To reduce your water heating energy using only solar pv you are obviously going to need to install solar pv panels instead of a solar hot water system.
Weight of water heating vs pv solar panels.
Instead of only offering solar water heating solar photovoltaic panels provide an eco friendly cost effective and efficient source of electricity.
The principle behind both types of solar panel solar photovoltaic pv and solar thermal is the same.
Image via rheem australia 2.
Ft to generate as much heat as a typical home s gas furnace 100 000 btu hr.
Pros and cons of solar pv panels vs.
These are great because they maximise the amount of electricity being used on site and heat up your water during the day for when you need it later on.
Solar pv panels can also be used independently to power a traditional electrical water heating system.
The pictured collector system is a 96 square foot fafco revolution system with four 2 x12 solar panels a photovoltaic panel for circulation and an expansion tank.
Another advantage is that solar thermal panels only cost a small fraction about 20 of what pv panels cost per square meter.
There are devices called solar pv or immersion optimisers which detect when excess solar generation is being sent to the grid and instead divert this into heating your water tank.
Combine those pv panels with a timer that only allows water heating during the day and you can make the same savings with a 2kw solar pv system.
Fafco revolution 500 solar water heating system.
Type of electricity tariff.
A traditional 40 square foot glass copper solar collector system weighs over 180 pounds when filled.
Every solar panel is made up of individual solar photovoltaic pv cells.
In australia there are two primary types of electricity tariffs.
Flat rate time of use tou either of these can be used to power a hot water element in conjunction with solar hot water solar pv and possibly a controlled load tariff see below.
Pv cells come in a standard size of 156 mm by 156 mm which is approximately 6 inches long and 6 inches wide.
Example of a tankless water heater by rheem.
In solar pv systems this is through the creation of electricity whereas thermal systems are used directly for heating water or air.
They absorb raw energy from the sun and use it to create usable energy.
Solar pv is cheaper than solar thermal because the government offsets the prices with initiatives such as the feed in tariffs.