New member from Hereford, AZ

[Grabcon]

New to the forum. Over the last 6 years I have built 3 different RV solar systems all of course had different requirements and all worked as intended. Now my wife and I after 3 years of full-time RVing doing a lot of volunteer work have reached another milestone in our retirement lives. We are buying a house in Hereford, AZ. This is the first house in 3 years, we close in mid October. This house comes with a grid tied 10.1kw Solar Edge system and some passive solar hot water for domestic hot water heating. The PV system will be owned and not leased the seller is paying it off at closing.

Not immediately but at some point in the next year I would like to move from grid tie to hybrid on the solar. I have no particular reason to do so other than I want to. It would be nice to do more than critical loads when I make the move. Not known at this moment is what the local electric company agreement is for grid tie solar. From what I have seen the wholesale sell back is about half of what the retail purchase is for power.

As an added note this is a 100% electric house, HVAC, appliances, domestic hot water with passive solar. Never have owned an all electric house always had natural gas or propane for heating, cooking, and hot water. So this will be a new experience.

So that is it, hope to get some good info from this site. One of the first things on the list of to do's after cleaning and painting is to replace one or both electric hot water heaters as they have exceeded their projected life by many years. Only one is connected to the passive hot water. So when I replace it the thought is to go with a tankless hot water heater but still have it connected to the passive hot water solar. Any thoughts on that move?

[Mike 134]

Sister-in-law had a tankless hot water heater and was initially disappointed. The tank could not raise the incoming water temp enough. It was replaced with a larger BTU unit and had the gas service to the house upgraded to accommodate the heater's demand. Something for you to consider in an electric version.

[Grabcon]

I have owned two tankless water heaters, both for a RV application and both identical just different RV's, they were propane. Two things on tankless heaters, at least these two. They have a minimum flow requirement to ignite the burner, in my case it was 0.8 GPM. They would cycle on and off if that was not maintained. And the ambient water temp dramatically affects the heating capabilities of these RV type heaters. I would assume something similar for a residential heater. That is where I am hoping that the passive solar hot water can preheat and lessen the burden on the tankless heater.