Talk:Zero carbon solar controller

References and further reading
I added the refs and further reading - I'm not sure how independent the Solartwin one is, but it is a comment to the BSI and appears to have some useful information (though I'm certainly no expert in solar heating). Also, I'm not sure how notable this is: a google search turns up 6 (!) results, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. It would be great if someone with knowledge of/an interest in this area could give it a read-though and add any more information. kateshortforbob 21:25, 4 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Oppose merge This is usefully distinct from solar controllers in general. Andy Dingley (talk) 19:48, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

POV stuff
"it is however possible that the global solar thermal industry will start to adopt zero carbon controllers more widely in the future."

Its at least as possible that they may be dropped entirely, due to their downsides of reduced energy harvest, higher cost per yield and increased upfront cost. That's normally what drives progress in commercial products.

"This may happen if the terms of reference of solar thermal start to turn away from maximising component efficiency, which is usually regarded as efficiency per square metre of panel, and moves towards system sustainability. System sustainability may be assessed in a variety of terms, for example, operational carbon input/output ratio. This ratio is zero for a range of zero carbon solar technologies such as PV pumped solar, thermosiphon solar and integrated collector and store solar systems."

The idea that relying on pv for power on a system in a grid connected building is more sustainable is primarily a political point of view, and one that's hard to justify on any scientific, engineering basis. Tabby (talk) 14:13, 23 February 2011 (UTC)