The value of having a hobby.

That is fantastic..you must have a decent set up.
I have on order a unit that runs off solar panels sending the electricity to the hot water heater. I see that as a great solution for solar hot water. All that is involved is a new element in the heater and (my choice) four additional panels seperate to the main system.
One can run hot water thru a collector on the roof but that means a lot of plumbing. It is easier to run cable than water pipes..plus getting a plumber in the city is hard enough but very difficult and expensive in the bush.
Alex

 

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You don't need to buy one. There are a plethora of online services.
I use Shapeways.

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You can pick from a vast array of materials, from silicon rubber to solid gold.

Size, colour and finish are just a button click.

 

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Your suggestion makes sense to me.
Thanks.
But I must ask ..what are those objects in the photo...or perhaps a thread calling for opinions.
Alex

 

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I designed them.

They are telescoping pistons.
They are one component of a tesseract I am building. It will be the first - and likely the last - real-world 3D-projection of a 4D tesseract that world will ever see.

 

Just FYI, Blender is also freeware.

 

No, as I have yet to buy one myself. I am presently doing just image and animation renders.

 

Pretty good. 9.88 kilowatts STC DC. I'd like it to be a little bigger so we stay negative for most of the year; that's the next project.

It's remarkable that doing that now makes economic sense, but with PV costs so low it's starting to.

(BTW there are systems like that that will heat your water - then if the power goes out you can switch them over to supplying 120VAC.)

 

I believe I will be able to plug in the Genny (240 vlt) so in the wet when one needs to charge the batteries with the Genny I should have a situation where the batteries charge at say 300 watts and the "leftover" electricity say 1700 watts from the 2 kVA unit going to heat water.
Alex

 

Yikes! If you have that large a generator, consider getting a charger to match. That's a lot of power (fuel) to waste during charging.

 

I have a 5kva, 3 @ 2kVA and 2 @700 watts..however as the battery bank is approx 1100 amps you can only charge at 10%. with lead acid but I have gel batteries that require a smaller charge.
Funny however if you run the 2kva sufficient for the needs it runs about the same cost as what the city house costs in grid electricity.

Alex