the vast majority of the population in Quebec lives further south than the most southern point in the UK.
      • smcl 4y ago
        It looks like their precipitation is fairly similarly distributed through the year, so it's not like London is just very slightly rainy all the time and NYC has a monsoon season. In any case, the point is that the characterisation of London as too rainy for solar is not right.