Good plan! On another vid a guy used some nichrome wire and a PV panel to heat a tin of sand. The box of sand stayed at around 200C to 300C. He used it for his everyday cooking, which seemed to be a very simple concept.
Use the electricity captured via solar panels to drive the heat pump on a water heater equipped with such. They have a very high coefficient of performance (CoP) so they capture 3 to 4 units of heat for every unit of electricity used. They are more expensive, but the ROI is typically 18 to 24 months, on a unit made to last 10 to 12 years. If you have a few hundred extra dollars, they will save you thousands over the long run.
THIS! ^^^^ Heat pump water heaters are becoming standard. They are capable of using backup resistive heat or a mix of the 2 for performance, and also double as dehumidifiers. Anywhere that sees warm summers could benefit from them now, not just warmer climates. I've had a 18k btu heat pump heating my entire home for 3 years now in the NE with sometimes below 0 weather. It's rated to heat down to -22F and has done so encased in ice somehow. If you live in warmer climates, they now sell a 120V plug-in Rheem heat pump water heater that runs off 400-500 watts. That would be down right EASY to run from solar.
@@Earth1-Inhabitant That new 120v unit from Rheem is a game-changer. The only thing I don't like about it, and what will keep some folks from buying it, is there's no "high demand" option. It isn't a good solution for a larger household, unless used in conjunction with a smaller, 240v electric model.
@@jasonbroom7147 From what I've read, simply buying a larger tank or even installing another in-line storage tank takes care of issues 95% of the time. I'm considering buying the shared circuit model to run from solar (standalone system), and keeping my oil storage tank for backup in cold months. Reason being that I only have 100 amp service and don't want to upgrade. I use oil to heat my water only and the boiler is oversized and wasting tons of money. The plan is to see how the heat pump does for the rest of the winter months. I plan on insulating my basement/crawl space next spring to hopefully remove oil altogether except for 100% emergency use. If the 120v shared circuit model still can't keep up, I plan on installing another storage tank beside it. For those that want a faster recovery, the Rheem 120v dedicated circuit model has a compressor twice the size of typical hybrids and impressive numbers.
It is amazing the flat current line you can get with continuously tracking the sun. It does give those who will have fixed panels a false sense of performance. Especially with direct connect which is a poor performer. One study indicated the ideal resistance could be doubled and more overall daily output obtained. This is due to the fact that most of the day current will be much less than Imp. The solar world still is in the dark ages when it comes to heating water. Controllers which electronically match the panel to the heating element are still quite expensive and not designed to last as long as the tank. For those inclined to build their own, these controls are fairly simple and cheap to build. I made one out of a $10 inverter board. Higher voltage with grid tie panels is the way to go. For $500 you can have PV hot water system.
I was thinking that this same principle could be used to keep drinking water from freezing at a camp or off-grid 2nd home in between visits. Loosely extrapolating from your data, it's conceivable that even a single 100W panel with a similar 12V heater could serve this function (with a well insulated tank) depending on one's latitude. Thank you for sharing this info!
Nice experiment! However, I think you missed one thing. At least one can’t tell for sure if you missed it or not. You resultant number of panels seems a bit high to me based on some other rougher calculations I’ve done for a similar contemplate project. The issue I believe is that you only used one panel which almost invariably is not impedance matched to the resistance of your element. A key result in electrical engineering is the maximum power transfer between a source and a sink can only happen when the impedance (here just resistance) of both are the same. A single solar panel has a resistance of about 3 ohms. Most water heaters have a resistance between about 9 to 12 ohms (which does shift due to temperature). This means that your resistance is mismatched, and you will not get maximum power transfer from the solar panel. A 2 to 1 mismatch will result in about 10% loss of power. You are running closer to three to one, maybe 4 to 1. This could notch you down to many about a 30% loss of power. This means that your projected 14 panel requirement should really be between 9-12 achieved by wiring them up in combinations of series and parallel groups such that the combination provides the same internal resistance as your heating element. Is your heating element is 9 ohms, then three panels in series would get you 9 ohms of panel resistance. Double that to 6 panels in series to get 18 ohms. Then put an identical string of 6 series connected panels in parallel with the first series string and that gets you back down to 9 ohms, and almost perfect match to the 9 ohms heater resistance for near 100% power transfer. And you saved a couple hundred bucks in the process. There are of course other ways to wire it. And the heater resistance might be different than this example. Key is that the resistances match as closely as possible.
