So much for solar.

We don't have solar power, it's only sunny in the summer and besides I have probably 100 trees on my property making sunlight to the house impossible. We also don't have dirt roads here they are all concert or blacktop, but, they do at times flood. Autumn? We haven't had any LOL It has been in the 30's for the past few weeks with heavy rain. I'm waiting for Indian Summer!

We would love solar panels to heat the water but in England it would be a waste of time,to much dismal weather.I am thinking how lucky you are to be able to have them at all.We are having an autumn here and it is lovely,sunshine quite bright and cold at night.

I was under the impression that solar panels had a reservoir so to speak so that whether it be day or night the sun collected during the day could be used at night. The reservoir may be different for different countries, or used up more depending on the household. I know that Solar Paneling seems to be very expensive, and since I don't know the design other then seeing such things on t.v., and an instructable website, I couldn't tell you wehther my assumptions of a reservoir are right or wrong...

Sounds like y'all are having bummy weather about like us. The sun has not shined in days, very depressing weather. Thank heavens the street in front of my house is paved, no mud thank heavens. I don't have anything solar so have to use the crntal unit for air & heat. my hot water heater is gas so if the power goed off i at least still have good warm water to take a shwer with. Sorry things aren't good for u rifgr now. Hope they get better soon.

Well, I can say yes to one of your questions. Autumn has vanished! It was summer, now we're expecting snow for the next 3 days! This is unbelievable weather!!! Right now, it is 37 degrees F, only 5 degrees above freezing, and we haven't even hit the middle of Fall yet! We don't usually expect snow until late November or early December. Sometimes, we don't get snow until January and here we are, the middle of October, and snow is expected for the next 3 days. Our property has a communal road running right through it to houses beyond our house from the entrance to our little private community here. On one side is our lake. The road takes a slight dip from where our house sits to the other side of the lake. We were told that it used to disappear in the rain, before the massive flood drains were installed, running underneath the road from the lake to the other side which is much lower. I'm so glad it doesn't flood now. Even though we rarely use that portion of the road (our driveway is prior to that area) we still use it to get to the other end of our property. Now, as to your solar question, yes, I am still convinced that it is very beneficial. The thing to remember is that the word "solar" means "sun". If there is no sun, you won't benefit from it unless you have many, many batteries to be charged up when the sun is shining to be used when the sun isn't shining. Solar energy, for most people at this time, is usually used only as a backup, or only used when the sunshine is strong. I use solar power but I do not rely solely on it. We're still hooked up to the electric company. However, as for hot water, we installed a tankless water heater when we moved in here. We had the old electric tank-style water heater in here when we bought the place and I was just so tired of running out of hot water if two people wanted a shower or bath at the same time, if someone was washing dishes, or if the washing machine was running. Tankless water heaters heat the water on an as-needed basis. The water runs through many feet of pipes in this heater which heat the water as it passes through, so our hot water is unlimited. We use propane to run the heater, because I was tired of relying on electricity which is so much more expensive than propane. As long as we have propane in the tank, we have hot water, even if 3 people wanted a shower at the same time with the washing machine running! Do you have these tankless water heaters where you live? It's relatively easy to have a propane tank installed.

If a solar hot water system is designed right it should keep the water at least warm for up to 4 to 5 days! It all depends on the storage amount and the way it's insulated at the storage point! I've installed many of these systems, also they usually have a back up hot water tank powered either buy electric or gas, that will kick in automatically if the solar water cools to a certain temperature! I usually put a solar electric panel on the roof to power the pump for the water system to save even more cash! tdemex

i like the idea of it,but solar anything in my area would be pretty useless about 6 months of the year.you'd have to have a back system just in case. it might work for small things,but i don't know about water heat.

Our autumn has disappeared.....and we have had snow a few times already....but it's gone now.....I am not totally convinced about solar and how useful it is. I don't use it any place in my home but even some of the small solar lights that line peoples gardens etc hardly work....so I am not convinced it's all that great.

hi thea from the dry dry dry land of California where the sun shines a lot when its not foggy but no rain comes down however. we had two little showers that did not even leave any dampness at all. Solar energy is really great and could be used a lot more than it is here in california. Our autumn is just like our summer lol. but when it gets to fifty here we all go around moaning oh its so cold. really. I was born in South D akota where fall and winter were fall and winter with rain and snow,lots and lots of snow.There cold is five above zero and really cold is twenty below zero. lo lol lol.

