The sun will be further north during most of the year. If the evap cooler is directly west of the panels and only casting a shadow late in the day during Summer then it won't really be an issue. But if it's north of the panels then that's certainly a big problem.
Since they are wired in series, and the panels themselves are also in series, shading part of the array disproportionately drops the output relative to the area shaded. So you want no shade at all if possible for most of the day.
Be warned - there's an awful lot of dud heat pumps and dud installers out there.
If they recommend running on peak tariff then Smurf recommends that you also do some running - well away from that supplier and/or product.
Usage will determine which tariff is most appropriate for a heat pump, but in a domestic situation it should be an off-peak tariff almost always. To do otherwise defeats the financial benefit of installing the heat pump in the first place.
In Qld, most will be best on Tarff 33 but if your usage is lower then 31 should be fine. I'd suggest leaving it on 31, assuming that is already installed for the existing hot water, unless there's a proven need to change.
In regard to heat pump brands, let's just say that if it has a booster element then that's not a sign of good design. If we can heat houses and hot water with heat pumps in the middle of the night in Winter here in Tassie with no booster, then you sure don't need a booster in most parts of Australia.
I have no association with the company, but I'll put a good word in for the Siddons Solarstream heat pump water heater. It's far better than the big name heat pumps in my opinion. It works fine at zero degrees with no booster, and a Google search will turn up plenty of praise without the horror stories associated with Rheem and Dux heat pumps.
The Siddons tank is stainless steel and made in Australia, compressor is Japanese. And being a split system design, you can still have the tank under the house, in the garage etc if you want to. It doesn't have as much fancy electronics as some of the big name brands which is a good thing - it's those fancy control systems that seem to cause rather a lot of trouble with breakdowns.
Whether or not you're better off with a heat pump or some other solar water heater is very site and location specific.
Stiebel Eltron is another "good" brand judging by all reports I've seen (I have no personal experience with the Stiebel Eltron units). It does seem to be a quality product and is made in Germany to my understanding.Thanks for the info Smurf - as I mentioned I'm not looking at installing an alternative hot water system until my present electric one dies - but it is reassuring to find that the company I'm dealing with for the solar panels use the Siddons heat pump (also carry Stiebel Eltron). Gives me hope that their claim of using the best available products might just be true
What location are you in? This affects what angle the sun will be at during different times of the year.The Evap is indeed West of the proposed area, and the only shade from 6am-9pm is from around 7pm where the shadow forms. If what you say is true about the sun being further north most of the year, this will alleviate that problem.
So in essense this isn't a deal breaker, just a reduction in effeciency for that part of the evening?
Dude! That's epic!
Is much from government contributions, or is it mostly the electricity price? Also, why not keep scaling this up? Also, regarding personal use, by your estimate is the area of a 'standard suburban' house's roof big enough to fit the cells required to power the contents of the house? Do you need much in the way for batteries for your installation, or does it just feed into the grid in the daytime?
Cheers
Be warned - there's an awful lot of dud heat pumps and dud installers out there.
If they recommend running on peak tariff then Smurf recommends that you also do some running - well away from that supplier and/or product.
Usage will determine which tariff is most appropriate for a heat pump, but in a domestic situation it should be an off-peak tariff almost always. To do otherwise defeats the financial benefit of installing the heat pump in the first place.
In Qld, most will be best on Tarff 33 but if your usage is lower then 31 should be fine. I'd suggest leaving it on 31, assuming that is already installed for the existing hot water, unless there's a proven need to change.
In regard to heat pump brands, let's just say that if it has a booster element then that's not a sign of good design. If we can heat houses and hot water with heat pumps in the middle of the night in Winter here in Tassie with no booster, then you sure don't need a booster in most parts of Australia.
I have no association with the company, but I'll put a good word in for the Siddons Solarstream heat pump water heater. It's far better than the big name heat pumps in my opinion. It works fine at zero degrees with no booster, and a Google search will turn up plenty of praise without the horror stories associated with Rheem and Dux heat pumps.
The Siddons tank is stainless steel and made in Australia, compressor is Japanese. And being a split system design, you can still have the tank under the house, in the garage etc if you want to. It doesn't have as much fancy electronics as some of the big name brands which is a good thing - it's those fancy control systems that seem to cause rather a lot of trouble with breakdowns.
Whether or not you're better off with a heat pump or some other solar water heater is very site and location specific.
I'll agree there is that benefit...All good advice smurf ... except not neccesarily the bit i have bolded.
This is because as a plumber, if called to a property to fix a hot water system, if that system is a heat pump and the refrigeration component is malfunctioning, my options to fixing the system are quite limited, because im not a refrigeration mechanic, i do not carry tools, equipment, nor have the legal right as a licensed tradesperson to work on a heat pumps refrigeration system.
So having a back up booster element is quite a benefit
The Qs I'm trying to work through are:
- what % savings are people getting on their bills
- is it important whether the panels are Sharp brand or something else, also made in China
- anyone having trouble getting their power utility to come out and install a new meter
How has he gone with that inverter when it's generating a reasonable amount (say, 1kW+) and AM radio interference ?My Dad's place up in Brisbane.
3.0 kw System.
No problem with Western Power installing the two-way meter; we had ours connected within 2 weeks - that was almost 2 years ago. Recently, neighbours decided to install smaller systems, and their meters were installed the same week.The Qs I'm trying to work through are:
- what % savings are people getting on their bills
- is it important whether the panels are Sharp brand or something else, also made in China
- anyone having trouble getting their power utility to come out and install a new meter
How has he gone with that inverter when it's generating a reasonable amount (say, 1kW+) and AM radio interference ?
I've got the same type of inverter (Solarlord 1.5kW, box, display, connections look otherwise identical) which sends out a signal that obliterates AM radio stations [/url]
Do you still listen to steam driven radio Doc? LOL
I can't live without my daily dose of Howard Sattler.........Actually Doc, I'm only joking a.m has the only informative broadcast. However in Perth I find the tunning drift and static terrible.
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