Ecobuild...What did you learn?

[tlsambo]

Just on our way back from Ecobuild and it seemed like a much more confident and settled vibe compared to last year. Did anyone learn anything interesting?

 

[trebormint]

There didn't seem to be many attending &, talking to a few reps, nobodies very busy.

 

[SolarCity]

I'm going this morning - anything to look out for?

 

[Earthstore]

Check out if the blonde is still working for Canadian solar,
She is a babe........

 

[Somecamel]

And the German bird at es solar

 

[Echo]

We're also there today, currently stuck in traffic though on the M1!!!

Other than the birds is there anything else of interest?

Also if anyone from the forums is there and see us, do come say hello.

 

[tlsambo]

we did manage to pick up several bottles of maple syrup from Canadian Solar. There's all the usual stuff really, I didn't notice anything ground breaking. The usual attempts to convince me that PV-T will work.... Quite a few stands manned by Chinese/East Asian people who couldn't sell anything to installers and couldn't speak much English either!

 

[SolarCity]

I hoped to see a few more products which would intelligently use the generated power - seems like there is still a big gap in the market for that.

Optimism everywhere, but I suppose suppliers have to be.

One bluntly told me that after July I would have to be installing a 4kWp system for £6k to give a good enough return for the customer.

Everyone seems to be basing returns based on south facing/unshaded 4kWp systems.

Met a few more suppliers and it'll be interesting to see what prices come back.

 

[SRE]

One bluntly told me that after July I would have to be installing a 4kWp system for £6k to give a good enough return for the customer.
QUOTE]

Costs are going to have to come down drastically to get anywhere near that! I'm not really seeing any price reductions in inverters or roof kit and the cost of labour is bound to increase it's been pegged down for so long.

 

[tlsambo]

There is going to be a new product that can help automatically utilise the power you're generating coming out in the next couple of months. I think the lack of products is driven by the patent that I believe these guys own.

As for prices, it's got to happen, we need to get the industry off of subsidy ASAP, it's time that us PV installers were in a solar industry that stands on it's own two feet.

 

[babba]

Prices are going through the floor £6500 to £7000 for a 4KW...how low can they go...

 

[JulianC]

Just got back. Got sick of gawping a modules and inverters after the first five minutes so went on a freebie pen hunt instead. Got loads. Spoke to the chaps at K2 about their new, UK specific, roof hooks - fixable with M6 screws in accordance with MCS and Eurocode wotsits - nice. Went to poke fun at my mate on the Redland stand 'cos he was in a suit (good pens though). Had what appeared to be two different conversations simultaneously with some Chinese inverter manufacturer. Her English was better than my Chinese though, so shouldn't complain. Met a few suppliers and put names to faces, which was nice but really had no inclination to talk to the dozens of other wholesalers all offering identical kit. Asked the guy on the Elecsa stand a question he couldn't answer but promised he would look into and get back to me, so it's nice to now I'm getting something something for my annual fee.

Did manage to find two very interesting things to concentrate efforts on in the future. Neither of them involve PV, which is something of a relief.

 

[SRE]

Just got back. Got sick of gawping a modules QUOTE]

Thought it said models lol

 

[JulianC]

Never!

 

[BruceB]

Met Andy at Sibert so put a face to a name and David again at Power-One.
Power-One are due to be introducing micro-inverters and optimisers this year.
SMA released some new firmware for the Tripower last Friday apparently, which has Optitrac Global Peak. I look forward to getting it by email.
I liked the BIPV roofed greenhouse.

 

[finchy]

I went today too ...I was looking at other renewable technologies. I know what I need to know about solar for now, some marketing advice would have been good, people are talking it up but its easy for me to talk solar to our suppliers just wouldn't mind talking to new customers..........

Spoke to sanyo/panasonic bird I said her prices need to drop, I sense prices may come down in April.

Saw the Romag roof integrated systems, very impressive !

REAL audit tomorrow !

 

[SRE]

REAL audit tomorrow !

Good luck.

 

[Manny]

I had a chance of speaking with schletter guys about the end spacers and the nuts that are not secure and require 2 hands to assemble. I had a German solar roofer working with us and he said that schletter was awkward, he said big companies in Germany are working with smarter locking systems without lose nuts.


