Solar Today

[solarman216]

when I have my well deserved bath tonight, I will relish in the fact that it is free, (almost have to run a small pump as collector on the roof) will not need to fire the boiler as now have a full tank at 55 degrees, and I only got the system functioning around 1 pm, well happy, Rick

 

[solarman216]

thought I had better post a pic,

 

[briggie]

looks good mate :thumb2..... i hope thats 55 degrees f and not c

hot water is a bit of a sore point at the mo in the caravan

 

[illy]

looks good mate did you do it yourself.

illy

 

[solarman216]

looks good mate :thumb2..... i hope thats 55 degrees f and not c

No 50 degrees centigrade mate I like a good bath the panel at one point today as over 80 degrees C, I was running cold water from our water supply through it just to keep the temperature under control till I got the pump up and running, Rick

 

[jims-terrano]

Well done Rick. My PV's have been making approx 7KWH a day for the last month or so. They seem to be working out OK but who knows if their 50hz is in phase with the national grids.

Jim

 

[solarman216]

Well done Rick. My PV's have been making approx 7KWH a day for the last month or so. They seem to be working out OK but who knows if their 50hz is in phase with the national grids.

Jim

I do not think they are, nor does it matter, you get the feed in tariff anyway, well done, it is just a subsidy to encourage solar so it is working, I think, I also have 6 PV panels and just had a look and they made 4 kwh today but mine charge a 24 volt battery bank, Rick

 

[solarman216]

looks good mate did you do it yourself.

illy

yes all my own work, in the past I subcontracted to a solar company installing these things so have installed thousands of these tubes, but far too expensive if you want my honest opinion, these were freebies, Rick

 

[extreme-4x4]

thought I had better post a pic,

thankfully you posted a pic of the solar panels and not solar in the bath

 

[solarman216]

thankfully you posted a pic of the solar panels and not solar in the bath

No not had my bath yet, but did forget to say, popped an enormous rat today, brazenly eating on the bird table, I have seen some, but not one as big as this one, must have missed all the poison over the last year, but got him clean dropped of the table like a stone, Rick

 

[harlowmaverick]

good boy rick!
cant even call you a dirty rat now that you have had a bath lolol

 

[solarman216]

Tank full today, top to bottom 64 degrees C, now thats what I call hot water, sun has just gone off the panel and we have done some washing up etc during the day, I could get a bit better efficiency from it by moding the plate heat exchanger flow rate but but I will leave that till I rebuild the airing cupboard a bit later in the year, got to sort the wood burner and graft it into the heating system first, Rick

 

[extreme-4x4]

Tank full today, top to bottom 64 degrees C, now thats what I call hot water, sun has just gone off the panel and we have done some washing up etc during the day, I could get a bit better efficiency from it by moding the plate heat exchanger flow rate but but I will leave that till I rebuild the airing cupboard a bit later in the year, got to sort the wood burner and graft it into the heating system first, Rick

i could use some advise on my woodburner rick. how to connect it onto the rads ???

 

[Timbo_1975]

Proper way is with a neutraliser as the w/burner must be able to work pumpless (so it doesnt blow up during a power cut)

 

[kitchenman]

slightly off topic

Hi Rick my conservatory gets sun from dawn till around 2PM, I use a cooker hood modified a bit to pump the warm air into the house, got up to 50C in the Cons today. Anyway, I am looking for a control circuit so I can turn on the fan when the cons is 2 degrees or so hotter than the house.
Some sort of comparison circuit, I guess they use them on solar hot water to control the pump.

I spoke to a heating 'engineer' he said simple, two stats, one set 2 degrees above the other.:doh I do not think he was listening

 

[solarman216]

yes a standard solar controller is what you need, I did have some kicking around somewhere the one I am using here is a top of the range all bells and whistles jobbie gives graphs of the daily gain, plots temperature min and max,total Kw etc, but again it was a freebi so why not use it, if I can find a Ringdale 501d it would suite your purpose well, problem is they went out of business a while ago and I know I have a controller I am not so sure about sensors, so leave it with me if I can find it all, yours for £20 plus post, a new controller would be around £120 today, regards Rick

 

[kitchenman]

Thanks Rick, do you do PayPal?
If not how can I pay you?

 

[solarman216]

i could use some advise on my woodburner rick. how to connect it onto the rads ???

As Timbo says you have to use a neutralizer so it does not go bang in a power cut, unless you do the whole thing gravity but that would be a completely separate system, I can send you a diagram if you like, just PM your address, Rick

 

[solarman216]

Thanks Rick, do you do PayPal?
If not how can I pay you?

yes paypal is fine but let me find it first, I will quot "it is in the barn" any that know me will testify that that is an enormous undertaking on its own, Rick

 

[harlowmaverick]

I'd rather got on an expedition to the north pole than look for a screw driver in that barn of yours rick!:thumbs