There has been very little in 2025 that could be described as good but the
Meteorological Office has reported that it was the hottest year ever. It didn’t
feel especially hot to me and can one ever believe a Government Department that
puts its sensors alongside airfield runways and quotes figures from sensors it
later admits do not existt?
I have no way of proving the Met Office’s claim but I have been recording light
(sunshine) levels every 15 minutes since 2011; not quite the same thing as
temperature but maybe a close correlation.
When I installed solar panels 16 years ago the European Union hosted a web
calculator to predict their output. It took into account latitude, roof
inclination, direction and the actual model and number of solar panels. For me it predicted
2,830 kilowatt hours per year and on that basis the payback time was likely to
be around eight years. The prediction proved to be pessimistic. My installation
always out performed the EU prediction by…
2011:119·22%
2012:114·99%
2013:110·13%
2014:120·03%
2015:115·33%
2016:114·99%
2017:112·33%
2018:118·87%
2019:119·45%
2020:121·74%
2021:108·76%
2022:125·51%
2023:117·22%
2024:109·45%
2025:122·72%
On that basis 2022 beats 2025 which falls into second place. Maybe it was not the hottest year after all.
Note: 2011 and 2016 being identical is entirely coincidental. The figures have been
checked and there was a difference right up to the last day. In 15 years
the panels have paid for themselves more than two and a half times over. The
payback formula is a lot less generous now.
Undeniably good news was Reform UK throwing out their elected Councillor on
Kent County Council for not revealing what was reported here at the end of 2017.
A libel case lost at enormous expense after the former Bexley Councillor said that an employee had stolen a
large sum of money from her business.
The Councillor publicly admitted that she suffered seven house burglaries. I
have an audio recording of her business partners claiming that the only thing
stolen was her accounts books and her TV. Make of that what you will.
Incriminating evidence from the Court proceedings are available on request by
Reform UK should they ever need them.
Happy New Year to you all.