Tags
Fitting photovoltaic panels, French PV fitters, Health & No Safety!, HELIOS, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy, Solar in France
We recently decided to go for it and invest in solar energy. The return on our money should be eight percent greater than the interest we were earning on the money in the bank, and apart from that we like to be environmentally friendly.
It’s been an interesting exercise, made slightly more complicated by the fact that we live in an isolated location in southern France. Although we’ve lived here for seven years we still have difficulties with the language, especially on the telephone. We knew no French at all when we moved here seven years ago and it’s been a hard learning curve. Delivery people can never find our house and always phone for directions and all the deliveries of PV panels and equipment followed that trend.
However, eventually everything had arrived, and the day came to start the installation process. The first thing I noticed was the complete lack of any form of health and safety. The four guys doing the job went up the ladders and over the roof like monkeys. Not a rope, a net, a harness or a piece of scaffold to be seen. And much to my dismay my husband decided he was going to join them. I pondered on checking the life insurance.
There was a thirty-foot drop on the two sides of the roof where the panels were going and they worked right to the edge. I found it very hard to watch them.
They removed the heavy red tiles from the areas where the panels were to be placed and stacked them in the garden, then they fitted a waterproof membrane where the panels were to sit.
Next they carried the panels up, reminding me of leaf-cutter ants as they went up the ladder and across the roof.
Once again, while standing across on the hill at the back of the house taking photos, I shuddered at how they worked within inches of the gutter. I said to them later how I thought they needed a lot of courage to work so close to that sort of a drop-off. They laughed and said ‘habituer’ – in other words ‘You get used to it!’
It appeared there was only one thing that one of them was scared of and that was wasps! One type of wasp here likes to build its nest under the red tiles, and at the sight of wasp one of the guys would make off across the roof with much arm-waving. His comrades, who seemed to enjoy learning a bit of English, immediately dubbed him ‘chicken boy’.
The two days that it took to complete the job were scorchingly hot. I kept the guys supplied with plenty of ice-cold water and espresso coffee, and even made them some cakes which they seemed to appreciate.
We now await an inspection and then we’ll be ‘switched-on’ and able to create lots of environmentally friendly energy.
Marion Driessen said:
Luckily they stayed on the roof, notwithstanding the wasps. Green energy, good! 🙂
Have a great weekend, Jude.
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Jude said:
Thanks Marion! I just realised I never posted a photo of the finished job. Hopefully I can get an aerial shot. You have a good weekend too.:)
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lahgitana said:
Boys are boys: tout le monde! Love the last photo with the silly posing!
And how cool you are to go solar. Can’t wait to hear the progression.
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Jude said:
The guys were so much fun. The one posing in the last pic was ‘Chicken Boy’.
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diana said:
Moving no longer in the plans, then? Do report on savings etc. Well done! dixxx
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Jude said:
Thanks Di. No reason to move now as we have the new airstrip five minutes from the house. Will see how the PV’s pan out and let you know! 🙂 xx
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reb said:
Great decision! they did a good job 🙂
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Jude said:
And hopefully we’ll make a little money as well. 🙂
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Madhu said:
We have solar panels for part of our energy needs. I persinally think it should be made manadatory for new buildings. Cool pics 🙂
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Jude said:
I agree. I noticed on my last trip to England that a lot of new-builds have them. It’s a start!
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The Wanderlust Gene said:
Excuse me while I but in, but I couldn’t agree more, Madhu!
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Jude said:
You can but in any time. 🙂
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The Wanderlust Gene said:
🙂
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themofman said:
Great work, and they certainly do resemble leaf-cutter ants.
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Jude said:
Thanks Allan. They were great fun to watch – but made me cringe when they nearly sat in the gutter!
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Cedric de Alicoque said:
How interesting! I have always wanted to do that but I know it is expensive. I might try it slow and start adding solar panels with time. Is it too expensive in france? In Mexico is hard to find parts, although I can go to the States and bring some parts.. Tell me, how you planed it all?!
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Jude said:
Hi Cedric, there are companies in France who do this for you. We paid them 14,000.00 Euros (for all the panels and the installation), but we will receive about 3000.00 back from the government. We will now sell the electricity back to EDF – the big power company in France. We should make about 1500.00 Euros per year. So hopefully in 7 – 8 years we will have made back the money we spent. It works out that if we had left our money in the bank we would make about 2% interest, but by putting it into the solar panels we should make 10%. Hopefully it will stay sunny!
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benpriestphotography said:
Great photos! 🙂
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Jude said:
Thanks Ben!
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