EXPERIENCE OF Solar Panel Complete Heating Solution including heating radiators??

Turbo33

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with a complete central heating/hot water solution from solar panels. I am new to solar panels and I am in the process of researching solar panels for my hot water needs i.e. shower, washing machine etc. But I then came across information on a complete heating solution which would including heating my radiators, tipically consist of;

# 6 x FM-S Solar Collectors (15.3m2)
# 1 x 1000 litre special multifunctional solar tank including insulation
# 1 x FlowCon S Solar Station
# 48 litres pre-mixed Antifreeze
# 1 x 50L Expansion vessel
# 1 x Expansion vessel connector
# 1 x DHW mixing valve

there also smaller versions i.e. 500L and smaller panels.

Has anyone got such a solution? or experience with these solutions. As i am thinking it can be expensive but if it save on high gas bills on heating the radiators. My house is a 5 bedroom detach with just wall radiators, i have no underfloor heating.
Are these worth it? I am sick of high gas bills, my last gas bill was €480 euro which i just got 3 weeks ago, i know its for the cold months but oil and gas is not getting cheaper.

any thoughts/help on such a system would be greatly apprieciated.
T.

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sinnerboy

I have started this new thread by taking the OP post from here .

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055882547

Fr0g

Bump


I would be interested in any replies on this.

quentingargan

I have run computer simulations for people who wanted to install solar space heating. The results for Ireland are, invariably, disappointing. If you PM me your geographical location, roof orientation etc., I can run the numbers for the system you have detailed through the tSol simulation software we use.

I did design and commission systems for houses where there was already a log gassifying stove and large buffer tank. If that is already in place, the extra few panels may well make sense, particularly as both houses were old with poorer insulation than modern houses might have. In both cases we used vacuum tubes to extend the season.

With flatplates as suggested on the package listed by the OP, because they suffer more heat loss, I would expect that the operating season would be even shorter. The better your house is insulated, the shorter your heating season will be, and the more remote the possibility that solar space heating will work for you.

I personally have an unusually large solar array (80 tubes for a family of three). Our surplus heat gets dumped into an outdoor radiator, but we log the length of time this happens. It happens regularly during those long hot summer days when we would need no heat in the house. It absolutely never happens at the time of year when we would want space heating.

ccsolar

Hi Turbo33

If you PM me I can send you details of 1 person with a 800ltr buffer tank and a 60 tube collector with an aperture area of 7.5sqm.
You can find out first hand if it works, the system also has oil as a back up.

CC