Solar Panel Water Heater (2 Viewers)

PP Bear

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Has anyone ever come across such a system for a motorhome :)

All that glorious free energy sitting and waiting to be utilised, it seems strange that this hasn't been investigated by companies and then utilised in the same way as they have for solar panels :)

Sure there'd need to be some form of pumping system, but that's not beyond the realms of any manufacturer :)

If it was anything like a guest house I had to stop in recently, then their system produced loads of piping hot water :)

Thoughts? :)
 
Aug 30, 2012
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Now that is something I would consider most of summer gas usage is in showers and washing up it would be at least 60% of our gas use as elaine will not use showers / toilets on site unless they spotlessly clean
In winter we use far more on heating but always have hot water due to heating running
And I don't think it would be too difficult to design
 

movan

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And it would certainly work. Just leave a bucket of water outside the van (don't ask) in Summer and it really does get very warm.

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vwalan

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old hat really . many for years have had a shallow tank across the roof . ideally painted mat black . fit a shower tap on one end . mind can get extremely hot in the sun .
almost gets to boiling point . becarefull scolds are common .
 
D

Deleted member 29692

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You can get those solar shower thingys but I guess that isn't what you mean.
If you mean a similar solar hot water system to the ones you see on houses I imagine both space and weight would make it a non starter - in those systems the solar panels have an anti-freeze type liquid pumping around them and then either a heat exchanger or an indirect coil in the hot water tank to transfer the heat. The panel arrays tend to be pretty big too so that would be another consideration.
 

vwalan

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the tanks i said about are about 2inches deep 3ft across by about 2foot . fit lovely in front of lift up roofs on vw t2,s . mine used to be made of stainless. in morocco and spain it got far too hot for showering . it was fed by the pressurized surflo pump. worked a treat .

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Similar idea to the camping solar showers then Alan just a bit bigger by the sound of it.
 
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PP Bear

PP Bear

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old hat really . many for years have had a shallow tank across the roof . ideally painted mat black . fit a shower tap on one end . mind can get extremely hot in the sun .
almost gets to boiling point . becarefull scolds are common .
Used that system extensively through my trips to the sandy place of conflict, but I'm talking a properly installed system and one that makes use of the rays and gets pumped and stored for later use really :)
 
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the tanks i said about are about 2inches deep 3ft across by about 2foot . fit lovely in front of lift up roofs on vw t2,s . mine used to be made of stainless. in morocco and spain it got far too hot for showering . it was fed by the pressurized surflo pump. worked a treat .

I wonder if that could be piped into van boiler so it would run into van shower therefore able to run it though mixer tap for hot and cold mix

Bloody hell I may be building soon dam you all (n):eek:

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D

Deleted member 29692

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Any system that sends water directly around the panels couldn't be permanently installed. If it had water in it and the temperature dropped enough to freeze the expansion would split the panels and piping. Then when it thawed out you would have a big mess.
 
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PP Bear

PP Bear

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the tanks i said about are about 2inches deep 3ft across by about 2foot . fit lovely in front of lift up roofs on vw t2,s . mine used to be made of stainless. in morocco and spain it got far too hot for showering . it was fed by the pressurized surflo pump. worked a treat .

Used that system extensively through my trips to the sandy place of conflict, but I'm talking a properly installed system and one that makes use of the rays and gets pumped and stored for later use really :)
Apologies Alan, as that's the sort of thing that could be used, but I'd wonder if they could make a system similar to the ones found on houses. I know it would take some designing, but it must be within scope of modern design
 

vwalan

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if i had wanted to i could have pumped it into another storage tank insulated etc . but no need . dont really need that much water any way . worked fine when the kids were younger and there was 4 of us .
i now use instantaneous water heater why carry hot water . it gets cold . bit like all the modern truama gear expensive and slow plus heavy . the roof system was ok as it also acted as a roof rack as well. had rails welded around it . for bungy fixing .

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vwalan

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Any system that sends water directly around the panels couldn't be permanently installed. If it had water in it and the temperature dropped enough to freeze the expansion would split the panels and piping. Then when it thawed out you would have a big mess.
mine was permanent i could fill it or not fill it . drain it etc . doesnt need to be filled constant . if its not sunny you dont use it .
 
