2026 Solar Hot Water Project
Update August 2026: unfortunately we haven't had time to get going on this on account of adding more solar PV to the garden gazebo roof. See the new post about that....
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This year's 2026 addition is working on the next project, solar hot water. After a long delay it's moving forward. This includes a 4000L stainless insulated tank and three 30 tube collectors. Heat generated will pre-heat domestic hot water and provide hydronic floor heating. Evacuated tube collectors can harvest up to 80% of the sun's energy vs solar voltaic (that make electricity) of just over 20% efficiency.
Here's the tank ready to go with high density foam between it and the concrete slab. Lots of fittings and connections to make.
Evacuated tube solar collectors look like these (pictured below) which will be installed in the coming months, along with the necessary piping, reservoir tank and pump/controller in what's known as a "drain-back" setup.
You can learn more about closed-loop vs drainback from my friend Stefan here:
If you have any questions on going solar, electric vehicles, etc just ask Pete - it has been his passion/hobby for many years now.
