Solar Panels Manchester, Liverpool, Solar Panel Specialists Manchester, Liverpool

Solar Panels: How to install them

What are solar panels?

Solar panels are a green way of making energy in this eco driven world. It is one of the most popular green ways to power homes and uses the sun’s rays to produce electricity. The power is fed into your home and used throughout the day. Sometimes batteries are installed to harness excess power for when the sun isn’t shining, at night. Some electricity companies let you feed you excess power into the national grid and they pay you for what you supply so not only are solar panels good for the environment but also for your pocket! Here’s my insight into the world of installing solar panels.

Location

More than likely solar panel will be installed on your roof. Think about it logically as your roof up high, away from obstructions and more importantly is hit by the sun for most of the day. Sometimes this isn’t possible but the higher the better. Try to have them south facing as this will ensure you maximise the amount of sunlight hitting your solar panels and it will increase the productivity of them, this is important if you plan on feeding some into the national grid!

Before You Begin

As with any project safety should be paramount! If you are working on your roof then ensure you have the correct ladder and safety equipment in place to help you prevent injury. You need to make sure the area you are working on is clean and tidy and you have all the tools and supplies you need to complete the job as you wouldn’t want to waste time and constantly be up and down a ladder looking for your tools.

The Installation

The installation is pretty simple when you look into it in more detail. Solar panels are mounted on a frame to ensure they don’t slip or move around while on your roof. Line up your frames with the roof rafters to ensure you are securing them to something solid. This is extremely important as solar panels aren’t cheap and if they fall you might as well just cry because of the money you lost.

When you have finished marking your rafters then it’s time to secure them. Using the fixings provided secure them to the correct tension and give them a little pull to be 100% sure they are not going anywhere. Now the easy bit!

The solar panels should just clip onto the frames, sometimes its better if you can get someone to help you with this as it can be tricky trying to support the solar panel and line it up with the frame. Make sure you are careful of any wires and you know where they are as you don’t want them trapped underneath.

Finishing the Job

This part you should get a qualified electrician to do as it involves your electric supply. They will connect the solar panels output wires to your home’s fuse box and the solar energy will start powering your home straight away! Make sure you clean up after yourself and remove all you tools from the roof as you wouldn’t want them falling if they should ever slide off.

Platinum Energy Solutions provide Solar Panels in Manchester and Liverpool, we are solar panel specialists based in the UK.

Biodegradable Bags

Plastic can take a very, very long time to decay and break down, basically recycle itself but with the technology and knowledge we now have this is starting to slowly become a thing of the past which has massive benefits for our planet!

What about my shopping and waste bags!?

It’s not that bags are disappearing! We are simply making them more eco friendly and bio degradable.

Shopping bags have started to take the first step towards becoming greener. I personally don’t see any possible way we could ever remove plastic shopping bags from supermarkets as even the greenest of green person does occasional for get their “bag for life” (which is an good start to be coming greener yourself by the way) but they are also environmentally friendly, well better then what they was anyways. Bags have become thinner which uses fewer materials to manufacture the bag. Supermarkets claim they are just as strong but i beg to differ, in fact that’s a whole new subject!

Moving on to waste bags or bin liners as they are commonly referred to. This seems to be a little contradictive. We spend all this time recycling and being careful with our waste and then we throw other items that can’t be recycled into plastic bags that take hundreds of years to decompose. Well just like shopping bags times are changing and being greener is more of a concern than ever before. The waste we now throw away in our domestic bins and transported of to landfill can now be put in supermarket bought eco friendly biodegradable bags meaning less impact on the environment.

Do Your Bit

This is one of the simplest things you can do to be green! The cost of eco friendly bags is nothing compared to what standard non biodegradable bags and in appearance they are no different! The environment gets a helping hand from you with the most minimum effort (Simply swapping your bags) and you get the satisfaction of knowing you are being a little bit greener!

