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Heating water by solar panel

  • 29-09-2009 9:07am
    #1
    Oranage
    Closed Accounts Posts: 28 ✭


    Anybody got any ideas. I was thinking about using the solar panel to heat copper then run water through the copper.


Comments

  • #2
    godtabh
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 23,243 Mod ✭✭✭✭godtabh


    Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of information on the web about this


  • #3
    mawk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭mawk


    youre talking about a solar collector. Perfectly established technology.


  • #4
    Hasschu
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 411 ✭✭Hasschu


    You are also talking about Ireland land of moderate temperatures and high cloud cover. The pay back on solar and photovoltaic is nonexistent. Wind on the other hand given the right location is a winner.


  • #5
    spideog7
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,230 ✭✭✭spideog7


    Hasschu wrote: »
    You are also talking about Ireland land of moderate temperatures and high cloud cover. The pay back on solar and photovoltaic is nonexistent. Wind on the other hand given the right location is a winner.

    Can't heat water directly from wind and the % losses converting mechanical to electrical to heat energy would probably negate the advantages, plus moving parts break easier.
    Oranage wrote: »
    Anybody got any ideas. I was thinking about using the solar panel to heat copper then run water through the copper.

    This is pretty much exactly how the existing technologies work. On the one I saw the solar collector was a long tube (looked similar to a fluorescent light tube) with a large copper nipple on the top of it which was essentially a heat pipe. This plugged into part that was attached to your roof, which was a sealed system containing your circulating water, so if one of the tubes broke there was no plumbing, just plug it out and plug in a new one (after you saved up to buy it, they ain't cheap). I doubt anything you come up with yourself would give very good results in our climate but I believe the commercial ones are quite effective, even in the clouds, and they heat up fast, even with a glimmer of sun. Although given the initial investment they pay back period might be close to a decade, I've no idea.

    Unless of course by
    using the solar panel to heat copper
    you're refering to a photovoltaic solar panel and converting it into electricity then into heat in which case, it'd be a waste of time.


  • #6
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,641 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    The pay back on solar and photovoltaic is nonexistent
    I agree more so with the photovotaic, payback takes an age.

    Wind on the other hand given the right location is a winner.
    I have yet to see this working successfully in a domestic installation!
    Mechanical wear (unlike solar panels) is a big issue as is storm damage.


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