Profile

Hugh Willis

This individual is no longer active. Application functionality related to this individual is limited.

Contact Details

My Content

1 to 19 of 19 total

RE: Is it common for production to be less than estimated?

Posted By Hugh Willis 01-24-2022 01:08 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
It appears that while your installer's model picked up one tree in the space between sidewalk and curb northwest of your house, they also missed the tree in that same space between sidewalk and curb, but west of the SW corner of your house. (It can be seen in both of the photos you provided). By pushing ...

RE: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of PV Solar versus Heat Pump

Posted By Hugh Willis 01-13-2022 12:22 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Thank you, Dara When it comes to heat pumps for building space heating, people just don't seem able to make the connection to what they already know. Who gives a second thought to air conditioning, and how it pumps heat from the cool indoors to the hot outside? Or the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, ...

RE: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of PV Solar versus Heat Pump

Posted By Hugh Willis 01-13-2022 12:00 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
William - As regards full winter load and summer a/c sizing, I do have a two-stage heat pump, chosen for just that reason. Still, although carefully sized to just barely meet my home's hot and humid summer a/c needs, it does not quite meet my central NC heating needs on midwinter's coldest darkest nights. ...

RE: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of PV Solar versus Heat Pump

Posted By Hugh Willis 01-13-2022 11:37 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
William - I assume you are right and agree with you (unless deep in Amish country) the site is probably grid-tied. I agree completely with your comments, except for two points - (1) I know nothing about the person who posted the original question, except that this one question made no sense. As both ...

RE: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of PV Solar versus Heat Pump

Posted By Hugh Willis 01-13-2022 07:48 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Yes, heat pumps and solar PV can be symbiotic - but as a practical matter, only in a situation where you are grid-tied, and have an annual net-metering agreement with your electrical utility. With a good heat pump setup, and without significant seasonal variations in electrical usage other than for ...

RE: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of PV Solar versus Heat Pump

Posted By Hugh Willis 01-13-2022 06:44 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
PV Solar versus Heat Pump - they are not mutually exclusive alternatives. There's no reason you can't do both, if each one is itself justified on a life cycle basis. The relevant life-cycle cost comparison for the heat pump would be between it and the propane furnace. To model the heat pump's performance ...

RE: PV+solar thermal panels ?

Posted By Hugh Willis 12-01-2021 06:09 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Let's set aside the obvious, that as a generality, water and electricity don't mix well. I suppose we all know that there are some pv panels that do very well when floated on water. And we know that panel output drops by about 0.5% per degree C (about 0.3% per degree F) for every degree above STC (cell ...

RE: PV+solar thermal panels ?

Posted By Hugh Willis 12-01-2021 12:02 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Michael, when you do the switch from SHW to heat pump DHW, where will the heat pump draw its air from? (From what you've said, I'm guessing you're planning on an air-source heat pump hot water heater, not geothermal/ground source/water source). Obviously, if you are drawing air from inside the house, ...

RE: Solar Credit refund

Posted By Hugh Willis 11-06-2021 07:15 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
John - My main point was not that "nonrefundable" tax credits are are not refundable if unused to offset income taxes (in your current, or possibly future tax years) but that they are inherently unfair, and offer the least help to those who might need it most. For many years, the various Federal energy ...

RE: Is Joe Manchin killing a clean energy bill that probably should die?

Posted By Hugh Willis 11-02-2021 10:32 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
(r.e. Thomas Hirsch's comment) Tom - there is another, even simpler, way besides means testing - "refundable" tax credits. Unlike the current "nonrefundable" solar tax credits, "refundable" credits are paid back to you if you don't use them to pay your income taxes. For many years, the various Federal ...

RE: Is Joe Manchin killing a clean energy bill that probably should die?

Posted By Hugh Willis 11-01-2021 11:03 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
I agree whole-heartedly "this is incredibly well written". And informative. And logical. I would like to add two points - First, the world's manufacturers cannot produce pv panels fast enough to meet a worldwide overnight explosion in demand - (And even if the chip and panel manufacturers did further ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-22-2021 08:51 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Roger - Your general point about "putting the calculators to work" is valid whenever life-cycle cost is the prime consideration. But sometimes simplicity is desirable, even if it might cost a bit more. (Trained as an engineer, and analytical by nature, I am often accused of "overthinking the problem" ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-22-2021 10:52 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
William, not too long after OPEC's first (1973) oil embargo, I remember doing a tour of a number of solar homes in central PA. (Probably in 1975, or thereabouts). Some were open floorplan passive (radiant capture) solar designs much like you describe, as in your picture. Others on the tour were doing ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-22-2021 10:17 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Joe, when you first mentioned the heat pump water heater in your basement, venting its cold air outside in the wintertime, I wondered where all the heat would come from - both that needed to heat the water, and that needed to heat the cold outside air that must be replacing the heat pump water heater's ...

RE: Balancing the load.

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-22-2021 07:38 AM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
William, I am not the sort of people you are looking for, but I would like to comment. Your article touched on, but I think did not emphasize, the core issue - Bureaucratic inflexibility and "the way we've always done it", perhaps coupled with a lack of imagination regarding their future role, on the ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-15-2021 06:58 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Joe, I get it - How brilliant! You've done everything I've only imagined for my dream house. I really love that you have made effective use of both pv and solar thermal capture. (Last I looked, "thermal" captures about 3x as much solar energy per sq ft as does a high-performance pv array of the same ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-15-2021 12:17 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Joe - I wonder how much it dehumidifies your basement. (With it running, what is your basement's typical humidity level, and how much condensate per day does it generate?) All my ductwork is in my basement's sealed and conditioned space. To wholly prevent mold and condensation on the ducts when the a/c ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-13-2021 11:30 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
William - I have enjoyed mine for five years now, and it is pretty much as you describe - although it is more like a window air conditioner unit - except that it pushes its captured heat into the hot water storage tank instead of out into the outdoor air. And yes, there is a condensate port that needs ...

RE: Heat Pump Water Heater: who's also using the waste extracted 'coolth'?

Posted By Hugh Willis 10-13-2021 10:25 PM
Found In Egroup: Everything Solar Forum \ view thread
Andrew - You are on the right track. I love my heat pump hot water heater. And it does help both cool and (a little bit) dehumidify my house in summer. To answer your question about "off the shelf ducting kits" for hybrid "heat pump" residential water heaters - custom kits might not be needed. Depending ...