M Chad Meyers

John C Daley wrote:I panic when I see this type of thing said or written dow.
I think its that type of thinking that has contributed to the climate and energy problems we are living in.

I think the key of making it worth while is doing it well.  When you are dealing with small differences in temperature, sure it might not be worth it.  But if you design and/or build with high quality (like having maximum surface contact) then it can work really well.

Another thing to do, employ additional systems like a heat pump.  If your liquid going to the panels is as cold as the fridge, it will cool your panels!  If the liquid is already warm, it will do less.

Moving heat around is simple, but not easy.  Nature wants to "balance" all along the way.

If I was doing this, I would 100% use hybrid panels, combined with a heat pump.  I would use the heat for my DHW, and when that's "full", have some place to dump the "waste heat", like seasonal geo storage, or a pool!

Trying and failing can be expensive, so find out what has worked.  Take note of what the nay sayers say, because under that "seemingly stupid" ridicule is some truth.  Why do they say it doesn't work, don't make that mistake, do it better!

Those virtue PVT vacuum tube system looks brilliant..... until it snows.  Have fun trying to clean those off without breaking them.  Keep in mind, that as permiculture would dictate, the same solution will not work in all places.  I am thankful for the vertical angle of my solar panels, most of the snow slides off them on it's own. (they are PV only, it's all I could get while staying up to standards with the "department of making you sad")

Another thing to consider.... you can have too much hot water.  A solar thermal panel will boil water.  In the winter, you may want lots of panels, but come summer, you need to be able to dump heat.  Either a large pool, or better, annual Geo thermal storage well.  Use a heat pump to put it down there, and get it back out in the winter.

Where I am in Canada, a solar thermal system of about 3 panels is enough to do your DHW all summer.

Here is a photo album of what I did.... https://photos.app.goo.gl/nnW7P9uZH8PtS7cm7  It didn't quite work!  But if I did it again, it would

The basic run down is:
1. Small water cooler inside the coop
2. Barrel/bucket de-icer (not pictured, but it's a metal hoop you plug in and put inside a water barrel to keep it thawed)
3. Small pump
4. thermostat to control pump
5. a small tube inside the main pipe to circulate the water through


Why it didn't work;  It just go too cold, combined with the pipe was too long, and my temperature sensor... I put it at the wrong end.  In the summer, this system works wonderful.  It is also filled by rainwater.  I never have to fill it.

Products already exist.  I found one about 5 years ago, and can not find it again, but I have just found others.

https://www.convertenergy.co.uk/pv-t-hybrid-solar
https://dualsun.com/en/product/hybrid-panel-spring/

If you wanted to do a DIY type setup, maybe glue (and use thermal paste) the flexible flat pv panels to something like warm board. https://www.warmboard.com/, but I bet that would cost more than just buying a pre-made solution.

Hi, I never post, but here is my $0.02CAD.

I wouldn't worry too much about trying to "get more wind" to the turbine.  Pushing wind around is a very complex thing.

When you see a truck going down the road with a tarp flapping in the "wind", that tarp is absorbing energy..... costing more fuel to move said truck.  I think the same would be true of the plastic sheeting at the base of your tower, if it is flapping in the wind, it is taking energy out of the surrounding wind.  Maybe it's wind energy that wasn't going to reach the blades anyway, but maybe it is....

Like I said, directing wind around is not simple stuff.  Consider wind tunnel testing on cars; Did you know that often what is done to the back of the car makes more difference than the front when trying to reduce drag?  Neat.  This is also neat  

I would take a case!  But the $100.00 fine for being Canadian is a tough pill to swallow. (I already gave most of my copies away from the original kick starter, and the real book is 10x better than the pdf to hand off)