Dad wants a solar panel

Frith

Hello there. Please can someone advise my dad on buying the right, reasonably priced solar panel?

At the moment, he has a wood fired Aga type oven in the kitchen that heats the hot water. The old oil boiler is rarely used but is occasionally fired up.

So the hot water cylinder has 2 coils in - one for the wood stove and one for the oil boiler.

There is a 3rd coil in the cylinder that is waiting for a solar panel to be connected by Dad wants me to find out where/how to get one!!

As far as I can make out, it is just for supplying hot water - not for putting electricity back into the grid or anything fancy.

Thanks for any help!

Cardew

To get hot water from solar panels you need a solar thermal panel(s) - not a PV solar panel.

It is not just a question of connecting a solar thermal panel, you need a pump and some electronics.

Essentially the water is heated in the panels and pumped to the hot water tank. The electronics are to 'sense' when the water in the panels is warmer than the water in the tank. Without the electronics the hot water in the tank would be pumped up to the panels to cool down - the panels in effect would be radiators.

You will get some excellent advice from the Navitron forum http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/ but the task is daunting unless you have good DIY skills.

The savings in hot water are not that high for the outlay. There are/will be grants available but only if fitted by authorised firms.

Lastly beware of solar salesmen - many have learnt their sales techniques from double glazing salesmen of yesteryear. They exagerate the savings and charge huge amounts - several thousand pounds. Loads of Watchdog type programes about their tactics.

TiredGeek

When I looked into something like this to help my ASHP system the outlay would have taken so long to get back in savings made it pointless.
Your mileage may vary though and I can understand for some circumstances it makes financial sense.....

Pincher

http://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/renewable-energy/

Multiple uncontrolled heat sources, :rotfl:

Check out:

http://www.jaspi.co.uk/

You have an open vented thermal store, with a designed solar volume at the bottom, and sufficient sensor pockets for the solar pump, of course.

[Deleted User]

Solar thermal is a great idea and certainly a nice to have but...

To get one MCS installed is just way to expenive for the small savings. Typically, extensive pipework changes are required with a new DHW tank.

If you have the skills and the inclination then a DIY retrofit is possible.

When I looked into last year the cost was approx £4k for an MCS install.

IMHO they should be mandatory on 'new builds' now as well as other measures.