Why are all the components for a solar system so expensive ?

[Rob Foster]

Yea the roof can be printed to look like slates, tiles -any sort or even a football club pantone colour. Its also really strong and some went on a church roof because its so difficult to prise off and angle grinders are needed to cut it. I experimented with several colours to see which absorbed the most heat and also finishes- there was an early version which had foot grip section embossed on it - that really took up the heat.
As you say its no good when it rains but the performance in winter sun was good too - I will get out all the performance logs later. Its strong enough for a solar wall - kids can kick a football at it all day long.

 

[Rob Foster]

hi ric2013 I have spent a happy 2 hours going over records from 5 years ago - when I have finished being nostalgic I will post some results - there in notebooks by day, date, weather, outside temp,
rtn temp of solar fluid and domestic hot water temp ! it might take a while.

 

[Rob Foster]

Ok I have a mass of paperwork here all tabulated in 2013 Jan- June
The roof was as outlined before a simple solar thermal collector. We did have in the end a good set up all with solar stuff, pump, clever box etc to make it perform ( I have found some pics) . Remember this was not about a high performance panel but a large roof collecting energy. The aim was to get a domestic hot water system up to usefull temps ie 55c +
We got a 140ltr cylinder up to 46c and beyond many days in 2-3 hours with outside shade air temps of 17c.
Then if it fell short the heating system could top up - if anybody is still keen to know more then I will do some more info

 

[Sharp Point]

You say up to 46 degrees, what was the temp of water in the cylinder before the data was collected. What sort of cylinder was used... twin coil or retro fit immersion coil, if the immersion coil was used, was this in conjunction with a destratification pump. Where was the cylinder temp sensor positioned on the cylinder.

 

[Rob Foster]

We are off n a business trip early tomorrow, I will collate the figures soon - back at weekend