Quote:
Originally Posted by jwxr7
No moving parts or added plumbing is definitely worth something over efficiency.
Using an mppt or buck-boost converter circuit is a great way to get the most out of your panels.
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I think many people look at PV efficiency / payback etc. totally based on today's kWh cost from their power company.
I need to compare the cost of BTUs I can put into hot-water (using PV),
with my cost for home heating oil. That oil isn't real cheap these days.
In my case, the BTUs contained in a gallon of oil is somewhat irrelevant, because of the large
amount of BTUs my oil burner just shoots up the chimney, and just plain old heat loss.
Right now, Diesel Fuel is $2.84 to $3.36 a gallon around here. Home heating oil will be very close to the same price.
If the cost of PV was $800, that would be equal to about 260 gallons of oil.
IIRC, my tank holds 275 gallons of oil..
I'll bet you are incurring significant loss heating summer-time hot water with a whole house heating system too..
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I'm not sure how much would be gained with power-point-tracking vs. just hooking up the best possible matching load.
Perhaps, if it's not too costly, I can start off with just a plain resistive load and see how well it works..
I've pretty much sold myself on the idea of just running 240 watts of PV..
That would make it a bit easier to handle the power level and the hardware.