Lisa, for a hot water system in a cold climate, you have to run a closed loop system through the solar panels. This closed loop uses water and coolant to prevent freezing. This is where the heat exchanger comes in to heat up the tank of real water. These systems are very reliable and much less expensive than a solar PV setup. I suggest taking another look into it if you have some spare time.
A quick question too, what do you do in winter to keep your solar array snow free?
BTW, thank you very much for sharing your journey with everyone. Its really great stuff!
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