Solar Panels working - it's great

Since we've had the sensor replaced our solar panels seem to be working better than before. As well as being replaced the sensor was also put in a slightly different position, so maybe that's why.

Between May 7 and September 24 2009 the panels were working for 246 hours total, about 1 hour 45 minutes each day on average. Between 18 May and today, 28 May 2010, they have operated for 56 hours, an average of about 5 hours 36 minutes a day. In addition, the water has been getting up to maximum temperature and has been working in clould as well as sunshine.

If it goes on like this then our gas bills will be even lower, which is great news.

We just need to make sure that squirrels/other wildlife don't take a fancy to the cable again!

The Mystery of the Solar Panel Sensor

I was saying 2 days ago that the sensor had broken on our solar hot water system. Well, the guys have now been out to fix it and the problem wasn't the sensor, it was our wildlife!

The cable had been chewed through and the sensor taken away. We don't know who the culprit was, but grey squirrel is at the top of the list of suspects. But magpies or jackdaws, with their liking for shiny objects, might be possibles, although it would be harder for them to break through the cable.

The squirrels have a track reocrd too! When the power to the garage was linked to the house by a cable along the top of the boundary fence they chewed through that wire and broke the connection. Every so often there would be a bright flash outside, like someone taking a flash photo, it took ages to work out what was going on. Presumably each flash was an electric shock for a squirrel, but it happened more than once so they weren't easily put off!

Let's hope that we don't have a repeat with the solar hot water sensor. This time black cable has been used instead of white and the sensor has been tucked away a bit more.

I'll keep you posted! I'd also be interested to know whether anyone has had the same problem - please let me know.
Carol Hawthorn

Connected to the sun by solar hot water

The sensor has failed in our flat plate solar panels. This event has made me realise the effect on me of having solar panels to generate our hot water. I have become attuned to how they work, almost subconsciously noting what the sun is doing when and whether there's any need to boost the hot water using the gas boiler.

It's not a case of keeping a record, using data or even feeling the pipe connecting the panels and the tank. It's not a technical process, it's an awareness of the outdoor environment.

I hadn't realised it had happened until the panels weren't working. Even though I knew the panels weren't working I got caught out and found there was really cold water in the morning. I had based my decisions on use of the boiler on the amount of sun, completely forgetting the link had broken. Normally, with solar panels, there would still be hot water from the effect of yesterday's sun. However, without solar panels you have to use your boiler every day to get hot water, so it's in use throughout the summer when your space heating is turned off.

I am really looking forward to the new sensor being fitted so that I can get back into my solar cycle again. It's about more than the savings on our gas bills, which incidentally are noticeable following installation of the panels. Payback on the capital outlay may take time, but our bills now and into the future are lower, so worth doing.