Question 1

For a sunny day, what is the increase in temperature of the water passing through the unit?

Accepted Answer

Based on the size given, 58mm x 500mm, the total area the sun could hit for all 10 is 0.29 m^2 (overestimating a bit because they're round, not flat). Depending on where you live (ie closer to the equator) you can expect a little over 1000w per square meter of direct sunlight. So the maximum theoretical heat output is about 290W.

For solar panel installation, the US gives charts of how much direct sunlight per day a given area gets in each month on average. This varies from about 1 hour in the northern US during winter to 8 hours in the summer in Arizona.

So best case scenario, you get 8 hours of direct sunlight at 290W, for 2.3 kWh of power as heat. In my area, that would save $0.25 per day if I was heating by electricity (not gas, which is usually cheaper).

This is about the power required raise 100 gallons of water 10 degrees F. This is a linear relationship, so it would raise 50 gallons 20 degrees F, or 25 gallons 40 degrees F. This is over an entire day, not per hour.

Now this is the best case scenario in a hot area on a sunny day. A more average case might be 4 hours of direct sunlight, giving you half those numbers. And this is not counting heat loss from whatever you're heating (ie pools are really bad because of evaporation and poor insulation, but hot water tanks are insulated pretty well. Probably ok for a hot tub too).

Basically depends on what you're trying to do with it. It might work well for a very small off grid water heater (40 gallons max, but smaller would work better). It will not work at all for heating a 10,000 gallon pool.

There's also the issue of water getting too hot since you can't really turn it off except manually (ie covering it). And keep in mind, this is just part of a system. You at least need a pump, tubing and a storage container too.

Question 2

I'm off grid, and have a gravity fed water system, can I mount this above a hot water tank so that it continues to feed the tank?

Accepted Answer

Actually you set the tank above the heater. Set up a thermal siphon hot water from the panel rises up to the tank cold water from the tank comes down to the bottom of the heater and rises is back up

Question 3

Can it be used as a hot air heater by using an air blower.

Accepted Answer

I would expect so. Set the blower slow though. I think a better approach is to use this to heat the water and then put a roll of copper cable in the heated water to blow are through.

Question 4

For a family of four, two adults and two children, what would be the best way to use this system 100% off grid

Accepted Answer

it's a closed system, it requires a pump that circulates the solar heated water through a coil system in a separate water tank. The pump is about $300 and the tank is around the same price I believe.

Brand	MISOL
Material	Aluminum, Glass
Color	Gold, Silver, Black, Clear
Product Dimensions	19.69"L x 2.28"W
Nominal Wall Thickness	1.8 month
Outside Diameter	58 Millimeters
Item Length	19.69 Inches
UPC	701158992758 508931559562 701158992215
Manufacturer	MISOL
Part Number	MS-SWH-SC-10-5805-1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer	No
Power Source	Solar Powered
Item Package Quantity	10
Batteries Included?	No
Batteries Required?	No

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MISOL Solar Collector of Solar Hot Water Heater/with 10 Evacuated Tubes/Heat Pipe Vacuum Tubes, New

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