Okay, for a few months I've been nicking solar panels from the side of the road and redistributing them to worthy causes, but another activist here ( the poster formerly known as 'Plant' ) said to my face I was discouraging councils from using solar power. That didn't stop me for a moment, but it did make me investigate a bit. I took 5 minutes this morning to google the blurb on the panels and think my thievery has been vindicated. Let me know if you disagree or have further info.

I saw a newspaper article recently (can't find it now - I'm a better thief than a journalist, sorry, maybe you can find it) that talked of a secret network of spy-cameras that record your number-plate as you drive about. It said the network was to track down child-abductors, terrorists and drug-traffickers, which sounds pretty reasonable. Turns out this is the kit I have been nicking, not council kit after all. It's a private company called Traffic Master whose purported aim is to provide traffic-congestion updates to paying motorists. Thing is, they read your number-plate, everyones number-plate, and you don't need to do that to spot trafffic-congestion. Oh oh. They seem pretty uptight about roadside vandals like me as they mark all their kit ' THIS IS NOT A SPEED CAMERA' blurb as if that'd stop unreasonable recidivists like me.

I don't believe everything on the following link but I do think they are underplaying the TM stuff:
 http://www.spy.org.uk/cgi-bin/trafficmaster.pl

So a bunch of wannabe-Nazis are leaving good kit for easy pick-up at the sides of the road. BP solar panels ?! BP are so green aren't they? What's not to love - what is stopping you helping yourself to the panels ? My only request is that when you take the panels ( large adustable wrench and insulated cutters) take along a hammer and smash up the aeriel and the camera too, just to play safe, just to make them pay.
Once you have the panels you'll need the standard voltage regulators. You can steal them at the same time, but this is time consuming and thus dangerous, I've been building my own with paid-for components as I'm really just a cowardly sneak-thief with a good grasp of electronics.