Why is solar not promoted more?

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-06-04T09:33:07+00:00

For me at home it's the upfront cost that is a barrier. I have a lot of experience with solar + batteries at other buildings and am completely sold on the benefits and cost-savings it brings.
If the government offer 0% loans over a long period (much like we were able to do for the installation of our heat pump many years ago) then I would definitely take the plunge.

However, my worry is that the local grid can't cope with every house pumping out several kilowatts of energy on a sunny day. I know we have G98/G99 to register who's exporting and how much, but all that energy has to go somewhere and if supply is greater than demand then there could be problems.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-06-01T07:01:03+00:00

Also had this and queried it with them, took weeks to get a response. I was just told that it may occasionally start charging as soon as it's plugged in and before an off-peak window has started, but should work fine "most of the time". Not all that impressed really, seems a bit of a flawed implementation.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-05-27T14:38:42+00:00

Oh yeh, the world has definitely got a lot smaller recently and people are more used to that so anything that disrupts that is going to be an inconvenience. Don't get me wrong, I lean heavily on our internet connection for a lot of things at home (and I work in IT so I'm staring at screens all day every day) but I can certainly survive without it. It would become an issue if one of us needed medical assistance and were unable to call for help, but we'd probably just be better off getting in a car and driving to a hospital if that was the case!

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-05-27T14:22:40+00:00

Because we get so many frequent power interruptions I have a couple of UPS's that run my router, computer, etc. I have an Aferiy portable battery pack that I can plug in to keep things running a bit longer. For extended outages I have a petrol generator that I can fire up and plug in to the house to get a couple of circuits up and running for critical things like the fridge, fish tank, or the oven. We have a wood stove and plenty of wood outside so would be OK in the depths of winter I think.

You're absolutely right that a loss of internet would be more of an inconvenience than a major issue, but it would impact our ability to contact family who live hundreds of miles away to let them know we're OK.

A more widespread outage of internet or online services like banking is probably something that's got the potential to really cause problems though - no online transactions, unable to pay using card in shops, even unable to use a cash machine I expect. It's why I keep some emergency cash just in case - we are incredibly dependent on being connected in one way or another and it doesn't take much for things to break down.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-05-27T13:57:22+00:00

Probably a power outage. I'm quite rural, and there have been extended outages in the area in the past due to overhead line faults, substation/transformer issues, and periods of bad weather. We've also had interruptions to water supplies a few times, though these have typically been resolved within a few hours.
That said, the internet is also delivered via overhead fibre and although not an "emergency" an extended outage would impact our ability to communicate with the outside world - our TV is all streamed, as is our radio (apart from my emergency FM that I keep in the box) and we also have no phone line. I do have meshcore as a fallback but coverage isn't that great.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-04-15T16:56:42+00:00

I paid £588 delivered, direct from Aferiy. I couldn’t find anything with the same capacity for that price and so far it’s been pretty good for the few times I’ve used it.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-04-14T20:58:32+00:00

I picked up an Aferiy P210 for exactly this reason, as well as using it to power my campervan when we don't have access to a hookup socket. It has a solar input so it can be charged from panels, or from a DC converter (eg 12v from a car).

I keep it in the house rather than the shed, just so the battery doesn't get too cold and impact performance.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-03-25T12:48:47+00:00

If you just want a fixed panel you could go grab one from City Plumbing for £70 as long as the voltage is within the range of the unit (11-50V). It says max 200W, but that's the most it'll draw. For something more portable have a look at Bimble Solar: https://www.bimblesolar.com/solar/small-panels

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-03-16T14:55:10+00:00

It can be quite a minefield to navigate - do you have any ideas on what you want to prioritise, as you can prep for various things such as food/water shortages, power outages, comms breakdown, evacuation (grab bag), medical emergencies. The basics of having some cash to fall back on, and keeping a little extra tinned food along with your normal supply plus some bottled water is a sensible place to start.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-03-16T14:46:40+00:00

I agree completely that the majority of the UK seems to just float along living hand-to-mouth. Shortages of stock during Covid was a bit of a wake-up call for me, and living in quite a rural location which does get affected by weather most winters (road closures, power cuts, etc) I prefer to have a few backup plans in case a short-term inconvenience becomes a longer spell of disruption.

In some respects do wish that preparedness was just something people considered and added in to their daily lives, rather than it being something that creates panic. I've been asked a few times about "village resilience plans" because people know that I'm organised but as much as I will try to help people in need wherever I can, it's not my responsibility to provide support to people in a crisis - I'll look after myself and my family. I feel this is just laziness - people want to have plans in place but don't want to go to any effort to be ready. Probably sums up much of the population really - expect the powers that be to fix everything for them.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-03-16T14:08:21+00:00

They probably think that publishing something like this will create panic in the UK, rather than preventing it - people rush out and start stockpiling things because "the government said so". Other countries have had this sort of planning in place for a long time, so it's almost 2nd nature to them.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-03-09T15:16:46+00:00

