It's a No Brainer!

Day after day, week after week, the sun beats down from cloudless skies. Whilst that swathe of red has vanished from the weather map, a band of land around the mediterranean, from Narbonne to the Italian border remains under yellow and orange alert for the foreseeable future. Temperatures of 38/39C are forecast for next week. And so, whilst we must take precautions, we must also make the most of what we have. As our electricity bills continue to mount , installing solar panels would seem to be a 'no brainer,' not just for our own immediate use, but for future generations too. But where they should go? Alas, there is no obvious place. Whilst the back of our house faces south, the land rises steeply above it , so in winter the sun appears above the trees much later and vanishes early. But these ruminations are not new. We actually decided to install solar panels sixteen years ago and went ahead too. But we installed them at 'La Primelle,' our gîte , where sun beats down on the south facing roof all day. At that time solar panels were very expensive, but we negotiated a favourable feed-in tariff, set by the government at that time. These panels continue to produce handsomely, but not for us, for we no longer own them.

For a long time now we have been feeling guilty about emitting diesel fumes from our old Land Rover . We would ruminate about changing to an electric car, but if truth be told,we loved our Land Rover and we still do. However, like all of us, money was the bottom line.With war in Iran, the price of fuel was mounting. What's more, we had planned a car journey to Paris . And so , last month we purchased our first second-hand electric car(EV) Modest in size, but chosen for its longer range it serves us well. What's more driving it is a dream with no gears to worry about, save forward and reverse.

For most of the time, we charge the car over-night when electricity is cheap. On our journey to and from Paris we needed to top up twice on each leg. This worked well however, as we combined this with a short meal/coffee break. What's more, as we were learning the ropes, I sensed a sense of camaraderie amongst our fellow EV owners who were always keen to offer help.

At the moment we drive the car up close to the garage to plug it in to an ordinary socket. This works well for us. No chance of going inside however, for the garage is pretty full! When it is fully charged we park the car in some shady spot for it is not good to leave EV vehicles in full sunshine. B. however, is never happier than when he has a project. "Why don't I build a car port?" he suggested recently. It came as a kit to be assembled . Le 'coup de résistance'will be 4 large solar panels on the top. And so the project has begun. The ground has been measured out and six post holders have been fixed to the concrete. The uprights are now in place.

And so, I await impatiently until the solar panels can be installed, so that we can be charging the car, and perhaps contributing to household consumption too. But of course this isn't just about our costs today. it is about the future for others too. I'll be posting more photos soon.