Rajesh, I
think that the unpressurised systems allow the water into the tubes, where it heats and rises. The
pressurised systems have the heat pipe: it is about 1/4-inch diameter. You cannot see it through the black glass, it is only visible when assembling or replacing a broken tube.
Ours also cost about 20-something-K. it is 150 Litre. It is our second; the first one suffered serious corrosion leakage after just a few years
I believe subsidy is available for
grid-tie solar systems. These systems power your house, and feed back into the grid. People report the delight of watching the meter run backwards during full sunshine! One can think of it as selling power to the local EB. One can also think of it as using the EB as "storage," drawing the power back when there is insufficient sunlight.
The whole thing needs approval, probably a new 2-way meter, and, although it is very much possible, it can be a longish bureaucratic process.
Grid-tie systems do not provide back-up power when there is a power cut. The possibility of them feeding live power into the dead mains, which may electrocute EB workers, is too dangerous. I would of thought isolation would not be a great technical difficulty, but I don't think it is available here. Grid-tie? No EB means no power.
Off-grid systems require us to store the generated electricity. Car batteries are expensive enough. 150-amp-hour inverter batteries are twice the price.
sam9s, as I said, making the sun pay for itself is not yet very feasible unless you have quite a lot of money. I am not sure, but I think you need a minimum 3Kva system to power one AC. Possibly 5. Battery storage to run AC machines off-grid would be prohibitive in both cost... and space.
Inverter ACs and fridges are an easier load. The compressors only have to start up once, and are then permanently running.
Another idea for truly going solar is to convert as much as possible to 12v. Can be done for lighting, probably computers, etc. That eliminates the DC/AC inverter efficiency losses. All this stuff can be done if we have lots of money and, preferably when fitting out a new house!
I'm starting small, and it still going to cost just over a lakh
And my
next new toy on the list... would be a 3Kva portable generator. This would support just one AC machine. It would also run my 2hp drainage pump on those supposed-to-be-once-a-century deluge days. It's a mighty powerful thing... but no good without electricity! That's another lakh or so. Just as bad as having a hifi wish list!
Yes, Rajesh, thanks, we recovered from that deluge. Cyclone Vardha hardly caused us any damage at all, although we had a couple of oh-no-not-again hours when the rain was gaining on our petrol-operated pump. Of course there was no electricity: all the lines had blown down!