...and then the elation fades...After sticking my multimeter across my PV panel on Measure Resistance setting, with no useful result at all, this begs the question - how does one measure the Resistance of a PV panel?
@@nigelwilliams7920 It isn't measured, it is calculated. Take the MPPT voltage and divide it by the current. That gives you the ideal resistance. Ideal resistance should never be used in direct connect. At best that may happen 15 minutes a day. Studies have shown using twice the ideal resistance will outperform the ideal in daily production. I design power point controllers for water heating and these will double heat production. Direct connection is for those who don't know any better.
Thanks for watching and your comment. If you are referring to the board with the drill bit I just temporarily taped it to the panel while aligning it to the sun. I mentioned in the video that I used the board to keep the panel aligned, but removed it after adjusting the position. Your question was a good one and thanks again for watching.
I know a really realy cheap way to do it. Get a panel heater and inside is a very thin wire with a silicone coating, and if you put this wire on a 12 volt supply you get infrared heating, and I put the wire all over my mattress and its amazing, but if you stick this wire inside something lime a beer keg it will heat water and keep it hot. (Never tried but the wire is from 2000w heater)
Use the solar power to drive a pump that circulates the water inside of a safe pipe inside of a wood frame with a plastic surface towards the sun. Much more efficient use of solar power.
That is seasonal dependent. Not nearly as good with winter sun angles in freezing temperatures. You would need some lensing to pull it off. And then you have the potential for storm damage taking out difficult to replace items. Used solar panels are cheap and plentiful.
@@kirkwilson5905 Good points but storm damage also applies to solar. There's a video in my feed from some solar youtubers who lost their solar panel system to one strike.
Are there any safety considerations regarding arcing of AC water heater thermostat contacts for instance, or elsewhere in the circuitry, with DC direct or is this such a low voltage that DC arcing is not an issue?
Very good question. I was monitoring this set up closely since it was an experiment. If I was going to install it in a home water heater or use it in an unmonitored way I would add a fuse to the circuit and size it for the smallest wire size used. Make sure you comply with any electrical codes for your area.
I use solar panel to cook. It works. It saves energy I can prepare and forget, tasty and healthy. I incredibly hate cooking 😂. Solar panel + Topf is ideal. Need dog to give him bones and clean plates😂😂😂😊
Thanks for your comment. have not done that exact experiment, but other experiments suggest it would work better since more of the total spectrum of sunlight would be used. Especially if the bottom of the container was black. The thing I like about using the photovoltaic solar panel is you have a lot of flexibility in where you place it and getting the energy inside your house using only a small diameter cable instead of water pipes or air ducts.
Very informative video thanks for taking the time to show the world. I have a question I'm thinking to add in my scholie motorhome conversion a 6gln water tank with 100W solar panel can you help with what size in watts 12V element should I pair with. Will the water stay hot/warm overnight installation would be inside and the home is well insulated. Your help is highly appreciated.
You will need to include a thermostat. I used one element of a dual element, low voltage, DC model from Missouri Wind and Solar. They sell thermostats and an element with a built in thermostat. I recommend checking with them. This is a link to their website. windandsolar.com/dc-water-heating-elements/
Also make sure you have a pressure relief valve. The old Mythbusters blew up water heaters and after watching that it is a good reminder of the importance of thermostats and pressure relief valves.
