solar hot water

Plucka
Plucka Registered Users Posts: 130 ✭✭
edited September 2019 in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Seems a lot of people on here discuss electric hot water.I have 90 mm PVC sewer pipe paint black on the sunny side of my trailer which now holds 20 litres [used to be 40 litres but the water pressure from my caravan pump was too high and burst the pipe when it was hot ]. In the winter [even with wind blowing as it does most days ] the water gets some warmth but when the sun is out [which is most days in Australia ] the water is hot by 1.30 pm and in the summer it is too hot by 11 am and I have to wait till it cools down later in the day [no cold water mixer ]. If you have sun why bother with electric heating--just a thought.
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,974 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Using a collector to heat the water does take the chance of an electrical failure out of the mix in a large household also. I think the urge to use all of the energy available offgrid is a good one as long as you are not risking your electronics with some of the wiring I have seen. Be safe first! The unused energy is there for winter when you will need it all offgrid.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • Marc Kurth
    Marc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 1,186 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    When I lived in Southern California, I was very happy with our four flat plate collectors for HW at home. It used a small circ pump to a separate 120 gallon tank, and it reliably gave us an awful lot of hot water most of the year. The tank was piped up stream of our conventional water, which was set way down on the temperature. A mixing valve on the confluence. was set for 110F to temper the HW supply to the house.
    When you have a home with five daughters, you use a lot of hot water! With the kids at school during the day, there was plenty of time to heat the circ tank.
    On a commercial scale, we generated 230F oil, using evacuated tube, parabolic mirror reflector collectors with trackers. This was in Arizona, and the high temp fluid was used to feed (2) 25 ton absorption chillers to cool the remodeled Wrigley Mansion Club.
    I am a huge believer in thermal energy collection.

    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,974 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Definitely Marc!   I just never understand why someone would use a PV panel to heat water. It has been a no brainer since the 1960's to use a thermal flat plate into a tank that can heat from gas in the winter.

    I bet you my Wife can use as much hot water as all of your ladies ;)
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • LowOnCash
    LowOnCash Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭✭
    #5
    Plucka said:
    Seems a lot of people on here discuss electric hot water.I have 90 mm PVC sewer pipe paint black on the sunny side of my trailer which now holds 20 litres [used to be 40 litres but the water pressure from my caravan pump was too high and burst the pipe when it was hot ]. In the winter [even with wind blowing as it does most days ] the water gets some warmth but when the sun is out [which is most days in Australia ] the water is hot by 1.30 pm and in the summer it is too hot by 11 am and I have to wait till it cools down later in the day [no cold water mixer ]. If you have sun why bother with electric heating--just a thought.
    On my solar home in central Florida my water heater is also heated with the air conditioner condenser lines. During summer I can even power off and still have hot water for showers.

    mike
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