The PV is something I would do in increments. Bite the bullet and get the gridtie inverter I want, start with 2-4 PV panels, and a relatively small battery bank. Add panels as the budget permits. I'm thinking eventually two dual-axis trackers with ten panels each. At some point replace the battery bank with something larger and sell the first set of batteries to someone else who wants to build a small PV system. It'll take several years to complete, I'm sure.
Back to the solar water project: We currently have an ancient propane furnace in the house. The house is pretty well insulated, but some drafty windows need to be address. It's downright scary how much propane we've gone through this winter. As in, $10/day during a particularly cold week. My goal is to have the propane company take their tank away by the end of the year.
Not to get too off topic, but I've been following the The Homemade Heat Pump Manifesto thread started by AC_Hacker. (I can't link to it because I only have three posts so far - heh.) This is also something I want to try, tying one or two smallish AC units into a ground source heat loop for supplemental heat. If it works well I'd do a couple more for my detached shop.
Too. Many. Projects.