Thanks for the reply, I intent to purchase a 6gln water heater tank which comes complete with it's accessories and just replace the element to 12V. My question is what size element 12V watt's ??? With 100W solar panels if need I could go up to 200W.
@@alexkalsatos5555 That could be an issue finding a 6 gallon tank with a replaceable element. it takes about a KWH to heat up 6 gallons of water. That can't be done with a 100W panel. Grid tie panels are more than twice the power at the same cost. Slightly higher resistance above ideal will serve you better.
With one 100W panel it will take some time to heat up six gallons. I would make sure the tank is well insulated so you don’t lose much heat. Some type of thermal collector would capture more of the solar spectrum, but it would come with plumbing issues rather than electric issues.
Good experimenting. I have an engineering background and love the garage tinkering and have done similar experiments. Recording data and spreadsheets is good practice so I am one of the few that won't get bored looking at that stuff. ha! I have several DC immersion heating elements but have only had time to test a few. Did you mention the sepcs on your heat element?
I just checked my order for the heating element from Missouri Wind and Solar. It looks like it is no longer available. 1 × Low Voltage DC Submersible Double Water Heater ElementVoltage: 48 VoltsWattage: 2000 Watts Unfortunately this product is no longer for sale so it cannot be reordered. They do have others available. This is a link. windandsolar.com/dc-water-heating-elements/
This is all good but those DC Elements dont go directly onto my standard hot water tank There a screw on Element ...The original element is AC 240 VOLT 2000 WATTS is a 4 bolts to a 70mm square plate . So how are you going to fit that DC Element to your standard water tank everyone got Because thats what your ultimately wanting to do . ???
That is a good question. I did not actually try to install it in a standard hot water heater. I recently replaced two 38 gallon standard water heaters with a 50 gallon Rheem hybrid heat pump hot water heater. It is very efficient, but I have had some thermistor problems with it. I recommend you contact Missouri Wind and Solar with your question. windandsolar.com/?keyword_session_id=vt~adwords%7Ckt~missouri%20wind%20and%20solar%7Cmt~b%7Cta~340302867773&_vsrefdom=wordstream&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw-O6zBhASEiwAOHeGxaR_eY-_W8tSvYvmJAKGOg_ZW-2Ib8Pp-O29NKi9hv-9CPBxQmHOoBoCKJUQAvD_BwE
Can't say that moving a panel all day is really a fair test. All studies have shown a normal bell curve where power drops off rapidly beyond the normal 2hr mid day period. A 12V heating element is never a good match for a 12V panel, did you put those elements in series? These sunny day videos give people unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved. Power is a function of the square of the current. I design power point water heater controllers and when the current drops to 20% of a panels rating, you need five times more panels than when a power point controller is used. Wasting capacity of a power bank and over sizing equipment is not the way to heat water. I heat three water tanks with the same panel power that goes to the charge controller. That power would otherwise be wasted and more than half my panels are shaded at any one time.
Very good video, thanks 😁 It does a lot for me, I was wondering if it would be possible to use this method to heat water in a van and now I have a pretty good idea 😁
This was just an experiment to show how easy it is to do this. The solar production on our 12 kw ground mount panels is basically zero before 7:00 AM and after 5:40 PM. Most of the power is produced between 9:00 AM and 3:30 AM where we are located.
Depends. This video is 3 years old and panels are way cheaper now. If you have a 450W panel and a properly matched element you might only need 1 panel to partially heat a tank over 15 hours of sunshine. By partially heating I mean you might have comfortable warm water rather than cold water coming from your hot tap. Add another panel and you might get water that you can directly shower with and it should be that way for the next 20 years.
@@mikefiatx19 I just got my old Welsh house. Nice cottage in the national park. The biggest issue in my valley is heating water......its so expensive these days. In my rental the farmer had a biomass boilers, so efficient and amazing, but expensive, 2 - 450W panels, you really think it'd be ok? its only me and my wife, and we have mains electric, but I'd like to use that only for top-ups or when the Welsh sun is rare (nov-march). 450w panels seem relatively cheap these days?
