STEPHEN BAGULEY, of Hope Cove, Kingsbridge, writes:

I read the letter regarding solar panels in the paper recentlyand was very dismayed to read the statement regarding solar panels being power stations of the future.

One thing we should all be aware of is that currently electricity cannot be stored like gas, therefore what is generated has to be used immediately. Thus solar panels and wind farms can only be used as a small expensive supplement to the energy produced by conventional power stations. We will of course still need all those power stations when there is no wind or too much wind and at night when the solar panels output drops to zero. Running power stations in stop start mode to meet peak demands is of course inefficient so this is made even worse by unmanageable or unpredictable electricity produced by the 'alternative' sources. The whole reason we are doing this is to meet an arbitrary carbon output limit put upon us by authorities outside of the UK which is made all the more ironic by the fact that scientists are now saying that the so called global warming is not caused by CO2 and rather by CFCs which are now no longer used in the volumes they were.

The other major concern as a UK resident is that we are all paying around £200 per household per annum to cover the buy in tariffs that apply to the wind farms and solar panels.

Next time you see one of these unsightly additions to our countryside remember that you are paying a price for them.