locostmike Posted October 30, 2013 Report Share Posted October 30, 2013 Do many narrow boats use solar panels for generating hot water or at least pre-heating it? Are there any tech reasons why you shouldn't? I have a calorifier with an Eberspacher already fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace and Favour Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Are you referring to solar water systems - or solar pv panels (collecting solar energy and producing electricity)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJT Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 There is an interesting Solar water heating project described in the February 2013 edition of Practical Boat Owner magazine. Would be worth a read if you are considering building one. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackrose Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Are you referring to solar water systems - or solar pv panels (collecting solar energy and producing electricity)? The latter must be a very innefficient prospect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 The latter must be a very innefficient prospect. But better than not generating when batteries are full. I've seen a widebeam in London with a ~10 tube evacuated tube collector. I think if I was going to do it I'd go for a flat plate collector because roof space isn't really at a premium in a widebeam and it would be cheaper and more robust. It's a tempting idea but I don't have it on the cards for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Ambrose Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Have seen Solar water heating panels for sale on Ebay, mixed in with PV panels. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEO Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Hi, Not sure if this helps - I have just had a 4Kw system installed on our house, this installation includes a unit made by Solarimmersion.co.uk. This allows for any unused power to be diverted to the immersion heater, and away from the immersion when power as required and when water is hot and no power required diverts the power back to the grid. Brilliant, might be possible to incorporate it in a boat system, obviously with a smaller system and not diverting power back to the grid. Works well with my installation - so far tank full of hot water, 10 units generated on a sunny day, average power generation over 11 days 6.5 units and my wife can run her beloved tumble drier at no cost!. L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 We have solar hot water heaters on the roof of the house. On good days, our system takes the 350ltr stainless steel tank to 95 deg C. There is a mixer valve on the outlet to take this down to 40 deg C. Throughout this summer we used no gas at all for hot water, in fact in 3 months just the total gas usage was £3.50 on a little heating on occassional nights when it got cold. The solar panel uses a special fluid (no idea what it is but it is pink and rather thick) that conveys the heat via a pump to the coil in the calorifier. Everything - pipes, pump and tank are insulated to the highest degree. We have two panels because the house is East / West facing. The whole system cost just less than £4k How the system would work on a narrow boat, I dont know - certainly will have to be a scaled down version, but from the domestic point - very much worth it. Dave R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I saw a boat between Branston and Napton last week with one on the roof, it was connected by flexible pipes and was on a wheeled tripod base so could be turned and tilted to face the sun, They also and solar panels for electricity mounted the same way but separate units. The tripod bases were advertised in October Canal Boat page 80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterboat Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 I built one on to the side of my old boat it worked well in the summer providing all my hot water needs. The boat at its moorings nearly always had the sun on that side so it wasnt a problem being static. I removed it when I sold it as the broker thought it would detract from the boat Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileypete Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Do many narrow boats use solar panels for generating hot water or at least pre-heating it? Are there any tech reasons why you shouldn't? I have a calorifier with an Eberspacher already fitted. Most of the cheap evacuated tube collectors only work when inclined, not too handy for a cruising boat. There are ones that don't care about angle but the cost could probably buy a lot of gas for a Morco! I built one on to the side of my old boat it worked well in the summer providing all my hot water needs. The boat at its moorings nearly always had the sun on that side so it wasnt a problem being static. I removed it when I sold it as the broker thought it would detract from the boat Peter How did you make it? cheers, Pete. ~smpt~ Edited October 31, 2013 by smileypete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod a mod from Tod Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 DaveR, on 31 Oct 2013 - 10:13 AM, said: The solar panel uses a special fluid (no idea what it is but it is pink and rather thick) that conveys the heat via a pump to the coil in the calorifier. Everything - pipes, pump and tank are insulated to the highest degree. We have two panels because the house is East / West facing. The whole system cost just less than £4k Dave R Anti-freeze as a rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex- Member Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 There are a couple of threads on this where some members were in the process or planning to make a solar hot water collector. This is on our to do list as well and I have gleaned nearly all the parts to make one. I think I now just need some alloy sheet which will be the back plate to coiled copper pipe which is all painted Black. The one we're planning is based on this one http://www.bigginhill.co.uk/solar.htm It'll be a sealed system using fluid so doesn't need emptying in winter. There's some thermostatic electronics you can use to ensure only the hottest water goes to the calorifier. Just requires a 12v pump to circulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted October 31, 2013 Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 Do many narrow boats use solar panels for generating hot water or at least pre-heating it? Are there any tech reasons why you shouldn't? I have a calorifier with an Eberspacher already fitted. 