chimeziem:
Hello georgeD1

your solar water heater setup is impressive and going by your analysis, it is the way to go. But i question - considering that the setup has to be mounted at about the same height with its supply water tank (hence giving nearly no head difference for the water pressure), how were you able to ensure water entered the solar water heater to replenish you hot water usage as quickly as possible

hello chimeziem,
thanks for your observation. there is actually a little difference in height (about 5.5'') between the
bottom part of the main tank and the top of the solar water heater. this difference provides the head
which maintains water flow from the main tank to the water heater tank. the difference in height
played a major part in construction of the solar water heater tower.
unfortunately, my pictures didn't seem able to capture this part of the installation.
i hope this clarifies?

barezzi,

any naughty boy wey throw stone hit my solar water heater
go know say khaki no be leather!

but on a more serious note, i think the risk of damage from
flying objects is very minimal given that the system is mounted
so high above the ground.

efuro,

the entire system is guaranteed for 15 years. it could be longer as far
as it doesn't get impacted by hailstones, flying objects or deliberate malice.

another beauty of the system is that individual glass tubes can be replaced
if the need arises.

barrezzi,

that is exactly my point. even if you divide by a factor of eight or ten,
the truth is that the solar water heater eventually pays for itself in terms
of cost savings.

the painful part is that most of us have been using these conventional
electric water heaters for as long as we can remember (5yrs, 10yrs, 15yrs?)
and it never occurred to us that there was a better alternative which
would give us what we want (hot water) without necessarily boring a hole
in our pockets.

calculate the monthly bills you have paid over the course of that many
years and you realize how much money you have thrown down the drain.

dmerciful,

i omitted the cost of installation deliberately. this is because
you will basically use the same plumber to install either the solar
water heater or the conventional electric water heater. same costs
apply. also left out is the cost of running your piping. it applies to
both so they cancel out.

so, for those still stuck with the mindset that solar water heating is a multi-million naira
enterprise, i think the above finally clears your mind.

if you can boast of installing at least 2 to 4 solar panels to power your apartment,
then you can afford solar water heaters. it is as simple as that.

need i say more?

efuro,
abunafiu,
all,

as promised, here is a run down of cost implications of installing a solar water
heater compared with the conventional electric water heater. as you will observe,
i have made a few assumptions here in arriving at my answers. also, i decided
to go with the lowest size capacity of 100l deliberately just to dispel the belief
that solar water heating is only for high volume use households or hotels.
the result is certainly amazing - even to myself.

abunafiu:

Kindly show is the name plate showing the power consumption. I use one that is similar to this but consumes 2200watts. Thanks.
How is the water heater doing.

prof,

i think my iron name plate power is about 1200w. i will check to confirm.
my water heater is firing strongly. i'm done with the calculations for comparable
cost with conventional electric water heaters. i'll post my findings tomorrow.
looks quite interesting, i promise.

foonshur:

Yea I know it should face up, bt wen I asked that question I had in mind dat technically gifted people should give technically sound answered... I didnt add more to the question wen @DMerciful gave valid resons why I should face south since we live somewhat in the northern hemisphere. thanks @DMerciful

foonshur,
sorry for the tough jokes. indeed your panels should generally face south since we live in the northern
hemisphere. always take your latitude as your angle of inclination. note that there are softwares like pvsyst
that calculate optimum solar panel inclination angles on a month by month basis and these do vary greatly
depending on the time of the year but if you are going to install your panels on the roof or some
other difficult to access location, you can't go changing your panels orientation every now and then.
so, its always better to take the average of these angles and it has been discovered that (give and take)
your latitude gives roughly that average from horizontal.

dicksonadams:
hi all
need a quick advise, is it there a type of iron I can buy to use with my 12v 1.2kva inverter?

dicksonadams,

you can use the regular philips pressing iron. but make sure it's one of the modern type.
i use mine with my inverter regularly and have found it to be very economical in terms of power draw.
once the element gets hot, the thermostat cuts off and it hardly cuts in again except intermittently
for few seconds at a time.

dicksonadams:
Is there a sloar electric cooker, tire of buying Gas and kerosine

dicksonadams,

actually there are many varieties of solar electric cookers now in the market.
but just like solar water heaters, lack of awareness (ignorance?) has prevented people
from adopting them in favour of traditional electric or gas stoves.
a few of them (like the sunfocus) are hybrids, meaning they can be used even
when the sun goes down.

check the links below for example:

http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/02/hybrid-solar-electric-oven-cooks-whether-there-is-sun-or-not/
https://www.gosunstove.com/
http://www.solarslowcooker.org/

when you think of it, the power of the sun transcends a wide variety of energy applications
including cooling, heating and electricity generation. however we have mostly
limited ourselves to solar pv in this part of the world which in my opinion is like
living in the stone age when you're surrounded by ipads, tablets and computers.

let's go beyond solar pv and explore the sun a little bit further.
and the cost is not really as steep as some of us imagine it to be.
break the myth, you know you can!

