Solar Power

[Former Farmer]

Is there any way I can get hot water heat from solar and have it pumped to the basement and through a radiator to heat the basement? Has anyone done this?

I'm sure there is, but what is the cost and how much heat would it produce? Can you just hook something up to your EKO 25?

There is one place that I did some electrical work for about 7 years ago that had solar collectors for heating water. They ran the system all year long. They had a large warehouse that they had put about 8' of sand below the concrete slab. They used this sand as their heat sink during the summer to draw off from during the winter. The solar did produce heat during the winter, but I think it was more supplementing the heat that was stored in the sand. I never heard how well this system worked for them.

 

[Circus]

Circus - Who is your electric provider? WPS or WE Energies?​

Allient which is WPS, I think. Well, so much for PV, this chump will pass.

 

[Former Farmer]

Alliant is a different company than WPS (Wisconsin Public Service). I think that Alliant Energy is out of Madison.

 

[Circus]

I think that Alliant Energy is out of Madison​

Checked. Alliant is WP&L. For under 20K system, net metering. Balance over $100 is paid, under $100 rolled over to the next month. Not as bad as I thought. This chump may bite.
Nate. If you play with this calculator you can forecast your output changes with different mounting. http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/pvwatts/grid.html

 

[nate379]

The Enphase system I have ties in the NREL info with the panels/inverters and I can run the numbers on thier site. Granted it's not real world numbers but it's a reasonable idea.

Nate. If you play with this calculator you can forecast your output changes with different mounting. http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/pvwatts/grid.html