Tag: Investment

Energy Transfers In The Commercial Kitchen

For the past few months, while I’ve supported my mother through a sickness, I’ve been working as a prep chef in a busy commercial cafe in a coastal town. My main observation has been of how energy transfers within a commercial kitchen. It is one of those things that I’m sure no one else would find remotely interesting, but that fascinates me intensely. In a busy commercial kitchen, not a single joule is wasted. Everything is on just for long enough to deliver the desired result, and then it is shut off. A busy commercial kitchen seems to operate on a fine line between careful resource management and deft resources as the chef arranges a wide array of components in the last few seconds before the plating.

Continue reading “Energy Transfers In The Commercial Kitchen”

Why I’m Raging About Broccoli Sprouts

Much more than anything else, this blog is just a repository for things that I learn, enabling me to cement the learning process by listing and recounting the steps involved in a new process. So I make no apology for the fact that the blog hops from topic to topic and appears to have no external consistency whatsoever.

Continue reading “Why I’m Raging About Broccoli Sprouts”

Geographical features that make Otaki Motel a good location for solar panels

Our solar power installation is now set up and in recent articles I’ve addressed how our solar installation is currently generating more than 50% more power than was initially forecasted based on NIWA data. The savings we’ve achieved have also been on the high side, cutting our bill down by around $93 during our first month and by around $150 during our second month. In fact, our monthly daytime consumption for last month, at 170 kWh, was the lowest number we have ever consumed during any month in recent memory.

Continue reading “Geographical features that make Otaki Motel a good location for solar panels”

Ammeters: The First Step In Going Solar

For guys my age, solar power systems are the equivalent of a model train set. We know we’re too old for this shit, but we can kind of get away with it, because it helps the household save money and it’s also in the interests of the environment. Here’s why ammeters are a critical piece of the puzzle.

Continue reading “Ammeters: The First Step In Going Solar”

So Far, So Good – One Month In and Solar Is Outperforming Expectations

It’s a bit early to do a case study on solar power for the Otaki Motel, because quite frankly, we haven’t received enough data yet to assess how much of an impact our 1.5 kWh solar power system has had on out energy use across all weather patterns and seasons. What we have had is our first electricity bill come in.

Continue reading “So Far, So Good – One Month In and Solar Is Outperforming Expectations”

Why Solar Power and Slow Cookers Go So Well Together

The motel solar power system has now been successfully installed. I’m able to log in to my inverter system (through Enphase Enlighten) and get a near-real-time reading of the energy consumption versus production through the solar panels. This reading quickly threw up an unintended side effect, which is that the motel solar system is producing way more power at present than the original estimate.

Continue reading “Why Solar Power and Slow Cookers Go So Well Together”

Solar Power Economics: Calculating the Value of a 1.5 kWh Solar Power System After 10 Years Have Passed (Using the Discounted Cash Flow Method!)

In last week’s article I made the on-the-surface ludicrous claim that the value of a solar power system at the end of ten years may be greater than the value of that same system at the date of purchase and installation, even when accounting for the loss in energy efficiency of said solar system over 10 years. Today I will explain how I reached that conclusion.

Continue reading “Solar Power Economics: Calculating the Value of a 1.5 kWh Solar Power System After 10 Years Have Passed (Using the Discounted Cash Flow Method!)”

Using the Discounted Cash Flow Method to Calculate the Value of Solar – Key Assumptions

There are some assumptions that I need to make you aware of when using certain valuation methods, including the Discounted Cash Flow Method, to calculate the value of a solar power installation once ten years have already passed. Explaining and outlining these assumptions may go some way to support my on-the-surface outrageous conclusion that, for many households, the value of a solar power installation may be worth more ten years from now than it is on the date of purchase and installation, even when considering the loss in energy efficiency that occurs over time.

Continue reading “Using the Discounted Cash Flow Method to Calculate the Value of Solar – Key Assumptions”

Solar Power From the Actual Experts

I must confess I am just about the furthest thing from an actual engineer – while I have a great deal of curiosity about the nature of solar power and its possible impact on household energy consumption at a micro level, on certain technical matters I will be a small kid with armbands swimming in the deep end.

What do we do when we are potentially out of our depth? We consult a real world expert. So for that reason, this week we speak to Martin King and Bryn Bennett of Degree Limited, who specialise in the installation of all things heating and cooling.

Continue reading “Solar Power From the Actual Experts”

Why It Helps to Start Planning a Year In Advance When It Comes to Solar Power

In last week’s article I wrote about the need to calculate your own power consumption before investing in any solar power proposal. This week I want to talk about how extending the timeline for your data set well in advance can help you to improve the data accuracy of your energy saving calculations.

Continue reading “Why It Helps to Start Planning a Year In Advance When It Comes to Solar Power”