Solar Panels

curraneman

Planning to build a house later this year , i have been told that solar panels and an air-to-water heat pump are the best way to get the heating bills down . i would like to hear from anyone that has actual experience of these systems or any other good options.

thanks

peter65

Hi

I've got solar panels combined with wood pellet system and it works really well. The tube system(40 tubes) supply me with 600L of water during the summer and the pellets save me 50% on what oil had being costing me. Only thing with the pellets is that you need space for hopper. Pmif you need more info.

curraneman

thanks Peter .

Outkast_IRE

Best thing to get your bills down is extra insulation and airtightness, once i had these areas sorted.

Tubes for the solar and connect that and stove to a buffer tank .

heinbloed

According to Swiss research insulation and airtightness are a thing of the past, free energy will do away with costly and short lasting renovations.

ST collectors can nowadays deliver hight temperatures all year round, also in murky weather. The end of the combustion boiler industry!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78986046

curraneman

Thanks Guys, i was intending to go down the line of insulating to a high standard so as to cut out the requirement for using the gas boiler backup,

are these new solar collectors expensive , they seem very advanced technology for residential use ?

Thanks.

heinbloed

Curraneman asks:

...are these new solar collectors expensive , they seem very advanced technology for residential use ?

You have to check with the manufacturer for prices. They are new in the domestic sector indeed, it seems the way forward.
Being maintenance free for 30 years, the expected life time, the operating costs safed on a conventional CH boiler propably pays for the device several times.

You might be the first Irish costumer, maybe your project is a market opener for the manufacturer.
On the other hand: pressurised central heating systems dealing with stagnation temperatures of 300 degrees Celsius aren't every plumber's field.

It makes one think twice about the efficiency of building investments (here: insulation, new CH system) with such things now competing for performance and price.

tred

heinbloed wrote: »

Curraneman asks:



You have to check with the manufacturer for prices. They are new in the domestic sector indeed, it seems the way forward.
Being maintenance free for 30 years, the expected life time, the operating costs safed on a conventional CH boiler propably pays for the device several times.

You might be the first Irish costumer, maybe your project is a market opener for the manufacturer.
On the other hand: pressurised central heating systems dealing with stagnation temperatures of 300 degrees Celsius aren't every plumber's field.

It makes one think twice about the efficiency of building investments (here: insulation, new CH system) with such things now competing for performance and price.

How does cloud cover effect these solar collectors. There is a big differnce between a freezing blue sky switzerland and dark and dull irish winter, plus spring! !

heinbloed

Tred wants to know about the performance of the CERN vacuum collectors.
See here:

http://press.web.cern.ch/press/pressreleases/releases2012/PR07.12E.html

The ultra-high vacuum provides the panels' heat chambers with exceptional insulation, vastly reducing heat loss and greatly improving efficiency. "We've had temperatures of 80°C inside the panel when the panels were covered in snow", says Benvenuti.The panels also recover the energy produced by diffuse light more efficiently than traditional panels. The two technologies make them particularly suited to colder, less sunny climates where classic solar panels are less efficient.

A graph showing the performance here:

http://www.srbenergy.com/pages/con-concentradores-cilindricos

So from 300 Watt of irradiance we get 60% out at a temperature of about 80 degrees Celsius. In plain words: the water will boil at less then 300 Watt of irradiance when stagnating. 300 Watt irradiance = dark and dull irish winter
With the concentrating collectors.

Less with the non-concentrating ones:

http://www.srbenergy.com/pages/sin-concentracion

(no graph available here)

Ask the manufacturer for the complete test results.

tred

heinbloed wrote: »

Tred wants to know about the performance of the CERN vacuum collectors.
See here:

http://press.web.cern.ch/press/pressreleases/releases2012/PR07.12E.html



A graph showing the performance here:

http://www.srbenergy.com/pages/con-concentradores-cilindricos

So from 300 Watt of irradiance we get 60% out at a temperature of about 80 degrees Celsius. In plain words: the water will boil at less then 300 Watt of irradiance when stagnating. 300 Watt irradiance = dark and dull irish winter
With the concentrating collectors.

Less with the non-concentrating ones:

http://www.srbenergy.com/pages/sin-concentracion

(no graph available here)

Ask the manufacturer for the complete test results.

There is a caveat in some of the press releases above on solar payback in 6 years for select countries. Its a fierce interesting read. I am surprised were not hearing more about it.