Snoop ,on second thoughts it was the day before yesterday.I apologise.

But to put it “on the rekort”, today I got 9.98 kWhrs (units) on the MRA meter.

Average is surely 10 units a day. Maximum was 14 units in a day, that was last April, when the temperature was not high.

BTW I have a solar water heater also.That’s another 2-3 units per day.

I will install a vertical axis wind generator (very silent) if MEPA grants me a permit and MRA accepts another feed in source from my house.

For the uninformed; I’m earning €2.50 a day on a capital outlay of €5,500. estimated lifespan is 25 years(?) with an efficiency reduction to 80% . I anticipate the change of the condensers of the inverter in seven years time , costing me around €50(estimate).

John Schembri

With 12 panels you might have a maximum of 2kWp. Yesterday, the actual usable amount of sun light was of around 2 hours – so you would have produced at the most 4 units.

What you might be referring to is the average production – with a 2Kwp system that would amount to 9 units daily.

What I found particularly interesting was his adamant statement that he would still reduce the tariffs even if there was an increase in cost.

This defies logic and common sense. The biggest wasters and tax evaders will be the ones that benefit. Those that use these utilities conscienciously and have a fixed salary will suffer. So much for the ghaqal.

It is reasoning designed to appeal to those whose understanding of the world is limited to their domestic interests.

Wonder how many aboriginal grunts he has working in the power plants.

Baxx, today my twelve panels generated nine units at peak load time. That’s how much my household consumes in a day.

I think that at the rate they’re going I would pay zilch in electricity bills.

There are many successful and big ERDF subsidised PV installations Toyota and Malta Freeport are two which I saw.

Baxxter,

we could, however, consider these,

http://www.enemyforces.net/navy/941.htm

190MW each, a tourist attraction and an ideal set for Gensna.

So the future energy minister will be a “she”. Makes sense. The investor wants to build the plant in Gozo.

Even if we cover every square inch of Malta with photovoltaic cells, we wouldn’t cover more than 10% of our energy needs. I think it should be printed at the bottom of every document and poster on alternative energy, like the little warning labels on cigarette packets.

The summary of a scientific study co-authored by Edward Mallia, states (and I am quoting):

“The potential of renewable energies is presented for the territory of the Republic of Malta. These are in the main sun, wind and biogas. Taking the base year 2003 for comparing the percentage contribution of electricity generated from renewables to that generated from fossil-fuelled power stations, it was found that rooftop solar photovoltaic systems could produce 9.1%, onshore wind farms could offset 5.4% and the offshore wind potential lies in the region of 3.4%. Energy from waste could contribute another 5.6%, while widespread solar water heating in domestic buildings could offset 4.8%.”

So basically at most 28-29% of our needs.

In addition, one has to consider that the break even point for these sources is of around 10-11 years (with a lifetime of around 20 years). Thus the state would need to finance this in addition to financing a power station. This has to come from somewhere – basically us.

As for the cost per unit, it is estimated that the cost per unit is of around 15 euro cent per unit (for photovoltaic and wind) including overheads and maintenance – so it only makes sense if the cost of the electricity produced from oil/gas fired power stations is at least 15 Euro cent per unit.