Solar Thermal or Solar PV?

Hello,

I am serious about changing my career and have decided 'renewable energy' is the way forward for me. I want to become an installer of renewable products. As I am 43 years old and will have to start at the bottom of the ladder, it is very important I choose the right path. My main question is, what is likely to generate the most work for installers in the future, Solar Thermal or Solar PV. I have asked many people this question and no one has been able to help me. Training providers nearly always have a biased answer depending on what courses they want to push.

Would anyone agree that for Solar Thermal I need to start training as a plumber/heating engineer and for Solar PV an electrician? I have to decide which route to take now because of the commitment to training. I am not going down the 'fast track' route, I am enrolling at my local college for a 2 year C&G level 2 course in one of the two options.

Sorry this is long winded, but I am hoping there is help out there among you!

Many thanks

Hi Wobbly

first of all good luck with your change of career.

My first thoughts are what have you been doing up to now ( you dont have to tell me) the reason I ask is, what life experiances will assist you in your new endeavor.

Having considerd your question, Both Solar Thermal and PV are excellent trades to get into, but If I were in your position I think I would be looking at the PV market.

My reason for saying this is simple, Solar Thermal has been around for years and there are many companies who specialise in it, and the market will soon be flooded as now you find even double glazing companies are selling it.

PV on the other hand is still relatively new, not many firms specialising in it, but in my experiance the customer demand for PV far out strips any other form of renewable energy, especially with the DECC feed in tarif being offered
1 February 2010 - Press Release - Cash Rewards for Low Carbon Electricity and Heating - Department of Energy and Climate Change

Regards

Mike

Thanks Unguided1,

I worked in the print industry for 23 years from apprentice to manager. Unfortunately it is now a difficult industry to stay in long term. For the last 2 years I have been working as a self employed painter/decorator on various building projects.

My interest in plumbing and electrics stems from my apprentice days when all the equipment we used had to be regulary maintained. To save money we did all the plumbing and electrical work ourselves. This led to me installing my own bathrooms and kitchens etc. Although my current job is satisfying in the respect of working with different people and different places, it is not technically satisfying.

This is beginning to sound like a CV. Anyway, I have no formal training or qualifications in plumbing or electrics but I think it is something I could be good at and find more stimulating.

To go down the solar PV route do you need to be a fully qualified electrician or have specific parts of certification? I gather roofing experience is handy to have as well!

Hi Wobbly

I have to confess that I never said it was going to be easy, but wether you are going to be self employed or work for a firm you will still need to be a qualified electrcian.

If you do decide to go down the route of PV you would be better off asking the training centre rather than me, as I am not a sparky and certainly no expert, or you could try asking on the electricians forum.

but good luck whichever way you go

regards mike

Good info

what is the difference in thermal and pv (pv meaning what photo volatic or something like that i think ?)

Originally Posted by q-plumb

what is the difference in thermal and pv (pv meaning what photo volatic or something like that i think ?)

Solar Thermal panels heat your hot water. 65-70% of your hot water needs though the year depending on your location.

Solar P.V. provide a contribution to your electrical needs. Prices are still very high so very long payback periods.

cheers eco me old pal - i know about the thermal for heating have covered that but not about the pv, suppose thats for sparkys.

Here is the future of PV and Solar Thermal, a combined panel, this could be good for the future http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-information/combined-pvthermal-units-in-the-works/

Originally Posted by unguided1

Here is the future of PV and Solar Thermal, a combined panel, this could be good for the future http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/sola...-in-the-works/

Its not the future but already here. I have just had the pleasure in taking part in the first "working" installation on PVT panels in the country, PVT panels being combined thermal and PV panels. All the way from Germany, we put 48 of these onto a roof. At optimum conditions they are producing around 9kw/h and have no trouble heating up 600litres of stored water before being diverted to a series of plate heat exchangers and a buffer tank to supplement a ground source heat pump installtion.

Originally Posted by Plucky

Its not the future but already here. I have just had the pleasure in taking part in the first "working" installation on PVT panels in the country, PVT panels being combined thermal and PV panels. All the way from Germany, we put 48 of these onto a roof. At optimum conditions they are producing around 9kw/h and have no trouble heating up 600litres of stored water before being diverted to a series of plate heat exchangers and a buffer tank to supplement a ground source heat pump installtion.

sounds excellent can you post some piccies of the install, also are they covered by any grants?

The whole lot was covered by grant. The building is completely eco friendly, has rain water harvesting, groundsource heat pump. All sorts of oddities to gain more breans points.

I had better not post any photos just yet. Think local paper is going to do article on install so could prob do so after that.