I have been working on an extensive renewable energy project located in Scandinavia, for about 5 years now, which involves
- Solar electric
- Solar thermal (space heating and domestic hot water)
- Underground Seasonal Heat Storage (store excess summer heat, get it back in the winter)
- Drain Water Heat Recovery
- Rain Water Harvesting (toilets, washing machine, irrigation and "utility water" for now, later on 90+ % of domestic use)
... and more.
The hybrid electric-thermal panels are a beautiful symbiosis where thermal heat extraction doubles as solar PV cooling - that way, the solar PVs, while being cooled off, 1) yields more here and now 2) degrades slower - all the while thermal energy is extracted for instant use, or stored for later use.
Here is 1 of the 12 panels I finally got - waited more than 4 years from the original estimated delivery date. It's all very exciting - more later, when I have more to share:
There are air condition units out there, which are also hybrid thermal-electric, in a slightly different way in that it is a compressor running off a heat differential, while electricity is only used for the control system as well as a backup when there is insufficient heat differential. With a solar panel, you would normally have plenty of heat differential when you need to cool the most, obviously. This house is located in a region where cooling in the summer isn't normally applied to private residences. I will add humidity control, to keep the comfort level even in the summer (as well as help preserve the building against mold and similar growths).
In many modern households, there are cooling facilities for food, i.e. fridge and freezer. In turn they add heat to the living area, while a hot water tank is using it's own energy source (often electricity as well), to heat up water. Finally, all that excess heat is cooled off by a heat pump as well (air condition), to expel excess hot air. This is another greatly under-utilised area of energy, especially in the more hot regions. For this purpose, I have seen new developments of units that combine all said units: Fridge-Freezer-Water heater-Air Condition - where the domestic hot water is heated by the three others.
All in all, there is so much to be done. It's fun to play with, see how much you can hack out of it, eventually reaching a level where you can be more or less independent of external energy and water supplies.
Later as things are under control, the website will be highly graphical to illustrate how the systems interact - writing it like this will only reach a small minority out there.
- Solar electric
- Solar thermal (space heating and domestic hot water)
- Underground Seasonal Heat Storage (store excess summer heat, get it back in the winter)
- Drain Water Heat Recovery
- Rain Water Harvesting (toilets, washing machine, irrigation and "utility water" for now, later on 90+ % of domestic use)
... and more.
The hybrid electric-thermal panels are a beautiful symbiosis where thermal heat extraction doubles as solar PV cooling - that way, the solar PVs, while being cooled off, 1) yields more here and now 2) degrades slower - all the while thermal energy is extracted for instant use, or stored for later use.
Here is 1 of the 12 panels I finally got - waited more than 4 years from the original estimated delivery date. It's all very exciting - more later, when I have more to share:
There are air condition units out there, which are also hybrid thermal-electric, in a slightly different way in that it is a compressor running off a heat differential, while electricity is only used for the control system as well as a backup when there is insufficient heat differential. With a solar panel, you would normally have plenty of heat differential when you need to cool the most, obviously. This house is located in a region where cooling in the summer isn't normally applied to private residences. I will add humidity control, to keep the comfort level even in the summer (as well as help preserve the building against mold and similar growths).
In many modern households, there are cooling facilities for food, i.e. fridge and freezer. In turn they add heat to the living area, while a hot water tank is using it's own energy source (often electricity as well), to heat up water. Finally, all that excess heat is cooled off by a heat pump as well (air condition), to expel excess hot air. This is another greatly under-utilised area of energy, especially in the more hot regions. For this purpose, I have seen new developments of units that combine all said units: Fridge-Freezer-Water heater-Air Condition - where the domestic hot water is heated by the three others.
All in all, there is so much to be done. It's fun to play with, see how much you can hack out of it, eventually reaching a level where you can be more or less independent of external energy and water supplies.
Later as things are under control, the website will be highly graphical to illustrate how the systems interact - writing it like this will only reach a small minority out there.
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