So I was pleased to see K2, with springs and looking system, self-treaded parts. I thought it was much easier to work with. I am still waiting for prices to compare cost benefit. I want to test it in a 45[FONT=&quot]º[/FONT] install soon and see how it goes…


I saw an unusual Solar panel that you can plug strait to the grid, has a normal plug in the end. There was also a company that made a solar thermal unit with solar PV in one, so they claim is the ideal as the PV gets hotter and start losing efficiency, the water circulating from the thermal system would control its temperature… Interesting concept however I think it’s far away from being adopt by big manufacturers.


I spoke with a Chinese Inverter manufacturer, and I found very attractive prices, some ½ of SMAs, and 20 YEARS WARRANTY. The truth is the Chinese have the money today, and they will be paying to get their products on top, 20 years warranty is a very good appeal.

Overall the show was fantastic, really worth to visit!

 

[TedM]

I saw an unusual Solar panel that you can plug strait to the grid, has a normal plug in the end.

If you mean a 13A plug then these would not conform to current UK regs as this type of connection is not allowed for microgeneration.

 

[Somecamel]

I saw this as well, the lady that was manning the stand didn't seem interested in explaining how it worked though.

It had a box with space for 4 panels connecting directly into it. Appeared to not need an inverter

 

[tlsambo]

I've been told those PV / Thermal panels rear their ugly head every now and again in the industry then everyone realises they're a crap idea. If you think about it, air cooled by the wind is better as there is no restriction on the heat being dispersed from the PV. To use the water to heat more water is daft as it would only be around 5 degrees hotter than when it went in.

I have had chance to run some of the Solar PV panel manufacturers I discovered at the show through PV Sol. Sovello came out quite good as did Jinko. Jetion PV is a bit below Suntech, however they've worked out well on some installs if there's a bit of shading.

Still got REC and Winaico topping the pile. If anyone else finds some high performers please can you share?

 

[Noshocks]

I just got back from there, the promo girls are the only thing that sticks in the mind for me, I must have got bored looking at module after module, nothing much new, apart from Mr Ploughcofts muscles bigger every time i go to an exhibition, perhaps Deborah Meeden likes her men Big!

 

[JulianC]

Just remembered spotting these on my wanders: Solar Limpets - Home Page

Spent the following hour trying to locate a barge pole to not touch them with.

 

[SolarCity]

I remember seeing those. I thought the plain tile ones were a good idea. The slate ones are a bit baffling though.

 

[Noshocks]

Just remembered spotting these on my wanders: Solar Limpets - Home Page

Spent the following hour trying to locate a barge pole to not touch them with.

When i walked passed this guy he was having to justify them costing £5.50 each to a punter, when lead probably costs less to use.

I just had another look, ythose werent the ones I saw, they were vacuum formed bits of plastic, these ones actually look better!

 

[JulianC]

Yeah, the ones I saw didn't look terribly tough and some on the stand were bolted through the tiles. They also had a 'mounting solution' that was simply a hanger bolt, again drilled through a tile, and fitted with a not terribly well fitting rubber skirt that was cable tied on. Wonder if they're aware of MCS012?

At the opposite end of the spectrum was the Redland roof hook - hewn from kryptonite in the devil's own smithy in the fires of hell (well, Swindon). OK, not quite but they are incredibly heavy, bulky and dare I say it, a wee bit OTT.

Think I'll stick with K2 for now...

 

[SolarCity]

Wonder if they're aware of MCS012?...

Funny you should say that. I heard a guy ask one of their guys something along those lines. The answer wasn't exactly convincing.

The plain tile replacement looks a good idea to me - do you think it'd be a tad flimsy?

 

[JulianC]

Dunno. My initial thoughts were that they might be susceptible to damage from over-tightening the fixings or standing on them. How would they react to repeated thermal expansion or contraction? UV resistant but for 25 years? Might well be fine but a plastic roof hook just seems wrong!!

 

[SibertSolar]

Just back now, completely exhausted and feet are killing me! However, we had a great few days and it was really good to meet a few of you guys on here - my thanks to everyone who took the time to come and say hi, really enjoyed chatting to you all. Lots of work to do now but really pleased with all the activity. We had some new products on display which raised a lot of interest, which I'll be releasing info about on our website and elsewhere soon. Keep an eye out for the new AC/DC switch enclosure from Santon, the new PV150 MCS Test Kit from Seaward Solar and possibly/hopefully some updates soon about inverters and mounting systems!

 

[Eco Deal]

so no new tech that will impress our customers and get them to say wow wee