John Doe

I was wondering the same. I guess quite a few are in the same position as me and Mrs JD. STRed and now our high rate fixed rates are coming to an end, 20% falls reported in the HPs and looking at the rent vs buy argument again. Could possibly buy something small for cash, but with rates so low, a small mortgage would make sense so we could keep our isa's and other investments. The rent saved would be more than the interest and would offer a buffer to small further falls. However, that said, while things were looking very busy again a few weeks back, suddenly everything has gone quiet again over the last week or so, even have estate agents ringing us up again. Could just be summer holiday time, could be something more fundamental. I expect quite a few of the people looking around the for sale houses were just looking. Of course, some genuine buyers saw this and thought it best to rush in. Personally, we will wait at least until winter and see what happens before deciding to place (low) offers.

Hi Dr S. I'm in the East Dumbartonshire area. While I am nearly 100% sure prices will continue down over the next few years, albeit at a slow pace and possibly only another 10% or so, I too am doing the sums regarding rent vs mortgage at these very low rates. That said, I have a firm rule of never buying in Scotland in the summer, always waiting for winter as the seasonal variation here seems several times that in England (prob something to do with the weather ). So, while I am tempted at the moment, I will wait a few months more.

Ooops, that should read "pulled a blinder"

Sounds like she’s pulled a binder. She can always fix for 5 years (just above 5% at the moment). Worst case, she can have a friend rent a room or two. 50% off peak! Fair play. Wish I could find a nice one where I am for that sort of drop. Anything half decent at 15%ish off peak has just started to vanish here (Scotland). Really has just happened in the last 3 or 4 weeks. I’m guessing the big deposit/cash buyers jumping in thinking they might miss the bottom. To be honest, it's got me a little nervous myself (and I really am a bear). Had a look around at a couple of places last week just to see what we can get for our money, several other people looking at each property all at the same time (an EA trick I personally hate). That hasn’t happened for over a year or so.

But of more significance perhaps, mortgage approvals fell in March. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8020201.stm Although a confirmed bear on UK housing market I didn't expect to see this yet. I was expecting a levelling off in prices (and accompanying slow increase in approvals) before the next leg down caused by increasing unemployment. Although a single swallow does not a summer make, a drop in approvals now in the traditional spring bounce time could be potentially very significant?

Me too, housing costs first, then when I have bought me, Mrs D and little D our future home, we will install, solar Will go for passive and CdTe PV. (First Solar about to start selling to public).

UK tariff due late this year/ early next year, with a set price for solar generated power fed back into the grid from households. Waiting for the pullback to add to my first solar

Hi guys, Got a bit lonely over on the market comments thread and heard this was where the action was. Although a confirmed bear, I must admit I was a little worried today when our paperboy told me to sell all my shares and buy gold Ever thought that it might just be possible that its not really the end of the world?

Haven't heard of the plant but will ask around. Have put factory project response on thread http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index....gopid=9154&

They're talking about Prof Gratezel (Lausanne, Switzerland) This is his company http://www.dyesol.com/index.php?element=Ne...20consulting%22 Although to be honest, the last I heard was that their efficiency was only fairly small (about 10 or 11%, definitely not the best in the world) and that they had a short operational lifetime. It would be great if they had managed to increase the dye solar cell efficiency. I will check with my colleagues, they’re far more up to date than me with such things.

At present I’d have to opt for Silicon photovoltaic in a climate like that. Commercial systems give 20-25% efficiency. (In Spain the government will now guarantee a fixed energy price for PV produced electricity if you want to fill a field with them! Apparently it's a 25 year guarantee!). In the future, GaAs (higher efficiency / more cost) will become useful as they are beginning to fit collectors (concentrating lenses) to these devices. Early stages yet mind. Also, over the mid term, the polymer PV should begin to yield better results. There would be no real need for the hot water advantage of the type of solar thermal we have discussed (suited nicely for the UK), as I guess cooling is more of a problem in a hotter climate. However, for solar thermal, in conjunction with a Stirling engine, described by C J, the solar concentrators/mirrors need also to have tracking devices for best efficiency, substantially increasing complexity and costs. I don’t know the figures for these devices, but will keep an eye open.

