A high yield, low risk investment that's also environmentally friendly?

Therefore it is a high risk, not a low risk investment.

Well, 11.0% tax free indicates a level of risk - my point is that the government deciding that Global Warming is a nonsense, the general public is wrong to demand higher tax and to slash its taxes on carbon producing activities like burning coal or flying airplanes is extremely unlikely, in my opinion. You're entitled to you opinion of course. The scenarios are meant to encapsulate what most people think

- Flat, Modest or Trend.

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

Very interesting observation. Solar electricity in conjunction with batteries is not as efficient as grid offset. However, I'm not saying you are wrong, I believe you that output is less in winter for electricity generated. This kind of generation (called PV sometimes) is likely to generate you 10-15% of a household's requirement at best.

The most striking observation is that for water heating, cold wintery days produce more hot water than some summer days. Often people think that a solar hot water system means loads of hot water in summer and none in winter which isn't the case.

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

How can you get more hot water when it is colder and there are fewer hours of sunshine? I'm prepared to admit that you may get some hot water in winter, but surely not more.

It's precisely because it's hours of sunshine that matter, not ambient temperature. A cold, clear day in winter will produce more hot water than a warm overcast day in summer.

Obviously, a summer day has more potential hours of clear sunshine than a winter day, and it tends to be cloudy more often in winter as well. So, on average, you'll get more out of the system in summer than winter. But it's still true that cold wintry days can produce more hot water than *some* summer days.

Mark