Roger440

The problem is lots if that stuff doesnt happen any more. Funny you mention bridge inspections. One near me, the bridge parapet collapsed into the river. Turns out nobody has done any inspections underwater since fred retired. Nearly 20 years. Yep, doing a great job.

I know my way round ls engines in great detail. Im using the donor vehicle for whole drive line, suspension, subframes, wiring, dash etc. Know nothing about vipers, nor are donors cheap!

With a whole fleet of classics it not remotely viable. Ive just started building a 57 chevy truck hot rod project. I did, briefly, consider an electric drivetrain, but then i came to my senses and decided to stick with a 5.7 V8 LS1 driveline. That said, its rapidly getting cheaper. Whats a real shame is that GM never went ahead with the "eCrate" project. And electric "drop in" replacement for the LS series of engines. Dropped due to liability concerns. https://gmauthority.com/blog/2020/10/chevrolet-performance-launches-electric-connect-and-cruise-package/ The interest at its launch at the SEMA show was mental.

Yes, i recall your pictures. But isnt there a bank/tress behind offering some level of sheilding?

I also cant be in a position where travelling is reliant on my ability to use a smart phone. Which is clearly smarter than me.

I have wondered about this for a while. Clearly as the EV fleet grows, and the ICE fleet diminishes, total petrol(and diesel) sales will diminish. There will come a point, where its no longer economic to continue selling petrol. Clearly this is going to hit more rural areas first as volumes are lower. Which is a problem as ICE use is invariably higher. Regardless, there will come a point where fuel becomes hard to find, whilst a sizeable chunk of the vehicles on the road are still ICE. There seems to be no thought or plan as to how to manage that. I cant imagine it will end well though. Its also likely within 10 years based on renewal rates, the EV mandate etc. Will definitely be a problem for me, with no obvious answers.

No "technical" reason. But some dont.

Sounds like i should re-run the numbers. No contraints (at least none i will concern myself with) around the panels. Though id really like to avoid concrete as it would be a bit of a nightmare to get it down there in any useful quantity. Will consider any solution. but 80mph winds are the real problem.

Hmmm, i did do the calcs 🤔. Though i did use AI to assist me. Which could be a problem! The array is 4.5kw. The inverter not sure. Its quite old, though still brand new. Ive worked on the basis of a new one. If i use the old one, its a bonus.

Still no clue how to do multi quote, so bear with me. Not really got into detail on possible inverter set up yet. My priority was a cabling decision quickly to make use of the dry weather for trenching. Im limited to 3.86 because that all you can do without an application. (are we talking cross purposes here?) Given they are already having over voltage issues in summer, and im on a spur feeding 6 properties, some very lightly used (MOD) i cant see approval being forthcoming. Im sure you have posted your financials before, but ive no idea why its so different from memory. Current bill is £280 a month, 9000kWh a year. Heavy in winter, light in the summer due to workshop. A bigger battery, ie 10Kw increases payback as ill never fill it during the winter with a 4.5kw array It will only be useful in summer. Doubling the size of solar and batteries does reduce the payback, but to roughly the same as the current array with 5Kw battery. (the only saving will be the cabling as its already there. If im missing something obvious im all ears, but i cant see it at the moment. Ive not taken into account a heat pump as thats not a certainty, or in the immediate future.

The good news is, i know where the land drains are! I plotted my route accordingly.

The reference to payback was the solar/batteries.

Well, ive been doing most of it using AI, but im lookinng at in excess of 10 years i think. Assuming i buy a battery. Yes, i do have the panels and inverter free, though the inverter wont be much use with batteries. Im looking at over £2k just in cabling, hire etc. The solar array needs to be bolted to something. Thats looking quite expensive too, but undecided on what yet. The field is pretty exposed to the east, north east. (we have planted a hedge along that side) And we are 900ft up. So needs to be pretty well put together, whatever it is. 9000kwh is our current consumption, heavily biased towards winter due to the workshop. So ive got, lets call it £4k on the solar install, and another £2-3k for a battery (5kw) and associated gubbins and connection. So im £6-7k in the hole. Obviously lots of variables around tarrifs and other such stuff, but no EV, so no supercheap overnight rates. Exported limted to 3.86. Playing numbers, at best i might save £400 a year on my electricity bill. If i fit a couple of AC units in future (likely) clearly that will skew things for the better. Havent factored in heat pump. Guess if i do that ill need to increase the size of the system. Otherwise it will be cheaper to run on oil as now. (current price blip excepted). Minor bonus will be only having to run the genny during the day when the electricity supply falls over. Again.

Well i have a digger. But not a narrow trenching bucket. Could buy one, but thats half the hire cost, plus wont be neat like this. Discussion have been had, hence going back to a DC cable. That way i have no real limitations plus allowing for future expansion. Payback is still hopless though. Im still questioning my sanity. It only really makes sense if electricity prices continue to rise much quicker than inflation. My judgement is that they will. If they dont, frankly its pointless.

An expensive way to dig a trench though! I do have someone if i need them. Ill be doing all the work though. Slowly. Mounting the panels in a cost effective manner, than can resist serious wind, and be close to a vertical angle is my current challenge, especially after the increased costs of 100m of DC cable.

No need, they are going in the lake.

After much deliberation, going to run DC. Will add a year to payback time though Cracking on

It does? That is info that has passed my by. Im unclear why the battery would know or care if the inverter is 5 or 100m away? Whilst theres no batteries in my immediate future, longer term its likely.

Im doing exactly what nick suggested. Mines 130m away. Trencher is booked! What is is your thinking around the power cut back up function. Assuming you will have a battery?

Seems to me the very first thing is to accurately asses the level of corrosion in the steels. Ultrasonically maybe? All that seems to have happened is a visual assesment that saw lots of corrosion. Which really doesnt tell you much.

Well, so far, what you describe as nonsense is the current situation, has been for a long time, and theres no proposals to change that. A bit of tinkering on the margins, but thats it. You can describe it as nonsense, but it doesnt make it so. Ref your last paragraph, "could" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. But i also said "could" didnt i? If renewables were free, its irrelevant if the price of electricity continues to climb. Aside from my personal bill, its a fact that theres never been a succesful economy with high energy prices. There are, however, plenty of examples where cheap abundant energy allows an economy to thrive. Out in the real world, people like you spouting about renewables being cheaper will get little support unless that translates into actual price reductions from their current, ridiculous levels.. And the sad thing is, it could, if the will was there. But ill say again, it wont. At least not in the forseeable future. Or probably, my lifetime.

Which is the correct answer. Assertions that renewables will make electricity cheaper are in fact the nonsense. They "could". But they wont.

I have, and i know its at the upper end compared to most of our peers. Especially non domestic. Which is probably actually causing more harm than the domestic price. That is, however, a diversion, because it was you that keeps saying it will get cheaper, but given the market structure, i cant see how. Im still waiting for that explanation.

Thats historic, not future. My question remains. Specifically about what will happen in the future. And we all know the answer, ie, it will keep on going up.

So you keep saying. When will my electricity bill come down by a meaningful amount?