Bandersnatch

This system is popular in Germany. In the UK the government is considering allowing tenants to fit portable solar panels on rooftops and balconies of rented properties:

https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2025/07/government-wants-private-tenants-to-install-plug-in-solar-panels/

No news on it's approval for use in Thailand but I'm sure that won't stop someone buying it from alibaba.com to try it.

4 hours ago, digger70 said:

You can say and Explain whatever  you like .

Electricity will Not get cheaper . Maybe cheaper to Generate but not cheaper for the public.

They been saying for years that they are going to  supply the public with cheaper electricity, right. Has that happened No ,the only thing that is happening is that the price  for electricity for  the public is going Up. Their excuses are Everything that they need and use to produce the electricity  cost More . AMEN 

Currently the cost of electricity in the UK is effectively linked to the price of Gas due to Marginal Pricing. I do agree that prices have gone up in recent years but I do not agree that they will never go down. I have already explained how reducing the use of gas will cause prices to fall. 

Another way that electricity prices can fall is if energy is priced locally through a zonal pricing system. The government is considering this reform right now. 

Currently there is a single national market for electricity with all regions paying the same. With zonal pricing areas with plenty of renewable generation, like Scotland and the north will end up with some of the cheapest electricity in Europe. 

Currently not on the table to be discussed by the government is an even more granular approach to electricity pricing called Nodal Pricing that would give cheaper electricity to any community accepting renewables to be built in their location.

It would also allow NIMBYS  (Not In My Back Yard) to object to new renewable projects and pay for the privilege with higher local electricity prices.

2 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

As I understand, the UK grid does not have the capacity to 'store' excess power imports. The government pays wind turbine operators around GBP 3 million a year to shut them down when the grid is at capacity.

Yes. I felt the topic was complicated enough without going into Contract for Difference agreements with the wind generators.

Adding more V2G EVs to the grid means that more of the excess wind power can be used to charge those EVs instead of switching the turbines off. 

1 minute ago, digger70 said:

You believe that?   Not going to happen .

Did you read my explanation of how the UK electricity wholesale market works?

I assume not,  so here it is again.

On 6/24/2025 at 9:10 AM, Bandersnatch said:

In the UK, electricity prices in the wholesale market are determined by marginal pricing,  which is set by the most expensive generator in a 30-minute period and that is usually gas turbine peaker plants.

So for every half hour period that gas peaker plants don't need to be switched on then the wholesale price is set by a cheaper form of energy.

For reference Gas Peakers plants charge 114 £/MWh and offshore wind is 44 £/MWh in 2025 

39 minutes ago, Unamerican said:

To whom do this poor souls have to make this “sacrifice”? 
Or perhaps this is just a tax avoidance “scam” (oops, “wise measure”)

You give up "sacrifice" some of your gross salary each month to pay for your EV lease, so you pay less tax.

It's a government incentive not a scam.

Gross Salary £1,000

Tax 20% £200

Net Salary £800

EV lease £300

Balance after paying EV Lease £500

Salary Sacrifice:

Gross Salary £1,000

EV lease £300

Tax 20% £140

Net Salary £560

Balance after paying EV Lease £560

40 minutes ago, Unamerican said:

I thought that posts which are so clearly simply adverts were banned here?

Vehicle to Grid has the potential to revolutionize electricity grids around the world. Anybody who understands that would see this as a very exciting development not an advert.

In the UK, there are approximately 40 million licensed vehicles on the road. If only 10% of them were part of a V2G scheme it could add 200GWh of grid storage.

The UK has only 7GWh as at the end of 2024

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But charging 2x the price for the car in the UK is a bit of a shocker.

I am currently trying to help my brother in the UK into his first EV and like many he is considering leasing rather than  buying new.

Many buy using the salary sacrifice car scheme that allows employees to lease an EV by sacrificing a portion of their gross salary.

29 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Might be a bargain in the UK, but would substantially increase our transport cost here in TH

I agree solar in Thailand makes EV very cheap motoring. 

The BYD Dolphin in the UK starts around £26,000  ฿1,154,709 which is much more expensive than Thailand 

"Total registrations of 100% electric vehicles in Thailand in May 2025 totaled 12,034 units

Up +119.8% compared to the previous month and up +91.5% compared to the same period of the previous year"

https://autolifethailand.tv/ev-register-bev-thailand-may-2025/

1 hour ago, Bangkokhatter said:

I don't really have range concerns as longer journeys just require a bit more planning but i would like an idea of how much it costs for a 300Km trip for example (estimate is fine) and how simple it is to charge up at the service stations for example.

