From: vaughnsimon@gmail.com   
      
   On 2/16/2012 10:06 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:   
   >   
   > The water heater is a tank at ground level with no external plumbing, fill   
   > it with a hose through a backflow preventer and carry hot water to the   
   > washing machine in a bucket. In addition to being much cheaper to build this   
   > way it causes no damage when it leaks and it can't contaminate the household   
   > water supply.   
      
   I remember when square bathtub-type solar hot water heaters were common   
   on roofs of older homes in the south Florida area.  They were little   
   more than a black tar-coated tank of water on the roof. I assume they   
   were unpressurized. They likely had a toilet-style ballcock to keep them   
   full, and served the house through gravity feed.   
      
   There was no separate solar collector, the tank itself serves as the   
   "collector".  Inefficient, but cheap and reliable.   
      
   As for the naked PV cells that the OP asked about, In a world where a   
   careful buyer can purchase panels for 1 dollar/watt, I would need to buy   
   them at far less than 50 cents/watt to bother with them.  The best   
   homebuilt panel is probably inferior to the crappiest factory built unit.   
      
   Vaughn   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)