It's getting dimmer on here that's for sure.

A glimmer is better than nothing.

In any case, the exercise cycles sound like a decent idea - With January starts, Summer rugby gets a tad on the cool side in the stand sometimes so it might warm us up a bit. In fact a few of those wind farm machines on the stand roof would definitely be an earner..

On a very rough and ready calculation I reckon that solar panels on the stand roof would generate at a rate of around 400kW on a sunny day. Whether the old roof could stand the strain of course is a different question, but it faces towards the south and is already at an ideal angle.

What with solar panels, wind generators and the exercise bikes, we could soon be powering half the city

Then when we get back we can certainly claim 'Super League; with Bull Power!'

I have 16 panels which generate about £1700 per annum, and they are old/inefficient. Imagine the income.....but then imagine the cost to cover the roof with em???

Is there the means to store the power from the panels and use it when it's dark? I always thought the problem with solar and wind power was storing the power until it was needed? Or is that just on a very large scale?

Can't it be sold back into the grid?

I'm sure it can but the devil is in the detail. I'm sure I read somewhere that homeowners can end up with a raw deal and often the kit isn't set up so they can power their homes direct from it. They instead get their power from the mains and what they generate they get a paltry amount for. Read the small print.

You sell what you generate to an N-power or e-on on a Feed In Tariff with domestic panels. It's completely separate to your supply itself. Covering Odsal in solar panels would effectively make it a solar farm/power station.

I think to benefit you need to own your panels not have one of these companies that comes and installs them on your roof but retains ownership and therefore the bulk of the money generated?

The opposite is the case for domestic. The feed in tariffs are so low it would take a long time to get your money back selling it. But as leccy is not cheap, any you can produce for yourself means its energy you don't have to buy.

The storage issue remains a problem, it still is difficult to do. If you could store it then that would be the most benefit - but batteries are not very good, and as they are being charged and discharged hundreds of times, need frequent replacement. Better results are from storing the excess energy is things like storage heaters and immersion tanks

A good tactic is to rethink when you use big power -such as running all washing etc cycles during daylight and not dark. But they really need the boffins to crack the cheap and log lasting battery issue.

Yeh the days of money making feed in tariffs have now passed unless you’re still on an existing 25 year deal etc. Solar panels are still good for businesses who use the power generated through the day but I’d say it would be fairly minimal for th club, we only have a few offices etc it is hardly high demand.

Rumours of Marwan coming on board. Could this be the light at the end of the tunnel.!!!

Or could it be a train about to run us over???

One must ask. Are these 'new' rumours or the same old rumours coming round again, maybe on the rebound from the far side of the galaxy - or indeed, another galaxy altogether?

maybe it is reflection of the moon and the rumours bouncing back off the hypothetical solar panels and an experiment into the speed of communicating via the moon. That way we could argue contacting Nigel wood was less effective than bouncing messages off the moon

Though he generates a greater gravitational field due to his greater mass