I am seriously worried about Peak Oil and Energy security issues and have decided to get myself some PV panels even though the current payback period is probably 'when hell freezes over'. I have a medium sized detached (urban) house with a nice slab of South East facing roof and would like to know which brand/type of PV panels people here would recommend. I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest, I would like a system that would generate at least some electricity even in duff conditions if that is possible - realistically cost-wise I'd be looking at a 1 or 1.5 kWp system. I haven't thought things through particularly thoroughly yet but it strikes me that quite soon PV panels may be hard to get hold of as demand skyrockets and if I get something in place now then I will always have the option of taking it off grid in the future if things really do get bad and the power starts going off on a regular basis (is that mad, by the way?). To give some idea of my thought processes, I recently bought solar water heating and went for the Viessmann evacuated tubes (on my SW roof) because I figured if things get nasty and energy starts to get prohibitively expensive (or rationed) then my kit will still have some performance even in Winter.

Any thoughts and/or advice on this issue greatly appreciated!

Agree with Tuna - timing isn't right. Also there's the credit crisis to consider. Less credit means less global production. Less production means less demand for energy.

What's the current best panels commonly available?

And is there anything significantly better predicted w/n the next 24months?

J

I think the Sanyo HIT solar panels are good though pricey. I recall they have a 19% efficiency and a maximum 170W/m3 output.

Thanks for your advice. Half of me agrees but......I think you are making assumptions that may not necessarily be true. For instance is it likely that costs will decrease signficantly or might they increase hugely? I have not researched this thoroughly (hence my desire to pick someone else's brains and get the perspective of an expert hopefully!) but, for instance, as I understand it, a lot of energy is involved in making solar panels so if oil became very expensive that would surely have a knock-on effect on price. Also panels require doping with some quite rare elements don't they? Can we be sure that these will not suddenly get very expensive as demand increases? Also what about the simple fact that if everyone suddenly wises up to future electricity shortages then the whole world and his wife will rush to PV - this will not make PV cheaper it will make it more expensive. And finally, coming to the issue of the credit crisis - as far as I can see whatever anyone says about us entering a period of severe deflation, I am not sure about that either - can you really chuck a gadzillion dollars and eleventy squillion pounds into the economy and not cause rampant inflation? So maybe money invested in renewables right now gets me more PV for less pounds than in a few years time even if production prices don't go through the roof (and energy demand is simultaneously reduced).

Anyway, as well as knowing what are the best brands of panels to go for I would also be interested to know what are the differences between on and off-grid systems and why is it not possible to switch a system between on and off grid (or is it?) and does anyone have any idea of what are the additional costs or problems involved of doing that (or is it truly bonkers even if I am right with my gloomy prognosis for the future?)