Lack of sun is the one drawback of solar on occasions, but it is still more economical to install solar hot water, even if there are times you have to switch it back to electric. I don't know how our electricity costs compare with elsewhere, but it's not cheap and only going to get more expensive as the Emissions Trading Scheme comes into force (I'm a Green, but I have real issues with ETS, but that's another thread if I can get motivated). We are lucky enough to be in a very sunny area, and if it weren't for the cost would not only install solar hot water, but go for total solar power with mains back-up. Sustainable living is always going to be patchy, but it's still the only option going into the future. For instance, we have about 8000 litres of rainwater storage which is plumbed into our laundry and toilet, but the changes in weather patterns mean that our area, like much of Australia, has been unseasonably dry for several years. This means that there are times when we have to switch those areas back totown water, but in the meantime, the people like us who do this draw significantly less water from our dwindling local supplies than we would otherwise do. When we can afford the $2000 required (less the government rebates) to install another tank, this time a 10,000 litre size, we will also plumb in the shower, and as long as we don't go into terminal drought, should be able to reduce our demands on the water supplies by twice as much as we now do. Grin and bear it, Thea, it's still preferable to paying for environmentally damaging and expensive electricity supply. Lash

Hello, Thea. We have rain this morning. The problem with living in Mediterranean climates is that, although we get hardly any bad weather, when we do, it can be excessive. A couple of weeks ago, we had really bad rains and I had water pouring in through the electric light in our bathroom. Bad news anyway, but especially when you live in a ground floor apartment! Our roads are tarmacked, so the road doesn't turn to mud in the rain, but we do get a lot of sand washed down from the surrounding hills. For about a fortnight after the rain, until the council get around to clearing it, we have a very bumpy ride when we go to the village. I'd still rather live here than anywhere else, though.

We don't have any solar at our house and we don't live in the land of plenty of sunshine. In fact, this past summer it rained far more than it was sunny. It was a rather depressing summer. All of that said, when we are in a situation that we can afford to put up a few solar panels, we are going to do it because even the little bit of energy that it will save will be a benefit to us and to our earth in the long run.

Hi thea, I am from India, and our roads do disappear under water - at least in our city. There can be ample water logging at times, so much that water keeps on taking u somewhere at a right angle to the direction u want to walk to. Well, somewhat that angle. LOL. And the sewer lines are invariably inadequate. They are clogged anyway with the sand from some construction works nearby. The builder obviously bribes his way at the offices, and residents are not aware of their rights. Those who know their rights are too complacent. We of course remember that officials take bribes and are vociferous about it. Solar???? Can u spell it? Forgive my ignorance, it is unheard of out here - kidding. It is just too expensive out here. The sun is equally gracious - so we cant blame the sun god. It is the government - they love subsidizing electricity - that way they get our votes. Do u know how the loss is made up out here? We have something called telescopic way of billing. So - the slab changes with the quantity of power consumed. The moment the slab changes to the next level we get the bill - it is supposed to change every month - at times the bill is for a period of one and a half month! Ingeneous, dont u think?

Solar power really would not work in Yorkshire! If they found soe way of harnessing the power of rain we would all be ok!

That's great! And thea I do believe in the power of Sun. I feel the need to worship it as in restoring its power. Its a blessing! This part of the year, it's all sunny here with clear blue sky but we hardly get winter nowadays! Hope, you are off now. Have a great day and have fun.

Welcome to "Wet" Coast weather, thea! I surprises me that with your homefront being so progressive, and embracing all forms of alternative power sources, that those dependent on Solar, do not have photo voltaric back-ups! Most of the new construction on Galiano, is introducing alternative power & water! But, we are not blessed with the amount of sun that you are, so all sites put in Battery Storage, so that on rainy, dismal days, the source is still there! Oft, these batteries are NOT able to do service anymore (like Ferries batteries) but they are able to store energy in their cells. Hence, completely recycled! The cranking power needed to start a ship, is horrendous, in comparison to the power needed to run the normal household! One other alternative, that is being introduced here is "thermal heat!" Being the "Wet" coast, a lot of effort is put into ditching & drainage....and yes, our Autumn, turned winter, for one weekend, our Thanksgiving! 80 cold records fell! Now we are back to wet....WET, and did I say wet. Have to grow the webs between my toes again! Have a great weekend, dear thea, and HUGZ!

Hi there Thea. I have been to Greece only once as a tourist and i wanted to share my greatest respect for the solar systems that you use in your country. This is a great way to save up, and also to help protect the environment. We do get flooded roads when it rain, even if i live in the capital of the city, because they "are never prepared" - i guess they usually prepare after it snows. The autumn is fairly gone, well we had a few warmer days starting yesterday, but i am guessing this is the last time we will see warm weather, or not ;) who knows.

Yes, I did want to put in a a solar panel but when I applied to my mortgage company they told me that I was too old to get a loan. W do not use it enough out here but it is put into all new government houses that are built for low income workers. Many friends of mine have done it but the cost is very high. We are just wasting our natural resource of sunlight