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https://www.ft.com/content/b81307f1-94cc-4b0f-9b64-1ac072dfe9dd

Does one of our experts know whether Solar PV panels generate electricity for the house during a power cut? AFAICS there are a few relevant issues: 1 - Grid connected panels are presumably auto-disconnected to avoid feeding power to the staff doing repairs. 2 - Is this different depending on whether it is a grid-connected setup or a self-done standalone? I expect it depends on what is disconnected and how. Any comments are most welcome. Ferdinand

Hi, I haven't done Introducing myself as I haven't found out yet how to get to where I can type that in. We've pulled down a small summerhouse and would like to build a bigger one. My local authority website tells me I can go up to 5 metres by 3 metres without planning permission, and that the maximum height is 2.5 metres within 2 metres of a boundary and 3 metres beyond that. Our idea so far is: to leave a gap of 1 metre between the boundary (to the north) and the back of the summerhouse; have 1 metre of flat roof, then rise 0.5 metre for the next 0.5 metre (north-facing slope); then have a south-facing slope dropping 0.5 metre over the remaining 1.5 metre permitted depth of the building. We would like to fix solar panels or solar shingles (I found a reference to these at www.earthtechling.com/tesla-solar-panels-vs-rooftop-solar-panel ) to the south-facing slope and connect them to underfloor heating pads. I would like some advice about what material to use for the roof of this summerhouse if we want to fix solar panels to the south-facing slope (5 metres wide by about 1.57 metres top to bottom) or have solar shingles on this slope which would need to join at the apex with whatever the rest of the roof is made of. Signing up to the scheme for selling electricity to the grid finishes at the end of March, so we're not likely to take part in the scheme. We may not generate a lot of electricity anyway. I think it's possible to store electricity from solar panels for later use but haven't found out about this yet. We think we can build on a concrete base laid over the existing concreted area from 2 earlier sheds (but haven't checked on this yet) rather than digging foundations. On top of the base we aim to put a damp barrier (plastic sheeting) then build with a double skin of breezeblocks with a window in each side (facing east and west) and a run of south-facing patio doors (4.5 metres wide). Looking forward to hearing from others, Fran

A bout of local petty-crime nonsense has prompted me to install CCTV. God, what a can of worms! Within the limitation of daytime CCTV, has anyone any experience of solar-powered CCTV? The idea appeals to me, but I thought I'd test that appeal here first before launching the idea on the ultimate authority. SWMBO. Bless her.