diy solar

diy solar

solar water heater

Matt3

New Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2022
Messages
123
I'm looking into setting up a solar water heating system that is completely off grid. I'm single and live in small manufactured home. I mostly work and gone during the day so I use little water. I live in southwest Louisiana which rarely goes below freezing. I currently have an electric 4500 watt dual element 40 gal Rheem water heater model (E40 2 RH95). I know panels, LF inverter, charge controller and battery system would be expensive to run that. I'm looking at other cost effective ways. I'm open to any advice. thanks
 
I've already set up a well system that runs off of panels inverter and battery for my house water. I have a pond that I draw from using panels inverter and battery for irrigation. I use a wood stove for heat. I'm not worried about my whole house being off grid. The only thing I'm lacking is self sufficient hot water. So if you could just advise on the question I asked I would be thankful.
 
A coil of black pipe in a box with a plexiglass cover? Pipe the cold water up to it and back down into the water heater. Let the sun pre-heat the water and you won't need much power to the tank other than the occasional re-heat.

The other option would be a propane on-demand camping heater and a tank of propane. Those things are pretty good if you're not needing to feed 6 showers, 4 loads of laundry and a stack of dishes every day.

Solar and electric heat are a really bad combination because of the long high wattage draws that electric tends to need.
 
Last edited:
I am off grid and use the electric generated by the panels to heat water in the tank ,indirectly through the standard heating element. It heats water during 1200/ 1600 hours , 130 litre tank . The benefits of this method simplifies water heating so no need for extra plumbing , internal/ external along with the inherent weaknesses . Could you run solar power to your inverter then directly to your heating element ? Use a circuit board breaker / timer to regulate use ? No need for any complicated element erosion issues .
 
The black pipe preheating is probably the cheapest and simplest option.
Dedicated solar panels directly powering the heating element, would be second choice. But I'm not a fan of dedicating panels for a single item. They are going to waste, when the load is off. Maybe have the thermostat transfer the power to a solar charger when not needed.
 
The black pipe preheating is probably the cheapest and simplest option.
Dedicated solar panels directly powering the heating element, would be second choice. But I'm not a fan of dedicating panels for a single item. They are going to waste, when the load is off. Maybe have the thermostat transfer the power to a solar charger when

I am off grid and use the electric generated by the panels to heat water in the tank ,indirectly through the standard heating element. It heats water during 1200/ 1600 hours , 130 litre tank . The benefits of this method simplifies water heating so no need for extra plumbing , internal/ external along with the inherent weaknesses . Could you run solar power to your inverter then directly to your heating element ? Use a circuit board breaker / timer to regulate use ? No need for any complicated element erosion issues .
is there an example set up that I could view somewhere to take a look at
 
Back
Top