Solar Hot Water Experiment

[WotEver]

We have 4kW on our roof at home and it's very rare that we have any excess  Our monitor very, very rarely shows zero usage from the grid.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by WotEver
typo

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 hour ago, Tom and Bex said:

Initially looked at the standard thermal panels that use glass vacuum tubes, but decided they were too fragile for boat use so went with flat plate collector. More expensive, and less efficient, but in my opinion, better for boat use. Also most glass tube panels are not suitable for mounting flat - something to be aware of for boats. 

Of the half dozen or so home brewed solar hot water systems I've seen on boats over the years, none have been evacuated glass tube collectors. All have been some sort of commercial, or home made flat plate.

Jen

 

[Man 'o Kent]

I was not intending to suggest evacuated glass tube collectors for narrowboats! Even my over active imagination cannot begin to guess at all the ways that might be a problem. It was just offered an example of the sort of high-tec. solutions that are about.


If you want lo-tec then I will take you back to the summer of 1976. We took my sloop into the tide mill basin at Woodbridge for a short layover so that we could visit the Sutton Hoo site. The operators of the mooring pontoons had laid on a fresh water service via black plastic hose, the water that came out was far too hot even for hand washing.


And to add a complete red herring to this thread it was there that I found out the boat was quite unsteerable going backwards under power. The operators had insisted we moored stern too, after two or three abortive attempts we backed her in under jib alone with no dramas much to the consternation of the "interested" onlookers who were anticipating some sort of drama. 

[Pete7]

This is an option for hot water via solar panels, all be it rather expensive, £500 last time I looked.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by Pete7