I was at a meeting the other night for a project I have been working on.  We are in the process of looking at the feasibility of having solar panels on the roof so we get some free electricity and some money via FITS.  Unfortunately one of the directors invited 2 of his friends that where there to “observe”, the problem was they did not observe, they trashed the meeting, talking over everyone and knowing more about everything than everyone.

While we where discussing the solar project one of them pointed at me and asked  “so, are you a solar panel expert?” Unfortunately I did not get a chance to answer, mainly due to the other bloke feeling the need to hear his own voice.

So I have thought about it, considering that 18 years ago I installed and fitted 500watts of solar panels along with 2 Rutland windgenys linked to a bank of 24 batteries to run a off grid project and I have hacked together many small scale renewable energy projects since, indeed I hack things together for fun, I have followed the solar panel/renewables industry very closely and have seen grid tie systems evolve from nothing, to ROCs and now to FITs. I was at the first meeting with a potential supplier of solar panels for the building and have worked with Danni and now work with Adrian in the process of using renewable energy on the building.

Does that make me an expert ?  Well to be honest probably not.
Does it make me well informed enough to voice my opinion at a meeting for a project that i have been working on for the past 4 years without getting shouted down ?  yes, it does.