@anisotropicplus Seems like two steps forward and one step back to me. Why not take three steps forward and simply heat with heat right out of the chute? Oh, and if you're worried about freezing pipes in Winter, do as I do and run oil (I use peanut oil) as a working fluid, that circulates through a heat exchanger to create hot water. I set it and forget it. I haven't paid a penny for hot water in overv 30 years!
@@WhatDadIsUpTo I have a friend lives in Alaska and on a sunny day his solar panels heat up the sand heat storage in his house that last days. You can have sun in frozen weather as well.
Good plan! On another vid a guy used some nichrome wire and a PV panel to heat a tin of sand. The box of sand stayed at around 200C to 300C. He used it for his everyday cooking, which seemed to be a very simple concept.
That is interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I looked but can't find the video :(( Any chance you could put out a link PLEASE? :D Thank you!
Use the electricity captured via solar panels to drive the heat pump on a water heater equipped with such. They have a very high coefficient of performance (CoP) so they capture 3 to 4 units of heat for every unit of electricity used. They are more expensive, but the ROI is typically 18 to 24 months, on a unit made to last 10 to 12 years. If you have a few hundred extra dollars, they will save you thousands over the long run.
Thanks for watching and your comment.
THIS! ^^^^ Heat pump water heaters are becoming standard. They are capable of using backup resistive heat or a mix of the 2 for performance, and also double as dehumidifiers. Anywhere that sees warm summers could benefit from them now, not just warmer climates. I've had a 18k btu heat pump heating my entire home for 3 years now in the NE with sometimes below 0 weather. It's rated to heat down to -22F and has done so encased in ice somehow. If you live in warmer climates, they now sell a 120V plug-in Rheem heat pump water heater that runs off 400-500 watts. That would be down right EASY to run from solar.
@@Earth1-Inhabitant Thanks for your comment.
@@Earth1-Inhabitant That new 120v unit from Rheem is a game-changer. The only thing I don't like about it, and what will keep some folks from buying it, is there's no "high demand" option. It isn't a good solution for a larger household, unless used in conjunction with a smaller, 240v electric model.
@@jasonbroom7147 From what I've read, simply buying a larger tank or even installing another in-line storage tank takes care of issues 95% of the time. I'm considering buying the shared circuit model to run from solar (standalone system), and keeping my oil storage tank for backup in cold months. Reason being that I only have 100 amp service and don't want to upgrade. I use oil to heat my water only and the boiler is oversized and wasting tons of money. The plan is to see how the heat pump does for the rest of the winter months. I plan on insulating my basement/crawl space next spring to hopefully remove oil altogether except for 100% emergency use. If the 120v shared circuit model still can't keep up, I plan on installing another storage tank beside it. For those that want a faster recovery, the Rheem 120v dedicated circuit model has a compressor twice the size of typical hybrids and impressive numbers.
Great insight on the basics and a simple set up, thank you! I would suggest adding protection for the panel. Keep sharing :))
Thanks for watching and your suggestion.
It is amazing the flat current line you can get with continuously tracking the sun. It does give those who will have fixed panels a false sense of performance. Especially with direct connect which is a poor performer. One study indicated the ideal resistance could be doubled and more overall daily output obtained. This is due to the fact that most of the day current will be much less than Imp. The solar world still is in the dark ages when it comes to heating water. Controllers which electronically match the panel to the heating element are still quite expensive and not designed to last as long as the tank. For those inclined to build their own, these controls are fairly simple and cheap to build. I made one out of a $10 inverter board. Higher voltage with grid tie panels is the way to go. For $500 you can have PV hot water system.
Thanks for watching and your informative comment. I am all for cheap and simple when possible.
