Red, Golden Arches, and Green

MacDonald's sign in Cornwall, England, powered by solar and wind.
The sky was rather grey that day, but the wind was blowing nicely (it was raining, too!).
Pretty typical weather for Cornwall, and that wind generator was spinning like crazy!
There are so many illuminated signs in non-city areas where a panel and small turbine can be mounted near an illuminated sign or on the roof of the building.
So easy, so obvious, and a drop in the ocean for the budget of a major company.
Yet, if everyone did it, the effect would be HUGE!
Good on you McDonalds!

Domestic Solar Electricity - does anyone actually fit it?

Just a typical English street - except for the house at the back with the solar panels

Solar Panels at IKEA

We were in IKEA (Milton Keynes) yesterday, and ...
... there was an in-store display about IKEA's tie-up with HanEnergy to supply domestic Solar Panels.

Their guide price was £5100 for a typical 3-bed semi, and the advisor there suggested that a 2-bed semi like ours would be closer to £4000, as it would only take 16 panels on the roof, rather than the 24 panels that the £5100 price includes.

That was about HALF what I thought the cost would be (and half what it was a few years back!)

Price is for panels and fitting, and all wiring etc. etc., so it should be a "fully inclusive" price!

Interested?
Visit their website here

Bresser solar/crank camping light/radio, with USB charging-output

The Bresser camping lantern has 6 LEDs and a small solar panel on top.
The black buttons on the front control the on/off for the light and the FM radio,
the radio channel scan (a simple "scan up" or "scan down" affair,
and the volume setting for the radio (up/down).
The light is decent enough, and the FM radio is fine, but not exactly high fidelity!
But, hey, it all works!

The crank handle folds out ready for use

At the back of the lantern is a crank handle
for extra power.

A regular smartphone/tablet USB charging cable will plug
into the USB "socket" cable that comes with the lantern.
Only downside is that you need to crank the handle to get
the lantern to charge the attached device, so it is a long,
hard job, best kept for emergency use. But it is nice to
know that you can recharge your phone if you need to!

A connection lead is provided with
a USB socket on the end