This blog is provided by G and S Corporate Supplies at www.gands-corporatesupplies.co.uk provided of cleaning supplies in the UK

Blood Diamonds

A Brief Explanation

Blood diamonds (More known as conflict diamonds) are diamonds that are mined in a war zone. They are then sold and the profits made are used to fund war. Most commonly in Africa, the profits helped warlords and rebels to purchase arms to fight with in devastating civil wars.

The efforts to stop this

The Kimberley Process is a voluntary and self regulating way to ensure diamonds are conflict free and are not funding illegal activities. It has been doing well for a couple of years but recently the process is failing. The process is meant to guarantee and provide confidence to the consumer to know what they are buying is conflict free. They do this by labelling diamond shipments.

Problem Countries

Africa, Republic of Congo and Liberia are to name but a few. The biggest problem country at the moment is Zimbabwe. Diamond fields there are the biggest source of conflict diamonds entering the worlds market. Families are forced to work mining for diamonds and they suffer dog attacks, sexual assault and beating.  This is the reason why we shouldn’t buy blood diamonds as we fund the cruelty and poverty of the people working for the monsters that force them.

The reason the efforts to stop this, The Kimberly Process have failed is because all though all 49 members who are part of the Kimberly process must agree that the shipment is legit, the president of Zimbabwe has been authorising the shipment of these diamonds independently.

How to Check if I am Buying Conflict Free Diamonds?

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is ask questions, lots of them. Most diamond products are expensive and the money you spend should mean you get something of quality, not war.

Ask questions like:

• Where are the diamonds from
• Ask for a written guarantee to ensure the diamond is conflict free
• Ask to see an invoice for the diamonds

If the diamonds come from Zimbabwe, Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, or Congo then do not buy it as it’s more than likely a blood diamond. If the jeweller can’t answer or refuses to answer any of your questions or you just feel uncomfortable then it’s time to turn and walk away and look for another place.

Always look for reputation. Most jewellers are legit and honest with what they sell but you should always keep your head on your shoulders just in case.

A reputable Jewellers i know are called The Milestone Jewellers; Specialists in jewellery in Manchester and diamond jewellery in Manchester.

Heat Shrink Tubing - Heat Shrink Tubing Suppliers - Hilltop Products

Adhesive Heat shrink Tubing

What is it?

Adhesive heat shrink tubing is a product normally used in the electrical industry to seal over splicing, harness breakouts and sealing cable ends against moisture.

How does it work?

Normally comes in either a pre cut lengths or as a roll. With an adhesive backing on the inside the user would place the tubing over the electrical ends they are trying to seal. Then using a heat source such as a blow torch they then would delicately pass the heat over the tube to begin the shrinking process.

Usually made out of nylon or polyolefin and extruded during the manufacturing process. The reason the adhesive heat shrink tubing shrinks when heated is because as the user add heat it loosens the molecules in the plastic tubing and want to return to the size they were before manufacturing. Think of it as like an elastic band. When you stretch it naturally wants to return to its un-stretched position.

Manufacturing process

Adhesive heat shrink tubing is manufactured from thermoplastic materials and made in many different colours, shapes and sizes giving the customer the ability to colour code wiring which helps a lot when working with electrics.

Most heat shrink tubing is made for the purpose of insulation in mind but companies have started to produce adhesive heat shrink tubing with a conductive metal strip inside to rule out the need of soldering wire before applying the adhesive heat shrink tubing but, some consider this bad practice and workmanship. 

This article is from Hilltop Products - Hilltop Products are Heat Shrink Tubing Suppliers

Conservatories and thier benefits

Ever considered a conservatory? Well today I’m going to tell you a little bit about the benefits and what they can do for you.

What Is A Conservatory?

A conservatory is a great way to add extra space to your home. A conservatory makes it possible to add that little bit more extra space we all seem to need. Think of it as a one story extension but without the high price tag, in fact it's much cheaper. Usually made out of high quality PVC which makes it durable, strong and long lasting. PVC is much cheaper than other building materials used to add an extension to your home.