Yes, a technology that had almost been forgotten about, but used in conjunction with solar would probably not be the best optiion in the UK (he says looking out his window at the perma-drizzle). There is a company that will fit your home with a stirling engine that runs off your gas supply in order to generate electricity. In turn, the excess heat that it generated goes to your central heating/hot water supply and excess electricity is sold back to the grid. I think they’re called whispergen, and also do portable units for canal barges and boats/caravans. They claim they pay for themselves quite quickly.

I'm guessing the solar thermal people must be looking into adding a "self cleaning glass" panel to their products. http://www.pilkingtonselfcleaningglass.co.uk/ If not, maybe they should consider it. The small increase in cost (as percentage of overall cost) is surely covered by the reduced maintenance? PS found this company which doesnt use mirrors either. http://www.solheat.co.uk/Domestic1.htm

Perhaps it is me that should qualify as I wasn’t actually disagreeing and didn’t mean it to come across like that. The PV cells that use bulk Si substrates (single crystal Si) have indeed reached their best performance and any further cost reduction will only come about from mass production. The use of poly Si, however, should be able to take advantage of the progress made in the LCD TV market, where it is deposited using SiH4 (silane gas) producing polycrystalline Si on Glass. (In conjunction with ITO a transparent Oxide). I'm not sure what stage this research is at but will check. As for solar thermal I really am amazed how unpopular it is and can only believe it is down to a lack of understanding. It and geothermal (garden variety where a good mile or so of piping is buried a foot or two deep in you garden) used in conjunction with a heat pump offers huge potential for heating etc. Perhaps it is because when people hear there is only a 5 degree difference (before the heat pump) they think it’s not worth it. Either way, I think that with the correct advertising (and possibly grants, planning concessions) that they could really become popular. As for trendy names for it, I'm sure that with a little thought we could come up with a new "added value business speak" name for it, together with an equally important TLA (three latter acronym). Perhaps something like “Photonic Energy Exchanger” otherwise known as Pee , or perhaps not .

Dow Corning has been working on a new “solar grade Silicon” production technique and has just reported that it has started shipping the new media with properties that are equivalent to poly-Si. Details are a bit sketchy still, but the PV 1101 is produced in a different way and lends itself to mass production, unlike trad poly Si. http://optics.org/articles/news/12/9/3/1 Another milestone reached

Battery technology is improving at a rapid rate. I know a few people working on the “SpeckNet” project (miniature, mm size sensors all linked together by their own radio network). One of their collaborators (big project) at St Andrews are responsible for the development of new batteries for these devices (ultra small, so the need to have a large capacity). They are making good progress and have improved lifetimes by 40% (apparently something in New Scientist about this too.) Also, later this year, perhaps early next year, a new mobile battery will be released which has a rapid recharge capability, (seconds not hours) and a larger lifetime than current devices .

Not necessarily, technologies such as nanoparticulate Si and (even though still in early stages) polymer PV will have an increasing role to play (efficiencies at >5% and so cheap you can cover fields with them for pennies, just need to improve lifetimes). Again, not entirely correct, as Silicons indirect bandgap (and all other SC bandgaps are, in reality, spread over a wavelength range) it generally aborbs a range of wavelengths below the intrinsic bandgap (peak about 1000 - 1100nm as far as I can remember) and most of the solar spectrum lies between about 400 and 1200nm. I also have colleagues working on intermediate band PV with interesting initial results, although again at early stages and with a few phonon bottleneck problems to overcome. The quantum dot approach can also absorb at multiple wavelengths with theoretical efficiencies near 50%. So far I think about 36% has been shown. PS I really like thermal solar, and I cannot understand why more use of it isnt made.