I was thinking that this same principle could be used to keep drinking water from freezing at a camp or off-grid 2nd home in between visits. Loosely extrapolating from your data, it's conceivable that even a single 100W panel with a similar 12V heater could serve this function (with a well insulated tank) depending on one's latitude. Thank you for sharing this info!
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree.
Nice experiment! However, I think you missed one thing. At least one can’t tell for sure if you missed it or not. You resultant number of panels seems a bit high to me based on some other rougher calculations I’ve done for a similar contemplate project. The issue I believe is that you only used one panel which almost invariably is not impedance matched to the resistance of your element. A key result in electrical engineering is the maximum power transfer between a source and a sink can only happen when the impedance (here just resistance) of both are the same. A single solar panel has a resistance of about 3 ohms. Most water heaters have a resistance between about 9 to 12 ohms (which does shift due to temperature). This means that your resistance is mismatched, and you will not get maximum power transfer from the solar panel. A 2 to 1 mismatch will result in about 10% loss of power. You are running closer to three to one, maybe 4 to 1. This could notch you down to many about a 30% loss of power. This means that your projected 14 panel requirement should really be between 9-12 achieved by wiring them up in combinations of series and parallel groups such that the combination provides the same internal resistance as your heating element. Is your heating element is 9 ohms, then three panels in series would get you 9 ohms of panel resistance. Double that to 6 panels in series to get 18 ohms. Then put an identical string of 6 series connected panels in parallel with the first series string and that gets you back down to 9 ohms, and almost perfect match to the 9 ohms heater resistance for near 100% power transfer. And you saved a couple hundred bucks in the process. There are of course other ways to wire it. And the heater resistance might be different than this example. Key is that the resistances match as closely as possible.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to share the details of how to improve the energy transfer.
Thanks so much for that info re the resistances - it explains why my humble experiments have been so remarkably unsuccessful to date!
...and then the elation fades...After sticking my multimeter across my PV panel on Measure Resistance setting, with no useful result at all, this begs the question - how does one measure the Resistance of a PV panel?
@@nigelwilliams7920 It isn't measured, it is calculated. Take the MPPT voltage and divide it by the current. That gives you the ideal resistance. Ideal resistance should never be used in direct connect. At best that may happen 15 minutes a day. Studies have shown using twice the ideal resistance will outperform the ideal in daily production. I design power point controllers for water heating and these will double heat production. Direct connection is for those who don't know any better.
Sounds like you have never heated water.
You covered part of the panel with the wood...
Thanks for watching and your comment. If you are referring to the board with the drill bit I just temporarily taped it to the panel while aligning it to the sun. I mentioned in the video that I used the board to keep the panel aligned, but removed it after adjusting the position. Your question was a good one and thanks again for watching.
I know a really realy cheap way to do it. Get a panel heater and inside is a very thin wire with a silicone coating, and if you put this wire on a 12 volt supply you get infrared heating, and I put the wire all over my mattress and its amazing, but if you stick this wire inside something lime a beer keg it will heat water and keep it hot. (Never tried but the wire is from 2000w heater)
Interesting idea. Thanks for watching and your comment.
Use the solar power to drive a pump that circulates the water inside of a safe pipe inside of a wood frame with a plastic surface towards the sun. Much more efficient use of solar power.
Thanks for watching and your idea.
That is seasonal dependent. Not nearly as good with winter sun angles in freezing temperatures. You would need some lensing to pull it off. And then you have the potential for storm damage taking out difficult to replace items. Used solar panels are cheap and plentiful.
@@kirkwilson5905 Good points but storm damage also applies to solar. There's a video in my feed from some solar youtubers who lost their solar panel system to one strike.
Are there any safety considerations regarding arcing of AC water heater thermostat contacts for instance, or elsewhere in the circuitry, with DC direct or is this such a low voltage
that DC arcing is not an issue?
