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We don't concentrate light in the normal PV systems because mirrors aren't cheaper enough when compared to the panels. Things used to be different, then PV got cheap.

Solar water heaters are also much more expensive than they first seem. Houses with pools usually have them, but if you don't own a pool it's normally better to put your money in a more flexible PV.



Houses with pools should use the waste heat from their air conditioning system to heat their pool.

Unfortunately, the system requires an HVAV technician, an electrician, and a plumber to install.

I’m also not sure how many HVAC techs are familiar with installing something like that.

Seems like a great energy saver though.

Here’sa video from This Old House on installing one of the systems. https://youtu.be/J7fB8ul9dZw


That is presuming you want to heat the pool rather than evaporative cooling the building to save on electricity.


That is presuming they live in an area that evaporative cooling isn't suited for.


It's mostly maintenance. Best concentrating mirror systems are Fresnel reflectors and they need meticulous cleaning, then there's a problem with heat dissipation for PV solar.


I understand it's now cheaper to heat water with a heat pump (or even a resistive heater) driven by PV, rather than by directly absorbing sunlight as heat.


When I run the numbers that's what I get. Also I think the Passive House nutters are starting to freak out because solar panels + heat pumps cost less than the extra insulation required by passive house regulations. Especially true because insulation quickly runs into diminishing returns.


How much insulation determine Passive House needs versus air-tightness? Isn't the latter also a metric that needs to be hit to get PH certification? Which of the two should be focused on (either by individuals doing a reno, or legislators updating code)?


I think not having gross leaks is a good thing, besides losing energy, leaks often carry moist air where you don't want it.

I'm much more dubious about ultra high levels of insulation and trying to completely seal the envelope.




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