I purchased some panels awhile back for around $1500 bucks and they are sitting in my garage collecting dust. I was going to add them to my system but after realizing my battery bank was to small for the added power I have just been sitting on the panels....for about a year. I have debated selling them but have also been looking for ways to use these panels.
The panel specs are 195w 17.6 v. I have 6 of them.
An online store has PV direct powered heater elements. I see one for 48vdc rated at 1000watts.
I want to touch on three points and please feel free to answer one or all of the points.
1. From what I understand, the element can be run at a higher DC voltage...ie the panels run in series as long as the string does not exceed the wattage of the element. SO....how about if I ran 5 of the panels in series. 88vdc x 975watts 11.07a? I was thinking I could run my SunDanzer fridge BF105 off the other panel and still have a pretty and symetrical solar array.
2. My roof has a fixed angle of 45 degrees facing south. The cabin location sees a 1.98 solar radiation day in December. This would produce about 46kwh on my worst solar day of the year. My best would be in March, July, and August at 103kwh. I would have to size the water heater for my worst day...which would give me a blazing hot steam bomb in the summer unless I find a way to put a thermostat in the mix. So I ran some number to see what would happen if I installed the panels on the side of my cabin at 74 degrees. This would produce the same 46kwh day in December and would also reduce the summer Kwh down to 89kwh for a couple weeks in March. The benefit of this angle would be no snow accumulation year round and protection from possible hail storms due to the increased angle of the panels.
3. I am kinda liking the idea of no batterys, charge controllers, inverters and additional wiring for this set up and thats why its an intriguing use of the panels. What size tank should I invest in for a 48v 1000w DC heating element considering my poor winter sun availablity? Not sure of the math on this one.
PS I am totally aware I will have no hot water on cloudy days so no need to try an burst my bubble there.
The panel specs are 195w 17.6 v. I have 6 of them.
An online store has PV direct powered heater elements. I see one for 48vdc rated at 1000watts.
I want to touch on three points and please feel free to answer one or all of the points.
1. From what I understand, the element can be run at a higher DC voltage...ie the panels run in series as long as the string does not exceed the wattage of the element. SO....how about if I ran 5 of the panels in series. 88vdc x 975watts 11.07a? I was thinking I could run my SunDanzer fridge BF105 off the other panel and still have a pretty and symetrical solar array.
2. My roof has a fixed angle of 45 degrees facing south. The cabin location sees a 1.98 solar radiation day in December. This would produce about 46kwh on my worst solar day of the year. My best would be in March, July, and August at 103kwh. I would have to size the water heater for my worst day...which would give me a blazing hot steam bomb in the summer unless I find a way to put a thermostat in the mix. So I ran some number to see what would happen if I installed the panels on the side of my cabin at 74 degrees. This would produce the same 46kwh day in December and would also reduce the summer Kwh down to 89kwh for a couple weeks in March. The benefit of this angle would be no snow accumulation year round and protection from possible hail storms due to the increased angle of the panels.
3. I am kinda liking the idea of no batterys, charge controllers, inverters and additional wiring for this set up and thats why its an intriguing use of the panels. What size tank should I invest in for a 48v 1000w DC heating element considering my poor winter sun availablity? Not sure of the math on this one.
PS I am totally aware I will have no hot water on cloudy days so no need to try an burst my bubble there.
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