Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Replace Drive Belt Electric Plane Motor Runs Blade Not Turning

A common fault with electric planes is that the drive belt can snap meaning that the motor runs yet the cutting blade doesn't rotate or turn. The part is very cheap and is very easy to replace as this video shows. The cost was under £5 and the replacement took a few minutes, in fact it took longer to video than to actually do the belt replacement
How to replace Drive Belt on Electric Plane when Motor Runs Blade Not Turning
How to replace Drive Belt on Electric Plane when Motor Runs Blade Not Turning

How to fit new drive belt to Black & Decker electric plane

Electric planer drive belt replacement
Electric planer drive belt replacement




The electric plane model in these photos and video is the Black & Decker KW713 but the instructions should apply to any electric planer

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

August 2015 Worst Solar Month

After recording the numbers for August 2015 it's clear that it has been the worst summer month for our solar panel electricity generation since we had our solar PV panels installed in 2011.

The total electricity generated was only 307kWh compared to 366kWh last year and 405kWh in 2013. I think the combination of both cloudy days and rain has caused this but on the flip side July and June 2015 were very good months for electricity generation.


August 2015 Worst Solar Month
August 2015 Worst Solar Month

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

May 2015 Solar output

The data for May 2015 has now been loaded to the site. Another good month and 2015 has so far been very good for solar PV electricity generation.

Sunday, 3 May 2015

Tesla Batteries for Home Electricity Storage

It looks like the dream of being able to store solar electricity to use overnight might be coming a step closer to reality.

Tesla have announced new battery technology that may start to make it viable.

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Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Perfect Day for Maximum Solar Power Generation

Today has been one of those spring or summer days that is ideal for getting the maximum power from your solar panels but not for being outside.


Perfect Day for Maximum Solar Power Generation
Perfect Day for Maximum Solar Power Generation
The sun has been out all day with pure blue skies but the temperature has been fairly low with a cool breeze too. These are perfect conditions for getting the maximum power generated from solar panels as it keeps their temperature down which improves electricity generation.

When solar panels get hot their efficiency drops so they produce less electricity. On a day like today with a cooler breeze and lower temperatures we can get over 21kWh of electricity produced which equates to over 7kWh per kWp of solar panels.

Monday, 6 April 2015

Solar Data for Feb & March 2015

I've now loaded the data for Feb and March 2015. Both fairly average months

http://solar-panels-review.321web.co.uk/yearly-solar-panel-stats.php

No snow this year so no loss of production from panels being covered

http://solar-panels-review.321web.co.uk/yearly-solar-panel-stats.php

Friday, 27 February 2015

Solar Data January 2015

Sorry folks for the delayed service but the solar panel data for January 2015 has now been loaded.

http://solar-panels-review.321web.co.uk/yearly-solar-panel-stats.php


We've not had any snow this year but January 2015 has only just matched January 2012 when we did have snow settled on the panels.

We generated 112kWh of electricity in January, just below the 120kWh we got last year.