Category Archives: One thing we have learnt this week

One thing we have learnt this week – ice based cooling

Here’s an interesting idea I heard about this week – ice based cooling.  One of the big problems as a solar PV homeowner is what to do with your surplus power output.  Certainly in the UK what used to be … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – nuclear power shutdown, power cuts and electricity price increases

Could a nuclear power shutdown in France lead to power cuts and price increases in the UK?  At the moment France has shut down a third of its reactors and facing a very real possibility of an energy crisis with … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – President Trump

President Trump.  Two words I find it difficult but not surprising to type.  After Brexit I have thought it was highly likely he would win for some months.  There are two reasons for this one of which is covered below … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – renewables capacity soars

A whole heap of reports have come out over the last week suggesting renewables capacity is soaring.  The International Energy Agency have said that renewables made over half of all capacity added in 2015 – a first.  China and the … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – weather prediction

This week I heard a short radio interview on weather prediction.  The Metoffice in the UK are trying to use the North Atlantic Oscillation to predict the winter weather.  Weather prediction is nothing new, people have been bending twigs and … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – world energy demand

The World energy council has predicted that world energy demand will peak by 2030. Or so the headlines in the press said.  What this group say in the report out this week is more nuanced.  They present three different scenarios.  … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – solar has overtaken coal

This week it was announced that solar has overtaken coal for electricity production in the UK.  Not only that, but on April the 9th there was no coal fired generation for the first time since 1882.  These figures are unofficial … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week smart meters delay

This blog has blogged on smart meters more than once.  As we said in our book smart meters are meant to “monitor total energy consumption in real time and predict and manage trends.”.   There are now 4 million in the … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – is battery energy storage here?

The first grid scale battery energy storage is here in the UK.  A Tesla system (who else) has been connected to the grid at a 500KWp solar farm in Somerset. One of the major problems is the sun does not … Continue reading

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One thing we have learnt this week – councils generating energy

Councils generating energy was covered in “You and Yours”.   I have blogged before on how councils are trying to combat high energy prices by setting up energy companies to sell energy to their voters.  This week “You and Yours” had … Continue reading

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