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mine was permanent i could fill it or not fill it . drain it etc . doesnt need to be filled constant . if its not sunny you dont use it .

That works until you get some numpty that forgets to drain it.

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One possible solution looking at it in a different way would be to use solar PV (electric) panels and use them as a dedicated feed to an immersion heater. You still get the benefit of the sun but don't have the weight issues that would come with a modified domestic system.
 

hilldweller

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I'm talking a properly installed system and one that makes use of the rays and gets pumped and stored for later use really :)

Weight / storage / power.

There is only a small hot tank within a Truma boiler.
You don't want weight on the roof. Or anywhere else for that matter.
You would need a circulation pump running.
 

vwalan

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i still say look on ebay get a instantaneous water heater http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...&_nkw=lpg+instantanious+water+heater&_sacat=0
something like these . i use a morco . but have had cheap ones from spain . also chinese ones bought in morocco. easy to use hardly use any gas . almost instant water . ideal . works for me .
i do carry a portable shower bag as well mind . handy sometimes .

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PP Bear

PP Bear

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That works until you get some numpty that forgets to drain it.
Think that's the same for any drain down in the winter. I'm thinking a handy bypass valve, so that it can be utilised in the sun and isolated in the colder weathers :)

Doesn't need to be so much heavier either and would use the water already carried onboard. If the panels also doubled up as a power supply, then hot water and battery power at the same time :)
 

vwalan

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if you use your van right having hot water isnt a problem . neither is solar power giving you leccy .
come away one winter . get across to maroc . bread made in tins buried under the nights campfire etc . hot water from pop bottles in the sun . more solar leccy than you can use .
far better than a campsite at skegness . ha ha .

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Apologies Alan, as that's the sort of thing that could be used, but I'd wonder if they could make a system similar to the ones found on houses. I know it would take some designing, but it must be within scope of modern design

Potential for cock-ups is huge. Several years ago we had a customer, a developer, who was into all the green tech. He completed a couple of really high spec barn conversions more or less at the start of winter which had solar hot water. The short version of the story is that the anti-freeze stuff going round the panels rotted the coil in the hot water tank and cross contamination happened. The people living there had anti freeze coming out of the hot water taps and there was water going round the panels. Cold snap, freeze, water expanded, panels split, water thawed out, nice feature waterfall down the front of the lovely half million pound barn on New Years Day. I know it's not funny but I have to admit to a chuckle when I heard.
 

Tootles

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What about something like that idea that was around years ago, where you could plug a 12volt immersion heater element device into a ciggy socket, and heat up a cup of water for tea etc. A couple of them fitted into the heater tank, and driven from say two solar panels???
 
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What about something like that idea that was around years ago, where you could plug a 12volt immersion heater element device into a ciggy socket, and heat up a cup of water for tea etc. A couple of them fitted into the heater tank, and driven from say two solar panels???
They are still on ebay for about 3 quid a go. Would probably need to be bigger though.

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vwalan

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yes its not hard to do a system but as to making it worth the hassle . when i used a small vw t2 having solar heated water it was a gain . now i can carry a bigger bottle /bottles of gas its not so important .
i also carry a kelly kettle works great in some countries not in others . ideal in the desert . thin plant growth just under the surface of the desert makes ideal fuel.
heat a litre and half of water in minutes . free . cook meals on it as well free .
but in morocco a 12 kg bottle of gas is 4,50 quid . a 907 camping gas a quid .
is it worth it .
i got into all these other things while planning a coastal trip of africa . learnt other things while doing part of the trip . but really sometimes we can over complicate things .
i took paraffin cooking stoves . very hard to get paraffin in many african countries . they use gas , lpg . and its cheap.
i also carried fish smoking kit . why . hardly ever used it .
dont even carry a bbq now .
campfire or use gas . saves space and is easier .
if its cold turn on the catalytic heater , simple cheap and works .
but do use gas lights , light , heat and keep mozzies at bay.
we live and learn .

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