Very good question. I was monitoring this set up closely since it was an experiment. If I was going to install it in a home water heater or use it in an unmonitored way I would add a fuse to the circuit and size it for the smallest wire size used. Make sure you comply with any electrical codes for your area.
I use solar panel to cook. It works. It saves energy I can prepare and forget, tasty and healthy. I incredibly hate cooking 😂. Solar panel + Topf is ideal. Need dog to give him bones and clean plates😂😂😂😊
Thanks for watching and your comment.
As a bench mark, I wonder how heating a container, clear on the front and insulated on the back with direct sunlight would have worked?
Thanks for your comment. have not done that exact experiment, but other experiments suggest it would work better since more of the total spectrum of sunlight would be used. Especially if the bottom of the container was black. The thing I like about using the photovoltaic solar panel is you have a lot of flexibility in where you place it and getting the energy inside your house using only a small diameter cable instead of water pipes or air ducts.
Very informative video thanks for taking the time to show the world.
I have a question I'm thinking to add in my scholie motorhome conversion a 6gln water tank with 100W solar panel can you help with what size in watts 12V element should I pair with.
Will the water stay hot/warm overnight installation would be inside and the home is well insulated.
Your help is highly appreciated.
You will need to include a thermostat. I used one element of a dual element, low voltage, DC model from Missouri Wind and Solar. They sell thermostats and an element with a built in thermostat. I recommend checking with them. This is a link to their website. windandsolar.com/dc-water-heating-elements/
Also make sure you have a pressure relief valve. The old Mythbusters blew up water heaters and after watching that it is a good reminder of the importance of thermostats and pressure relief valves.
Thanks for the reply, I intent to purchase a 6gln water heater tank which comes complete with it's accessories and just replace the element to 12V.
My question is what size element 12V watt's ??? With 100W solar panels if need I could go up to 200W.
@@alexkalsatos5555 That could be an issue finding a 6 gallon tank with a replaceable element. it takes about a KWH to heat up 6 gallons of water. That can't be done with a 100W panel. Grid tie panels are more than twice the power at the same cost. Slightly higher resistance above ideal will serve you better.
With one 100W panel it will take some time to heat up six gallons. I would make sure the tank is well insulated so you don’t lose much heat. Some type of thermal collector would capture more of the solar spectrum, but it would come with plumbing issues rather than electric issues.
how about using 24 watt panels? and two 400 watt panels will be enough to heat up the water
Thanks for watching and sharing your idea.
Good experimenting. I have an engineering background and love the garage tinkering and have done similar experiments. Recording data and spreadsheets is good practice so I am one of the few that won't get bored looking at that stuff. ha! I have several DC immersion heating elements but have only had time to test a few. Did you mention the sepcs on your heat element?
Thanks for watching and your comment. I will look up the specs. and get back to you by Friday.
I just checked my order for the heating element from Missouri Wind and Solar. It looks like it is no longer available.
1 × Low Voltage DC Submersible Double Water Heater ElementVoltage: 48 VoltsWattage: 2000 Watts
Unfortunately this product is no longer for sale so it cannot be reordered. They do have others available. This is a link.
windandsolar.com/dc-water-heating-elements/
@@anisotropicplus Thanks for checking. I just got my heater last week. 48/1000 watt/2.3ohm. should work nice with my two 315 watt modules. (y)
@@daveluxton8317 Sounds good.
Blocking part of the panel will drastically reduced the Effective of the panel
Yes, you are correct. I only placed the alignment board on it to realign it with the sun and then removed it. Thanks for watching and your comment.
From Pakistan ...great thanks
Thanks for your comment.
Yeah, shading a third of the module surface which are connected in series is probably not the best idea.
Thanks for watching and your comment.
This is all good but those DC Elements dont go directly onto my standard hot water tank There a screw on Element ...The original element is AC 240 VOLT 2000 WATTS is a 4 bolts to a 70mm square plate . So how are you going to fit that DC Element to your standard water tank everyone got Because thats what your ultimately wanting to do . ???