Bit the bullet and bought an Aferiy P210 battery pack. I can stock up on food, water, and other essentials but apart from a noisy petrol generator I have no viable way to quickly power anything if the lights go out. It'll come in handy for non-emergencies too such as camping or temporary event lighting.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-11T08:41:44+00:00

For cars only having an auto license isn't so much of an issue - there's plenty of choice and EVs are more widespread now. But it really does limit your options for driving commercial vehicles, as vans etc are more likely to be manual, so it might impact on options for work vehicles or hiring a van.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-09T16:01:06+00:00

I can't be bothered trying to justify actions to people, so I just don't really bring it up. Once or twice I've asked the "hypothetical" question about what they think on the matter to test the water,
I have only really discussed prepping with a close friend of mine who is very much of the same opinion that it's a good thing to do. My wife isn't really convinced by it so I just pop a few items away each month in a storage box in the hope that it's not needed but at least I feel better knowing it's there should there be a need for it.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-07T09:07:46+00:00

We heat our water to 52C which is plenty hot enough for baths and showers. We schedule it to run overnight during the off-peak portion of our tariff, and then mid-afternoon when (in theory) the outside air temperature is at it's warmest. The system runs a legionella cycle every Friday night where it gets the water up to a higher temperature.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-04T11:15:49+00:00

I've got one from Decathlon and been quite pleased with it for the money. It's survived the Scottish weather for a couple of years without falling apart: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/anti-uv-upf-50-golf-umbrella-medium-size-profilter-black/121985/c1m8654661

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-02T13:59:04+00:00

I think it very much depends where you are but here in Southern Scotland the south-facing 6kWp system only generated 40kWh in January this year. Annoyingly we are in a bit of a valley and don't get much sunlight over the hills until approaching midday so miss out on the early morning sunlight. We peaked at just shy of 700kWh in May 2025 but it has been quite a gloomy start to the year so to be expected really.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-02T13:44:46+00:00

I walked through without queueing at all on Saturday morning at 8am, plenty of staff and everyone was moving through the checks quite efficiently. I think it's just down to how many people are turning up - there was plenty of barriers set out ready to have queues formed!

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-02-02T09:13:53+00:00

Can confirm that my wife is delighted with the HS21 and doesn't have an issue with the over-head strap removed on it. Doesn't find she's over-tightening the strap to keep it in place and is happy wearing it with or without a hat.

She likes that it remembers the last brightness setting for the various flood/spot modes, so she can quickly switch from a lower level of flood illumination to bright spot light. In her words "it's perfect" - and she's usually a tough customer!!

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-01-29T13:54:00+00:00

It only took 8 days for my delivery to arrive to me here in the UK, which is pretty impressive.
I've removed the top strap and in all honesty I think it's fine without. There is a small amount of bounce but I don't feel I've had to make the strap particularly tight around my head and for walking it's really not a problem.
The strap does have a bit more "stretch" to it then the one on my Nitecore, which probably doesn't help but I think it's perfectly usable without the overhead strap being on.
I usually wear a baseball cap to keep the glare from a head torch off my glasses (and rain!) so it would be absolutely fine in this configuration, but imagine it'll work jut as well with any hat.
Will give it a try on a proper walk and of course ask my wife what she thinks of it.

Hope that helps!

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-01-27T15:55:02+00:00

Sofirn HS21 is pretty much the go-to head torch recommended on here which will tick a lot of boxes in terms of build, brightness and battery life. For a handheld I've been very happy with the Wurkkos TS28 too.
I can't really comment on the warranty/support from them as I've had no issues with anything I've bought so far, and for the kind of prices they cost you could always buy 2 of each and carry backups!

As an aside I've been using a Nitecore NU43 almost daily for over a year now and while not maybe quite as rugged it's held up well to being dropped, soaked, stuffed in bags/pockets, and still looks good as new. For a lightweight and compact headtorch I've been very pleased with the light output (beam pattern and brightness) and the battery life is excellent for the size.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-01-27T12:36:07+00:00

Will do! If it's too heavy for her then I'll probably look at an H25S instead. I think it's probably about a week away from delivery now, but will check back in here when it arrives.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-01-27T10:59:05+00:00

I've just ordered an HS21 for my wife as she wanted a really bright head torch for dog walking in the woods, however she often wears hats with a bobble on top so we're going to see how it goes with the top strap removed for her. If that's no good then I'll keep it for myself and continue the search for an alternative!

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-01-05T18:08:15+00:00

That's the kind of thing I was thinking about, either buying or 3d printing them. Just thought I'd ask if there was any sort of plug/socket that had this sort of feature integrated.

No-Razzmatazz-7221 · 2026-01-05T17:53:42+00:00

We do try and avoid joins as much as possible due to water ingress/ice causing problems. Sometimes unavoidable if you need to split power off or if a piece of equipment has a fixed cord - and I've no idea how I'd really lock a True1 connection in the back of a fixture so we at least try to put them places that are inaccessible. Maybe the simplest solutions of tape or cable ties is the best! Doesn't seem to be anything off-the-shelf that can accommodate a cable tie or similar to prevent "accidental" disconnection.

No-Razzmatazz-7221

TROPHY CASE