Has anyone got any experience of thermodynamic solar panels?

SteveCritten

£500 a year is about what I pay for gas heating a 6 bed house with 4 adults and 2 children so not really the future for me.

prutbrk

Maybe not for you. But for all those that do not have the luxury of a gas supply then they are the way to go

roms sants

Perfect, finally one nice thread about thermodynamic solar panels. I live in Holland and in the moment of renovating a house I am seriously thinking about this system - both for central heating and hot water. However the installer is insisting that he can place the thermodynamic panels under the PV panels... does anybody have experience in this fashion? the reason is that only one side of the roof is pointing south, with limited space.
Any input on this would be super welcome, thanks already!

prutbrk

Sorry buddy. These panels are solar assisted and need a flow of ambient air. I have never heard anything like hat before. Putting them under a solar panel?...behave tell him

prutbrk

oh...and another thing... these do not have to go on a roof..... they can go on a wall. But having them do your heating will need quite a few panels. Their best use is for direct water heating only... there are other ways to heat a home than use these

roms sants

Yes I think he's just trying to sell no matter how; I will ask him to show one installation with the PVs on top of the thermodynamics and then I might believe. On the other hand, if there is let's say 20cm between thermodynamic panels and the PVs it might be enough, is it not. It wont have direct radiation from the sun but will have warm PV real close.
the reason I prefer this system for the whole heating is that I become fossil-free. this is a wish really, i don't want to be dependent of Russias or middle easts. If I could have a PV installation and the thermodynamics, over one year I would produce more energy than spending.. and if the calculations are correct it would pay off the investment in under 13yrs.

prutbrk

Hang on. He is going to place solar panels 20cm off the roof? In fact more if he is going to offer that gap between the two panels Does this guy have a clue what he is doing?. One good gust of wind and you will find your solar panels flying down the street. Ok.. bit of an exaggeration I know but if you place them that far off the roof you are giving your house a spoiler.
If you manage to get a photo of a job where he has done this I would be really interested. Over here it would not happen... building regulations would condemn it

roms sants

I'm not sure about the distance, but I will check that when I meet him next week.
I found a picture (GIF) of one of his installations. I will try speaking with the owners and understand if it worked well all year round... I mean, if it works well then Im going for it - it will be still sustainable energy imho!
One of my concerns is that the thermodynamic panels will build up a thick layer of ice and damage the PVs.
cheers

http://www.tdenergie.com/voordelen-td-warmtepomp

                                                                                                                                       

prutbrk

Well I can see he is doing it.... but at the end of the day one is a solar pv panel and one is a solar assisted thermodynamic panel. Both operate best with sunlight. To shade one just makes it's efficiency plummet. All I can tell you it is not something that installers would do here nor would the manufacturers advise it. But hey ho... if you have made your mind up then I wish you all the best

Kat 222

Hi new to this so sorry if not the place. Just read this thread started to worry as have such a system. Then I thought why ours has been working great (now I know the best way to use controls) plenty of hot enough water comes on once a day & I turn off if not needed yet (Ours is nxt to bedroom so dont want noise @ night) & wait for warm/sunny part of the day but don't realy need to, just makes the compressor work for less time, less than an hr.
One thing I would say is our installer recommended for water only (domestic &/or pool). They will do heating but @ the time installer advised wld need a lot of panels & they hoped the ststem could be part of RHI for better value due to cost.