The Added Benefits

The affordability and quick build time are some of the biggest reasons why conservatories are so popular and always in demand. An extension can take weeks, even months to complete to a good standard where as a conservatory can take just a matter of days, even less in some cases. As they are made out of PVC and contain a lot of glass it means you also save on decorating bills too! The amount of glass is also a bonus within its self. It means the room will be light and airy giving a feeling of bigger space which will make it the perfect place to relax after a hard day’s work. The glass windows also make it possible to have plants where ever you want in the conservatory as light can reach them meaning you can be green fingered without having to worry about the Great British weather ruining you gardening time.

Another benefit of a conservatory is the little maintenance required to keep it looking good, some companies even install self cleaning glass, anything that helps with the chores we love! If you buy your conservatory from a local supplier then this also helps with costs, it's less money wasted on pointless transportation which then in turn cuts the carbon emissions. Essentially you would be doing you bit for the planet.

Weather you need an extra space to use as a play room for the kids with their toys or maybe a place you can relax after a long, hard day at work then a conservatory is the perfect and affordable way to do this.

This article is provided by Open Door Centre Warrington; Specialists in conservatories Warrington

Check out our sister blog: The Green Animal World

Litter and the facts!

Litter is a problem that i think we will never stamp out. Lets take a little look at litter and the statistics.

The facts

When researching the facts i can honestly say they shocked me. Everyone knows about litter and it's effects but how much do we really know?

Lets take a look at how much litter is dropped a day; 2.25 million induvidual pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every day, to put it into simple terms it's several truck loads daily! The worst part is we know it's wrong but yet just under 50% of our population admit to doing it. Surely there is a litter bin somewhere, if not keep it until there is one?

Smoking related litter is proven to be the most common in the UK. Mainly extinguished cigarette butts when the UK was surveyed for litter in 2009/10  and in 2009 over 30,000 people were fined by local councils and authorities for dropping little. The fines help local councils recover the money lost by cleaning up after other people. An estimated £885 million is spent yearly on the battle against litter, That's a lot of money! Fast food related litter is right up there with smoking related litter. Tons of it is dropped by us, the public every day.

It has also been proven that if the public are happy with the way their area looks and how clean it is they are more likely to feel more safer living there. So the more you keep your area clean and tidy the safer and more comfortable people feel! This is the perfect fact to show that litter doesn't just affect the cleanliness of your residence but it also affects your fellow neighbors.

So now it is time to give a big thanks to the people who spend their lives cleaning up "our" mess and you can do so starting with this local company I know called Champion Cleaning Services who are commercial cleaners in Warrington.

Sustainable wood sourcing for doors

Being Green With Your Wooden Products

Sustainability is everything in this era. We have been using wood to construct and build for hundreds of years. It’s a marvellous building product and it’s degradable, reusable and works as an effective insulator. 

Sourcing a sustainable source for doors isn’t difficult and it has its benefits. This can also help your products sell too. For example, let’s say you made this brand new door from renewable, sustainable, local materials. You would be able to pitch to you target audience and the customers showing them that it’s not all about the money and you do care for our planet and environment. Look at it this way; you would be able to tell them the materials used to build the door were locally sourced saving on delivery costs and carbon emissions. You would then also be able to tell them the wood used was from a sustainable source meaning the environment benefits from this.

How Do I Know It's Sustainable?

The aim is to give back what is taken. The general practice of a sustainable forest is for every 1 tree they cut down, they plant 3 more to replace it. They also take great care to protect the local wildlife while ensuring minimum impact. It is very important we support the sustainability of wood as it keeps a fresh supply of what we need and doesn’t affect the environment, if anything its better off right?

 Forest Stewardship Council are a non-government organisation dedicated to promoting the responsible management of the world’s forests. They run a certification system which, when award give the company the right to use the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) mark showing consumers that the products are sourced responsibly and sustainably which then allows consumers to correctly identify sustainable forest products.

Take Open Door Centre Warrington for example. They take pride in using sustainable, renewable materials in their doors. Yes it may be a little bit of extra work to source sustainable materials compared to non-sustainable ones but they take pride in making quality products with minimum impact to our environment, our planet.

If you are interested in sustainable wooden doors in Warrington check out Open Door Center Warrington.