1) No. 2) Yes. Well can't, rather than shouldn't. MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterboat Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 Most of the cheap evacuated tube collectors only work when inclined, not too handy for a cruising boat. There are ones that don't care about angle but the cost could probably buy a lot of gas for a Morco! How did you make it? cheers, Pete. ~smpt~ It was simple I created a box on the side of the boat the inside of which had copper pipe going from bottom to top in 8mm micro bore off a 15mm pipe at the bottom and top. it was all painted matt black and was clipped and glued to the cabin side. It was covered by a double glazed unit the reverse side of the cabin was insulated so it kept the heat in. The pipe at the top had a thermo switch which controlled a 12v pump the immersion was removed from the calorifier and a coil from ebay was put in and it had a small header tank above it. It was filled with pink antifreeze and worked well Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul's Nulife4-2 Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 (edited) That sounds great Peter, how much hot water produced in a typical day,& @ what temp ?. Would you do it again,& what improvements would you make. Its something that would interest me,If they are effective. Edited November 1, 2013 by Paul's Nulife4-2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top cat Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 We also divert excess power from our domestic solar panels to the hot water tank and it works very well. But we have 4 kW on the house roof , our boat on the other hand has just 130w . So while in theory you should be able to use surplus power to heat water once the batteries are changed I suspected that unless you have a lot more panels than most people want to fit then the amount of hot water you get would be very small. I estimate that our £300 domestic system will pay for itself in about 3 -4 years, a low power boat system would need to be seriously cheap to have a realistic payback. TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterboat Posted November 1, 2013 Report Share Posted November 1, 2013 That sounds great Peter, how much hot water produced in a typical day,& @ what temp ?. Would you do it again,& what improvements would you make. Its something that would interest me,If they are effective. I would if I could but my new boat has a calorifier on the floor and not behind the panel so I cant do it on sunny days it provided all my hot water needs. The only improvement I would do would have been when I had the calorifier made. I would have had a 3rd coil put in instead of the one I put in via the immersion heater. It was ideal for me as my boat had sun on that side for hours both summer and winter, If I did it again I would weld a frame on rather than using wood. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace and Favour Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 We also divert excess power from our domestic solar panels to the hot water tank and it works very well. But we have 4 kW on the house roof , our boat on the other hand has just 130w . So while in theory you should be able to use surplus power to heat water once the batteries are changed I suspected that unless you have a lot more panels than most people want to fit then the amount of hot water you get would be very small. I estimate that our £300 domestic system will pay for itself in about 3 -4 years, a low power boat system would need to be seriously cheap to have a realistic payback. TC That's cheap!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top cat Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 Sorry I wasn't clear , the £300 is just for the gizmo to divert excess power to the hot water tank. The 4KW solar power system cost just under 4 grand. TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace and Favour Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 Sorry I wasn't clear , the £300 is just for the gizmo to divert excess power to the hot water tank. The 4KW solar power system cost just under 4 grand. TC I did wonder - - I could just imagine scores of boatists rushing out to buy these gizmo's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top cat Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 Yes and the point I was trying to make was it's probably not worthwhile for a small system as typical on a boat. An example of how poor phrasing can give the opposite meaning to the intention. TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassan Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 (edited) I built one this summer, old car radiator painted black, small barrel, cheap (£4) 12V pump and some garden hose and fittings. Saved a lot of complexity by not connecting it to my existing hot water system, You just fill it with water using a valve, leave it half an hour, turn the pump on, leave it another ten minutes and then the garden hose spray nozzle delivers water to shower or sink (hose through window). Works well in summer, but I'd like to encase the radiator in glass and insulate the barrel to increase the number of days where I can use it. Redneck engineering at its finest. Edited November 2, 2013 by sassan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJT Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 There is an article on making a solar collector for a Narrowboat featured in the July 2012 issue of Canal Boat magazine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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