Solar panels generating electricity can be used to heat water for washing and bathing. Because of the expense of mains supplied electricity, and the practicality of heating water, it is normal to only heat the top of a hot water cylinder with an immersion heater.
A WrightSolar Solar Storage Retrofit Device is easy to fit without modification of pipes. It can be fitted in under 15 minutes, to any existing hot water water cylinder, without draining the cylinder. It works with any existing immersion heater. The WrightSolarStorage Solution allows the storage of energy in a cylinder to be tripled.
Integrated Green Technologies The WrightChoice Way
1.0 Conversion of Existing Hot Water Cylinders into Heat Stores.
In a typical home 40 litres of hot water will allow 1 or 2 hot showers whereas , 120 litres will allow 6 hot showers. If you are selling surplus energy to the grid, then storage of energy in the form of hot water in your hot water cylinder saves £2 a day for larger families giving a typical payback in 3-4 months.
If you do not have a hot water storage cylinder, fitting a simple unvented solar storage cylinder and boosting taps and showers with a ShowerPowerBooster solution is a cheap and effective way save money – free energy.
I have a passion to test and develop ‘green’ technologies in my own home. Technologies which can be seen working today in my home and which can directly benefit home owners, and indirectly benefit society as a whole. All of the technologies mentioned here are up and running and working, available for inspection, and most are transferable to help your and your own home.
Some technologies are patented or patent pending, but most are simply common sense practical solutions, many use the gateway technology of the ShowerPowerBooster.
2.0 ShowerPowerBooster – UK Patent Granted.
The novel concept of a 30 watts micro pump (SP22S) giving an equivalent output 100 times greater that of a traditional 3,000 watt Shower Booster Pump is now well proven and the SPB has the highest rating on Trustpilot possible with a full 5 stars. Protected flows and/or whole house solutions exist for each and every plumbing systems.
3.0 Radiator Booster
3 years of successful trails proves that simply adding a radiator booster in place of the lock shield valve on a radiator will make a lazy radiator run hot.
4.0 Integration of A Heat Pump with a Traditional Gas Boiler (Proposal)
A heat pump retrofitted side by side with an existing gas boiler can share the heating needs of a home.
During spring, autumn, and milder periods of winter the heat pump can provide most of the central heating using existing radiators. In the winter cold the gas fired boiler takes over when the outside temperatures fall and heat pumps become inefficient.
The drawing below is illustrative only and does not show the true pipework needed.
The Retrofit Problem To Solve
Efficiency
Air Source heat pumps efficiency is very dependant on air temperatures. When it is warm outside the efficiency is very high but who wants central heating in summer! When the temperature outside is below freezing the efficiency of air source heat pumps is low.
Compare and Contrast Heat Pump and Gas Boiler Systems
Heat Pumps Have Low Output Water Temperatures.
The design of existing radiators based on gas boilers will use a water temperature output of 60 deg C or more. Heat from the radiators can escape into a room at 20 deg C with a 40 Deg C differential (60 deg C – 20 deg C = 40 degrees difference).
The design of radiators based on heat pumps will need to use a water temperature output of water of say 45 deg C. Heat from the radiators can escape into a room at 20 deg C with a 25 Deg C differential (45 deg C – 20 deg C = 25 degrees difference). To heat a home to a comfortable 20 deg C the radiators need to be replaced with bigger radiators perhaps twice as big (40/25 = x1.6)
Heat Pumps need High Output Water Volumes.
A gas boiler works efficiently when delivering very hot water and receiving cold water back to reheat. Heat pumps work efficiently when delivering warm water and receive slightly cooler water back at a temperature 5 deg to 10 deg lower to reheat. In order to compensate for this the volume of water that needs to be pumped is far greater than with a gas boiler. Existing central heating systems use 15mm, 10mm, and 8 mm pipework connecting existing radiators. All this needs to be replaced with 28mm or 22mm pipework.
Constant Heat Vs On/Off Heating
Gas heaters are designed to turn on and off repeatedly during a 24 hour period. Typically a heating system turns on in the morning and again in the evening only. Heat pumps work best if they work continuously and stopping and starting is not a feature of heat pumps.
Current Retrofit Solution (£15,000 +)
If you need to replace an existing central heating designed for a gas boiler with a heat pump you will be told to replace the radiators, and the connecting pipework, but it still gives you a problem in that if air temperature outside is below freezing the heat pump will work inefficiently. At temperatures below -3 deg C the heat pump fails to give enough heat to keep a home warm.
Proposed Solution (£2,500+)
With outside temperatures between 0 deg C to 10 deg C the central heating system works off the heat pump.
Efficiency of radiators 25/40 = 62% using heat pump 45 Deg C as compared with gas boiler giving 60 Deg.
Problems To Solve
Using proven technology the hydraulic and safety issues related to switching between gas heating and heat pump are easy to solve. The control and operation of a heat pumps needs to be modified.
Solar Thermal Panels and and Heat Store
To the inventors own water control design two 4 M2 send and receive solar heated to a 500 litres (12 KWHr) heat store giving 85% system . The control system will work in any solar vented or unvented solar thermal system.
I summarise my home technologies:-
8 M2 of Solar Thermal panels on my roof gives me in excess of 100% of the hot water I need.
56 M2 of Photo Voltaic panels on my roof gives me up to 5KW of power (in excess of 100% of the electricity I need).
A 5.5 KWHr Wood Burner supplies hot water and heating in the winter.
A 12 KWHr water heat store integrates energy from solar thermal, solar pv, and the wood burner all year.
A 13.5 KWHr Tesla Power Wall interfaces between the grid, my solar panels (usable storage 12.8Kw).
VW ID3 electric car (77 KWHr storage – range 350 miles)
300 M2 of roof collects rainwater with 4,500 litres of storage at ground level.
Two 180 litre wormery bins and rotated compost heaps converts 100% of kitchen food waste and garden waste into compost.