That is a good question. I did not actually try to install it in a standard hot water heater. I recently replaced two 38 gallon standard water heaters with a 50 gallon Rheem hybrid heat pump hot water heater. It is very efficient, but I have had some thermistor problems with it. I recommend you contact Missouri Wind and Solar with your question. windandsolar.com/?keyword_session_id=vt~adwords%7Ckt~missouri%20wind%20and%20solar%7Cmt~b%7Cta~340302867773&_vsrefdom=wordstream&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw-O6zBhASEiwAOHeGxaR_eY-_W8tSvYvmJAKGOg_ZW-2Ib8Pp-O29NKi9hv-9CPBxQmHOoBoCKJUQAvD_BwE
smart man excellent effort and thanks
Thanks for your comment.
Can't say that moving a panel all day is really a fair test. All studies have shown a normal bell curve where power drops off rapidly beyond the normal 2hr mid day period. A 12V heating element is never a good match for a 12V panel, did you put those elements in series? These sunny day videos give people unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved. Power is a function of the square of the current. I design power point water heater controllers and when the current drops to 20% of a panels rating, you need five times more panels than when a power point controller is used. Wasting capacity of a power bank and over sizing equipment is not the way to heat water. I heat three water tanks with the same panel power that goes to the charge controller. That power would otherwise be wasted and more than half my panels are shaded at any one time.
Very good video, thanks 😁
It does a lot for me, I was wondering if it would be possible to use this method to heat water in a van and now I have a pretty good idea 😁
Having measuremens to end at 3PM is like ending a movie with a cliff hanger.... The sun is still up!!!! what happens the rest of the day?
This was just an experiment to show how easy it is to do this. The solar production on our 12 kw ground mount panels is basically zero before 7:00 AM and after 5:40 PM. Most of the power is produced between 9:00 AM and 3:30 AM where we are located.
@@anisotropicplus thanks
So it looks like it is not worth it. Thanks
Thanks for watching
Depends. This video is 3 years old and panels are way cheaper now. If you have a 450W panel and a properly matched element you might only need 1 panel to partially heat a tank over 15 hours of sunshine. By partially heating I mean you might have comfortable warm water rather than cold water coming from your hot tap. Add another panel and you might get water that you can directly shower with and it should be that way for the next 20 years.
@@mikefiatx19 In my location I am happy to get minutes of sun per day. Today for example 120W panel, 50Wh production for a day.
@@mikefiatx19 Thanks for watching and your comment.
@@mikefiatx19 I just got my old Welsh house. Nice cottage in the national park. The biggest issue in my valley is heating water......its so expensive these days. In my rental the farmer had a biomass boilers, so efficient and amazing, but expensive, 2 - 450W panels, you really think it'd be ok? its only me and my wife, and we have mains electric, but I'd like to use that only for top-ups or when the Welsh sun is rare (nov-march). 450w panels seem relatively cheap these days?
Let me get this straight. You're using a heat source (sunlight) to make electricity to make heat?
Huh?
Yes, and it works great.
@anisotropicplus
Seems like two steps forward and one step back to me.
Why not take three steps forward and simply heat with heat right out of the chute?
Oh, and if you're worried about freezing pipes in Winter, do as I do and run oil (I use peanut oil) as a working fluid, that circulates through a heat exchanger to create hot water. I set it and forget it.
I haven't paid a penny for hot water in overv 30 years!
@@WhatDadIsUpTo Thanks for watching and your idea.
@@WhatDadIsUpTo I have a friend lives in Alaska and on a sunny day his solar panels heat up the sand heat storage in his house that last days. You can have sun in frozen weather as well.
@@thetruthalwaysscaryplease tell him to make a video of his setup. I want to make one too.
Just one briquette of charcoal and 10 drops of lighter fluid out performes this a thousand times over in every way.
Probably and it’s your choice. Thanks for watching.