2026 Solar Hot Water Project
This year's 2026 addition is working on the next project, solar hot water. After a long delay it's moving forward. This includes a 4000L stainless insulated tank and three 30 tube collectors. Heat generated will pre-heat domestic hot water and provide hydronic floor heating. Evacuated tube collectors can harvest up to 80% of the sun's energy vs solar voltaic (that make electricity) of just over 20% efficiency.
Here's the tank ready to go with high density foam between it and the concrete slab. Lots of fittings and connections to make.
Evacuated tube solar collectors look like these (pictured below) which will be installed in the coming months, along with the necessary piping, reservoir tank and pump/controller in what's known as a "drain-back" setup.
You can learn more about closed-loop vs drainback from my friend Stefan here:
If you have any questions on going solar, electric vehicles, etc just ask Pete - it has been his passion/hobby for many years now.
Also in Happy Holidays
Peter Ferlow shows solar system performance updates for 2024
Peter Ferlow gives an updated 2024 review on the gridtie solar system performance since installation.