buckley dwyer

by buckley
(australia )

i am learning solar. i live in australia and surfing the net got some great ideas but i am wanting to know is there any way to build your own solar controller and dump the excess power from your panels into a hot water system of some design without the batteries suppling power to this hot water system

would appreciate any feedback


Hi Buckley

It could depend on what level of controller are you are thinking of?

A normal controller will have a 'dump load' - this is normally a heater. I see no reason why the heater couldn't be part of the hot water system - except, i suppose, if the water was boiling, you would want the excess dumped elsewhere...It would be a bit unlikely for you to boil water using PV panels unless you are lucky enough to have a very big area.

Replacing the immersion with a low voltage one might leave you without a normal water heating source in summer.

You probably need a second thermostat, and wired such that if the power can't be dumped into the water, it gets dumped to air. (or whatever)