Mixing solar panels

phemens wrote:
No space constraints for sure. If not tracking then arrays that I can easily access to keep clean. I have a whole education on home solar ahead of me ;)

I would start with a floor plan that satisfies your partner. Next a passive solar design. The fewer mechanical systems the better.

The eco house in Regina had back up heating consisting of a natural gas fired 40 gallon water heater. It used evacuated tubes for space heating, and the windows had a wide gap where Styrofoam peanuts were blown in at night--and then sucked out in the morning. There were no north facing windows. They did use an air to air heat exchange system.

There were two water heaters "in series" the first one only had the pilot running to preheat water.

Will you go 100% electric? A ground heat pump system would be a nice but expensive feature.

I have a triple mini split heat pump in my condo. I've never needed the heating part, but it is unbelievably efficient. My current consumption is 4.3 kwh per day. I suspect most of that is the fridge. I do have a dishwasher, microwave, and induction cook top with a resistance convection oven. My space heating and water heating costs are hidden in the condo fees.

The very first geothermal house in Saskatchewan is near the Manitoba border--and the owners are piano tuning clients of mine. It was monitored for more than a few years by the National Science Counsel from Ottawa. At that time two wells were bored. One for drawing hot water and one for injecting the water back down. Current technology uses a field system that is buried at two layers about ten feet below the surface. I have one client who has the newer system. It is NOT cheap. The mechanical components take up a fair size room.

None of these installations included solar electric generation--but the more modern heat pump folks plan to do so.