Benny installed his own solar hot water system.  Here's how he did it.

As Submitted from Benny Marcel:

I went to the meeting last September Baton Rouge and I have been all stoked up about this ever since, but I had to wait until the 1st of January to get my system in order to take advantage of all the tax credits.

The system was purchased from solarroofs.com.  Its is a 1 1/2 kW equivalent force fed open loop system with 2 layers of freeze protection, a 45 degree dribble valve and a 40 degree and lower re-circulator that is good down to 20 degrees.  The motor is a 16.5v Ecocirc D5 and it is powered by a 10 watt PV panel.  The re-circulation is powered by a AC/DC transformer and is controlled by a snap switch attached to the collector. There is a small control box that includes a diode that manages the flow from the panel or the transformer.  All this is tied into my original 65 gallon Rheem tank via a neat manifold that attaches to the drain hole at the bottom of the tank. I bought a USDT2004A computer differential controller separately from kingsolar.com that operates the pump via a 115v relay switch purchased at Radio Shack.  The controller monitors the system and gives me kWh captured as well as the temperatures of the collector, upper and lower tank areas.  I am looking forward to many years of service  and my tax rebates!

If you would like to get in touch with him you can email him at marwoz@bellsouth.net.
 


Photos courtesy of Benny Marcel