• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Anne Miller
  • Pearl Sutton
  • r ranson
stewards:
  • paul wheaton
  • Nicole Alderman
  • Jules Silverlock
master gardeners:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Jay Angler
  • S Rogers
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jordan Holland
  • Nancy Reading
  • Cat Knight

Water heater modification to use solar and electricity

 
steward
Posts: 1832
Location: Coastal Salish Sea area, British Columbia
978
2
books chicken food preservation pig bike solar wood heat rocket stoves homestead ungarbage
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Mike Haasl wrote:Thanks Jordan, I plugged it into the MidNite Solar site and it gives a VOC at -30C of 76.7V.

That sucks, too bad I bought those, I hope my buddy knew what he was getting (he bought a bunch).

I'll have to dig into the thermostat issue some more to see if there's a higher voltage option out there.....



Alright mike hopefully the polish beer I am drinking hasn't messed this up.

So I found a 100V DC Relay which is controlled by 12vDC https://canada.newark.com/c/switches-relays/relays/solid-state-relays-contactors/solid-state-relays?load-current=20a&operating-voltage-max=100vdc
I believe you could control the relay using something like this https://www.hurricanewindpower.com/thermostat-for-dc-water-heater-element-140-degrees-fahrenheit-water-overheat/

The 12vdc thermostat would need to be powered by a battery or a power supply... Or a battery which is continuously being charged.

I would set the panels up in parallel.  You had said 54 feet. Which at say 60VDC(12amps) using 10awg wire. the voltage loss is minimal. around 2.5% voltage drop.

so yea, the relay will be a cost. It will most likely need a heat sink. The solid state relay I just installed required one. I made it myself instead of buying one(scrounged).

It would be wise to put a circuit breaker of say 15amps in there. Along with an appropriate fuse for the 12vdc circuit. I didn't seem to find any affordable 100VDC relays at 15amps. 100vdc 20 amp SSR seemed to be more common.


 
Weeds: because mother nature refuses to be your personal bitch. But this tiny ad is willing:
kickstarter is live now! Low Tech Laboratory 2!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/low-tech-0
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic