A global good news story.

[RogerL]

No objections to renewables but why on earth do they concentrate so much on solar?
They've already covered hundreds of acres of good farm land in them.
They won't insist that all new-builds have them on the roof!
Now with reduced daylight hours they have vastly reduced output.
Realistically the only guaranteed source of energy that keeps running 24/7 is tidal but we're not seeing any mention of that.

"The UK is currently a leader in tidal stream, with world leading projects operational around the country and a total of 50MW of developments in the pipeline"

Wave and tidal power | RenewableUK

Wave and tidal are both proven technologies that can help to offer predictable renewable energy from the UK’s abundant coastline. The UK is currently a leader in tidal stream, with world leading projects operational around the country and a total of 50MW of developments in the pipeline. While...

www.renewableuk.com

 

[GUMPY]

My local farm where I keep the caravan has quite a few acres of solar. He says it produces a good price for the use of the air above the land. He still grazes sheep in the fields as he did before but the sheep now have shade if they want it. For him it's a win win situation.

 

[otherclive]

Ok it changes by the day.
But not that long ago more were being recommissioned. Moveable feasts😉

Germany started to recommission them after they shut down nuclear plants following Fukushima, and Russias invasion of Ukraine didn’t help.

 

[otherclive]

My local farm where I keep the caravan has quite a few acres of solar. He says it produces a good price for the use of the air above the land. He still grazes sheep in the fields as he did before but the sheep now have shade if they want it. For him it's a win win situation.

For farmers it’s a valuable aid to diversification and helps them to stay in business.

 

[Buckman]

A lot already have them, What's needed is car parks to be covered in them like in Spain, double bonus keeps the cars cool in the shade.
The problem however is the infrastructure you need feed in points for all the generation.

In the UK the solar panels would be gone in 24 hours, but the shade and protection would be good.

 

[otherclive]

I see that the new Nissan Leaf is a major advance on the outgoing model, with significantly increased range, rapid charging, ability to power external equipment, and already fitted to feed power back into the grid when that capability comes on line. Since the car and batteries are built in Britain it should be able to be exported to the EU without tariffs. Good news for Sunderland, and UK.

We drive the new British-built Nissan Leaf... and it's rather good

CAR Magazine UK's first drive of the new Nissan Leaf in prototype form. Is this the electric car to get Nissan back on track in the EV world?

www.carmagazine.co.uk

 

[Tobes]

In the UK the solar panels would be gone in 24 hours, but the shade and protection would be good.

Tell that to the old IBM building at North Harbour in Portsmouth. They are installing solar across their entire carpark, and it looks excellent.

 

[Tobes]

No objections to renewables but why on earth do they concentrate so much on solar?
They've already covered hundreds of acres of good farm land in them.
They won't insist that all new-builds have them on the roof!
Now with reduced daylight hours they have vastly reduced output.
Realistically the only guaranteed source of energy that keeps running 24/7 is tidal but we're not seeing any mention of that.

I think the focus on solar is because it is extremely cheap to implement, has a relatively short pay back time and needs almost no maintenance. But the question I have is, who is "they" in this context? Or more accurately, who do you perceive "they" to be? As in why do they concentrate on solar and They've already covered.

 

[Buckman]

Tell that to the old IBM building at North Harbour in Portsmouth. They are installing solar across their entire carpark, and it looks excellent.

They haven't finished installing them yet. Why steal something when it is not ready to be stolen.? LOL! 🤣 🤣

 

[otherclive]

No objections to renewables but why on earth do they concentrate so much on solar?
They've already covered hundreds of acres of good farm land in them.
They won't insist that all new-builds have them on the roof!
Now with reduced daylight hours they have vastly reduced output.
Realistically the only guaranteed source of energy that keeps running 24/7 is tidal but we're not seeing any mention of that.

My grandson has had two new build houses. In neither of them were solar panels fitted, nor were the developers prepared to fit them as an option. Plus there was little or no thought as to where a heat pump would be fitted, and shudder the thought that the developer would think of future battery storage location or pre wiring. Admittedly such features would cost extra, but as forum members have shown they save a lot on electricity costs. I feel we are hell bent on building houses to meet targets, and condemning the future occupants to higher electric charges than need be. Of course as the percentage of electricity from renewables increases and if the price of electric can be detached from gas prices then everyone, with or without solar panels or heat pumps should benefit to a greater or lesser degree.

 

[Buckman]

See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/10/11/the-crime-wave-threatening-electric-car-sales/ Why do people steal things that are beneficial to others. It musty be awful arriving with a low charge only to find some low life as stolen the cables. I think the way around this is that the EV carries its own cable to plug in to recharge?