I own 2 BYDs a BYD Seal AWD and an M6. I have driven the BYD Sealion 7 AWD which is basically an SUV version of the Seal. When I drive to BKK which is a 900km round trip, the car is fully charged when I leave home and empty when I return as I charge from my my off-grid solar system for free.

I do 2 x 20ish minute charges, one on the way down and one on the way back. I always charge at BYD dealerships as they have fast 150kW chargers and plug and charge - you plug the car in and it starts charging. You have 24 hours to pay. The BYD app lets you see which chargers are free. Cost about ฿300 each time.

1 hour ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Deepal S07 or the CRV E:HEV.

How far is the closest Deepal dealership from you?

Honda CRVs seem pretty expensive to me considering their lackluster performance 9.81 seconds 0-100 compared to 4.5 for the Sealion.

1 hour ago, kwak250 said:

Is it a good idea going through Homepro/Global?

Last time I checked they were still quoting about ฿10 per Watt and I have never seen them stock bigger panels. You will have to go online for more competitive prices.

I recently paid for Trina 705 Watt panels ฿2,780 each or ฿3.9 per watt

The title of the article is

"Clean energy, dirty secrets: Inside the corruption plaguing california’s solar market"

So nothing about Solar being a dirty form of energy. 

I think you would be hard pressed to find any industry that doesn't have any "corruption or dirty secrets"

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

I’m in the process of buying a BYD sealion 6, so a PHEV.

 

As part of the deal I am being given a free home charger and installation. BUT, the BYD guy says I need a special cable to run from my fuse box to my charger and for a special stand for the charger to fix to. The latter because it won’t be fixed to a wall.

 

So:

 

1. having googled, it seems that I DO need a special cable to handle the continuous power load. Fair enough. But does anyone know if the BYD people supply said cable at a significant mark up? Or is their pricing pretty competitive?

 

2. Does anyone know if their special stand is anything, well, special? I haven’t seen one in real life but from the picture it looks like plastic!

 

3. Just generally, do BYD use the charger installation exercise as a price gouging opportunity?

 

Grateful for any insights on the above

I got a free BYD Charger and installation when I purchased my Seal in 2023. BYD came and did a site survey and they provided a cable, from memory I think the first 10m was free.  I did ask how much per m for longer and I remember thinking it sounded reasonable. As for what they quoted me, that I don't remember.

Question 3 "do BYD use the charger installation exercise as a price gouging opportunity?" - I don't think so, I think they are just covering their costs

I've just swapped out my 8 year old "Rosen Solar" 350 Watt panels for something a bit more well known.

I have sold them all for ฿500 each 

I replaced them with Trina 705 Watt panels for ฿2,780 each or ฿3.9 per watt. Not as cheap as @BritManToo got but I was paying a premium for higher Wattage panels.

I purchased the "Rosen" panels for ฿10 per Watt. At the time Global House was selling panels for ฿20 per Watt

33 minutes ago, wozzlegummich said:

Also known as Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater these are hot water heaters that use a reverse cycle air conditioner system to heat the water and are apparently very efficient to run.

I am currently planning the installation of a heat pump to provide hot water as well as hot water for the radiators for a house I own in the UK.  

For my house in Thailand I installed a solar thermal system instead. I paid  ฿30,000 for it 8 years ago and it's still going strong.

I have had comments on my YouTube channel from people in the UK saying that a heat pump would provide far more hot water, but we don't get the £7,500 boiler replacement grant here making it a very expensive proposition even if you could find one for sale and someone willing to install it.  

13 hours ago, UWEB said:

Sounds good but it isn't

The UK figures in the graph above were an anomaly due to a spike in all EV sales in March to beat incoming EV tax changes. Tesla's April car sales dropped 62% in Britain.

Here in Thailand, Tesla sales have always been poor due to inflated prices and poor investment in the Super Charger network.

You can buy a 13.5kWh Tesla PowerWall in Thailand for ฿699,000, no wonder nobody is buying them.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-powerwall-installation-thailand/

On 5/23/2025 at 7:49 PM, Pib said:

Total registrations of 100% electric vehicles in Thailand in April 2025

Tesla with 2 newly refreshed models for sale in the kingdom selling less than 100 cars must be disappointing

27 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Thanks guys, this is helpful.  I guess my final question is whether I should just buy a petrol vehicle after all?  As I understand it, there is no likelihood of a ban on petrol vehicles in the future (even the UK seem to be backtracking on this), so other than being an environmentally-concerned person, I could save money (I'm a poor teacher!) and just buy a 'regular' car?  

If you want cheap motoring would go for a low mileage used EV. Then you will have low service and repair costs and if you can charge at home about 7km per kWh (PEA/MEA unit)