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Converting Sun to electricity to power a water heater is suboptimal. The water can be heated directly by the Sun. If you can put a water tank above the solar pa
by lefra 20d ago
Converting Sun to electricity to power a water heater is suboptimal. The water can be heated directly by the Sun. If you can put a water tank above the solar panel, you don't even need a pump.
- ericd 20d agoIf it powers a heat pump water heater, it's pretty efficient, and much less plumbing involved.
- ButlerianJihad 20d agoThis is true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_at_the_White_House#Carter_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_at_the_White_House... It is also true that solar water heating has unpleasant failure modes.
- 3eb7988a1663 20d agoFrom a purely efficiency standpoint, yes, but practically, electricity->heat is a lot cheaper to install. Plumbing is messy, and bolting on a water circulation system to a roof is harder than delivering more joules over the wires.
- JumpCrisscross 20d agoHaving gone through one ice-dam related roof leak in the past, I'm also not thrilled with the idea of superheated liquids hanging out casually above my bedroom while I sleep.