Install a load shift timer.
Excess solar power to heat water.
Type of electricity tariff.
Set the timer to run when your solar is running.
A hot water heat pump could put that power to better use by heating water for evening use.
It is wireless so there are no cables to run.
Image via rheem australia 2.
If however you ran all your hot water off your excess solar power worth 8c if you exported it you could save 12 3c kwh or 448 year.
Every unit of power used to heat the hot water in this way reduces imported energy by the same amount resulting in a significant saving in imported energy costs.
One solar panel would be enough to power a traditional storage hot water heater throughout a day as this is the most inefficient appliance used in most homes.
Payback on this size of system is typically 5 to 7 years.
We recommend the solar iboost to provide hot water via excess pv electricity.
Example of a tankless water heater by rheem.
Putting cost considerations aside for a minute.
This increases to over 120 if you use oil or lpg to heat your water.
Flat rate time of use tou either of these can be used to power a hot water element in conjunction with solar hot water solar pv and possibly a controlled load tariff see below.
Most solar power households feed excess electricity back into the grid for very little financial reward.
It makes financial sense to use that extra power generated by your pv to heat water rather than exporting to the grid as buying electricity and gas from the grid for heating water remains expensive.
I understand we could fit a hot water tank with an electrical element at the base to use the excess solar generated electricity via an intelligent switch.
Iboost features and benefits.
With a coil from the boiler for top up on a timer.
Two methods of using solar electricity to produce hot water.
In australia there are two primary types of electricity tariffs.
A second option to explore is the use of a dedicated solar thermal hot water heating system coupled with a heat pump to make the most cost effective option on the market.
Eddi is a solar power diverter for use with grid tied pv or wind turbine systems.
Use the excess energy generated from a solar pv hydro wind turbine to heat your water for free.