Solar panels for hot water,heating etc. any info tks?

Question

Just looking for pros and cons

Answer 1

There is a professor where I live that turned a barn into a home

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Before he put in flooring structure

He put an underground water system that is heated with solar panels

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Keeps the floor a constant 65 degrees year round

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This the best usage of solar panels I have ever seen or heard of

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But then again look who did it a professor of architecture at the University of Cincinnati

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Answer 2

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/gene...

Answer 3

More than 1000W can be concentrated at a point at about 70 times concentration (focussed) at an area like the base of a cooker

Using an area of 2.7m by 2.7m Concentrated

That would cook food really quickly

Or else

u will have to wait for upto 1.5 Hrs to cook Rice

Answer 4

I only know what I've learned from school. They're very environmentally friendly and don't need maintenance charges. But they're very expensive to build and I don't know how hot they are. x

Answer 5

I know of 2 different products that are both called "Solar Panels".

First is essentially a black container filled with water. It gets hot in the sun, and heats the water inside of it. You can use that hot water to warm up a swimming pool or take outdoor showers.

The second, and more appropriate definition of a Solar Panel is a device that generates electric power when exposed to light. The generated electricity goes into your house circuit for general household use. If you generate more power than your house uses, your electric meter will run backwards -- i.e, you will be selling power back to your electric company. Many states (incl. CA, NY, FL) pay generous subsidies to home owners who install such solar electric systems.

Answer 6

This website should help.

Answer 7

We are just now installing them on our home.  The pros will be...much less consumption of oil, it will pay for itself in 4 years, it will also heat my greenhouse extending our growing season for fresh, organic produce well into winter, less of a footprint on the environment...

Our system is the evacuated tube system.  No cons so far exept the installation on the roof. I hate heights.

The one we got is by Silicon Solar.

Answer 8

This type of thing looks very attractive until you look into it. In England how far would you get with solar power? How much energy is created by solar cells? Ok so you see shed lights powered by solar energy, but how much energy does the average house use? Then work out how big your solar panel would have to be. If this was the answer, surely a big percentage of the population would be doing it, even on a DIY basis