rowanlangley ([info]rowanlangley) wrote,
@ 2009-05-21 11:54:00
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The week in Scotland was busy, being a working holiday doing consulting engineer type work on a Pro Bono basis followed by plumbing and electrical works to put right some of the many faults and design defects in a five year old solar hot water system which hadn't worked since installation.

It was an interesting example of how a big construction firm and firm of consulting engineers can score fine in the big overal scheme of getting the buildings up, but fall down badly if taking on unfamiliar technology, where things would have been better subbed out entirely to a smaller specialist operation. There is a write up over on http://community.livejournal.com/green_power_gen/

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[info]simpletongenius
2009-05-21 06:35 pm UTC (link)
I have a slightly different outlook on this. I understand that many of the larger construction firms are not educated in any of the technologies that use re-newable energy at this time. There are several specialist corporations that do one or maybe two different renewable energy installations.
But they do charge a premium for these services, enough to make them prohibitively expensive for even mid sized projects, much less small residentialy focused programs. Without larger firms having the know how, and getting experienced in their installation and application, the market forces that drive progress in any area are apt to move slowly.
In the U.S., there are some new orginazations and goverment programs that are not just offering tax credits and small financial motivations, but accreditations for builders to attain in these fields, some more stringent than others.
At this time, they amount to little more than a marketing advantage for most companies. But if people are aware of these accreditations, and "encourage" their representatives to make the standards more stringent, as well as mandatory for all construction firms of a given size, you would see a greater use of the technologies, as their engineers are more aware of the capabilities and costs involved.
This would also make the use of the technologies more common, as the market in large scale building regularly takes in to account the upkeep cost per square foot of a building. Projects are approved on the over all expected profit margin of each square foot, often times over periods of 70 years or more.
The added savings from a variety of renewable resources to the eventual end consumer then translates to a greater overall profit margin. Were most folks interested in these technologies dont have this eventual goal in mind, it can be a strong argument in favor of use of the technologies, as well as legistlation requireing the training in and use of these types of technologies.
as this relates to small independent users such as yourself, it means a greater industrialization of the manufacturing process, lowering overall initial investment, making the technology more readily available and easier to maintain and install.
I apologize if this has gone on a bit, but I recently had these ideas running around in my head, and this just seemed a good place to let it loose. Thanks for the time.

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[info]rowanlangley
2009-05-21 08:42 pm UTC (link)
Generally it is quite within thecpabilities of a roofer to fix collectiors to a roof, and a plumber to deal with the hot water collection or an electrician to deal with an electric installation.

Fortunately here in the UK City and Guilds now have courses aimed at these trades for just this purpose.

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[info]simpletongenius
2009-05-22 11:02 am UTC (link)
I was more referring to intergrated uses of solar, wind, and underground cooling and so on, but I was'nt as clear as I should have been on that.

Contractors many times will cut corners with less experienced installers, who are paid less, or simply botching the job with a "hang it and bang it" attitude.
Also without supervision of someone who understands the total intergration of the involved parts, these skilled men are at a disadvantage. They have years of experience telling them what to do and why it's done that way, and then they come across a new technology such as solar heating, or a solar collector, and they apply old wisdom to the new concept.

I myself came across this issue when installing my first cantilever counter top. I didnt fully understand the shearing forces at it's point of origin. So I installed the item, following the rough specs I had been given. 5 weeks later we get a call from the client screaming bloody murder. The countertop had fallen out of the wall over night.
I had followed the specs I was given. I used my know how of how to install cabinetry and other counters to work out a method of getting the product installed. My supervisor was aware that I had never done the work, but sent me anyways with a rough sketch of the install process.
All of these factors apply to solar installations as well, across all the trades.With three different disciplines, if one of them sends out the wrong guy, cuts a corner for time here, fudges a line there, suddenly you have an inferior product.
It doesnt excuse the poor service and fabrication of the company that did the initial install. But it may give a bit of insight as to why these projects go awry, why there is generally a higher cost for specialized companies, and why the general consumer has a reticence to use solar technologies.

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