I currently have 9 12x4 Heliocol panels all in one string. I am adding 6 more panels to the system and the best way to do it is add two panels to the existing string making 11 in one string and 4 in the other. Would this be a problem or should I try to even out the strings? I would save about 40 foot of PVC doing it this way.
Solar panels
- Thread starter booboo
- Start date
It greatly simplifies balancing flow if you split them into equal size banks with equal length plumbing.
Ike
Ike
Would the smaller string have a higher pressure causing the water to move through the panels faster than the longer string especially the panels at the end of the string? Heliocol says 5 GPM is the ideal flow for each panel. If I run the pump at a speed that produces 75 GPM (5 GPM per panel) would the system pressure balance out or would I have different flow rates on different panels? Even if there is different flow rates does it really make enough difference to go to the extra trouble to make the strings equal?
The longer string of panels is going to tend to have less overall resistance all else being equal and therefore higher flow. If you have a very unbalanced set of arrays then almost all the water will go through the larger one and very little will go through the other. In my case I could only squeeze 11 panels on my roof so divided them into a group of 5 and 6 fed from the bottom center (6 on the left and 5 on the right), then ran the return line from the upper left all the way to the upper right where they joined to form a common return line. I did this to attempt to balance out the flow as the flow resistance for 50 ft of 2 inch PVC was nearly identical to the flow difference of a single 4x12 Techno-Solis panel (yours may be different). It seems to have worked as I get fairly even heating when I measure the panels with a thermal imager.
Ike
Ike
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