samnaija:
congrates georged1 . may the water never run cold. in Jesus name.. amen.. now that is out of the way, my bro how much be cost implication.

samnaija,

i say a big amen with you on that. cost implication is surprisingly similar to the traditional
money guzzling electric water heater. compilation still underway. please be patient.

efuro:
solar water heater. quite an investment on heating water. luxury is good my brother. I will need to advertise dis to 'mama put' for garri&apu to reduce her expense on firewood.

thanks for interesting documentary.

efuro,

on the contrary, solar water heating is not a luxury as you seem to suggest but a necessity.
wait until you see the economics side of this as compared to the regular electric water heater
and you'll be in haste to edit your comment above.

as for 'mama put' using firewood to heat water to make garri and akpu, you and i know that
such is neither a sustainable practice nor is it environmentally acceptable in this day and age.
when we talk of renewable energy, burning of fossil fuels and other forms of earth polluting
substances cannot be a source of comparison - no matter how cheap they appear to be in
the short term.

JohnKester:


Congratulations and Enjoy! Welcome to our world!

Cheers

johnkester,

thanks man. i can see what you been enjoying all this while.
ignorance is not bliss at all.

Chuckdee:


WOW!... Nice one and congratulations to you again. Thanks for the clear pictures as usual.

Please check your email boss, I sent u some messages couple of days back.

Enjoy your newest installation !

chukdee,
thanks. i have replied you. check your inbox. cheers!

dicksonadams:
Interesting.. .what about at night, and is the water hot enough to make eba?

dicksonadams,

the water heater tank can retain hot water for up to 72hrs so night time usage is not an issue
at all. just like your regular water heater, the water inside it does not suddenly become cold just
because there is public power outage. same thing goes for the solar water heater. the water
inside the tank doesn't suddenly go cold just because the sun has gone down.

as for the eba bit, i'm sure you intended that as a pun but seriously, the water indeed gets really
hot and you'll only need a little additional heating to get it to boiling point for eba or akamu
or tea for that matter.
afterall, do you make eba with hot water straight out of your ariston electric water heater at
home? i'm sure the answer is no.

next, i'll be doing the economics of using the sun to heat your water as against using public power.
you guys will be shocked to see how much money is being thrown away yearly through ignorance.
stay tuned!

the sun truly is the answer!

pure steam! mission accomplished!!

steam from the sun. notice the white fumes everywhere. this is hot water without electricity!
my plumber nearly got scalded when he mistakenly tried to work on the hot water line without
first isolating it. he couldn't believe that water from the sun could be that hot!

testing time a day later. this is where the real deal is.

the view from below. neatly tucked into and projecting a little bit into the upper part of the roof.
nobody is wiser.

job almost complete. the water heater finally takes its pride of place.

glass tube installation still in progress.

installing the glass tubes was a very delicate process. three men were involved each standing
at strategic points along the tower.

the frame and water heater tank already mounted on its tower besides the main water tank.

evacuated glass tubes ready to be installed.

test-mounting the tank to determine fit on the frame.

all,
as promised a few days back, here are pictures from my recent solar water heater installation.
apologies for the undue delay. i've been quite busy of late and also the system has been undergoing
rigorous stress tests to determine its viability under real world conditions.

so first of all the frame which holds the water heater tank and evacuated glass tubes in place.
we coupled this together before any thing else.

all,
my solar water heater is finally up and running.
pictures to follow soon.

totalgreen01:
My oga, i don show o,

your recommendation is on point "we should be careful not to sacrifice quality on the alter of low cost
alternatives which do disappoint when needed most"

hi guys long time...

totalgreen!
the man who saw tomorrow!!
you're welcome back.
we all miss you.

DMerciful:
Oga I hail o. We are looking for low cost solutions. Kindly share this breaker u talked about

dmerciful,

midnitesolar dc breakers or disconnects are arguably the gold standard in solar pv breakers.
they may be a little expensive but over time you'll get better value for your money.
while there may be other cheaper alternatives which go by different names, its always better
to stick with tested brands which have proven themselves with time.
in renewables, we should be careful not to sacrifice quality on the alter of low cost
alternatives which do disappoint when needed most.

http://www.midnitesolar.com/productPhoto.php?product_ID=183&productCatName=BREAKERS&productCat_ID=16&sortOrder=16

DMerciful:
Make sense. To solve the issues you highlighted, we could add an additional well sized breaker on the PV side on top of the double breaker. The double breaker protects the CC-battery circuit and also disconnect the PV side anytime d battery side trips while d low current breaker added for d PV side protects the PV-CC circuit...shikena

dmerciful,
you could avoid all these layers of complexity by just getting the right tool for the job.
a rightly sized midnite solar dc breaker for your pv and cc will give you peace of mind.
kiss (keep it simple and straightforward) should be our focus when it comes to renewables.
the money you save trying to cut corners could come back to haunt you when you
suddenly lose your precious equipment to fires or voltage spikes and you have to replace
them one after the other.