Connect Solar Panel Directly To Electric Water Heater

If you have a gas water heater you ll need to add a second tank to store the solar heated water and purchase a hook up kit from fafco.

Connect solar panel directly to electric water heater.

Pure dc to heating element. Suppose the panel is a 12 volts design then the open voltage will be around 20 21 volts dc. Home water heaters are typically the second largest user of energy out of all home appliances. The following methods of heating water with solar electric modules include safety equipment to prevent the water in your system from becoming steam.

Then i got to thinking that maybe i could try running these old panels of mine directly into an electric hot water heater and when it s sunny maybe i ll be able to slowly heat up my water enough for a warm shower at the end of the day. Image via rheem australia 2. I believe this should work in principal and should raise temperature of water by 10 15 degrees in one day. The kit includes everything you need to connect the solar panels to your existing electric water heater on a single story house you may need extra tubing for two story homes.

In australia there are two primary types of electricity tariffs. A second option to explore is the use of a dedicated solar thermal hot water heating system coupled with a heat pump to make the most cost effective option on the market. I am using 8 renesola 300 watt 72 cell panels in 2 strings four panels in each string. 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.

One solar panel would be enough to power a traditional storage hot water heater throughout a day as this is the most inefficient appliance used in most homes. I got the panels very cheaply about 28 watt including shipping so my total cost is less than 800 including control circuit etc. Example of a tankless water heater by rheem. Connect a solar array directly to a hot water element making sure you match the maximum power point voltage with the rated voltage of the water heating element.

Need to check the voltage of the element and keep it under the mppt voltage of the panel. I just completed connecting solar panels directly to my water heater and the results are encouraging. Converting an electric water heater to solar will be good for your budget and good for the environment. Connecting solar panels to hot water heater.

One through which the water can circulate and your electric or gas water heater from where you draw hot water. In principle you can connect many things with each other. In order to set up an effective open loop direct heating system you need two tanks.