2 Responses

1. The one downside to doing this is that most of the energy will be absorbed by the water, and very little (if any) radiation will be generated. Also, I assume you will need to coat the silicon, because the dissolved gases in the water will wreak havoc on a photovoltaic cell.

   That being said, if there is a need to cool the photovoltaic cell, you could use water, and draw the heated water off for other use. There will still be two things to consider though. First, you have to be sure that dissolved solids that might come from a leak that could spring up in the hybrid solar panel will not be too toxic, and second, you need to be sure that the protective coating you use does not absorb too much light itself, which would obviously reduce efficiency of the photovoltaic component of the cell. Also, trying to do water and electricity at the same time also presents a hazard if a leak causes an electrical shock to be delivered to someone taking a shower.

   If you get over these hurdles, you could create a hybrid energy system for your house where you hook the solar components to an electric line and a conventional water heater. I think the overall idea is a good one.

2. I don’t see why not . Solar cells do create allot of heat maybe place them on some kind of corrugated plastic sheeting with a 12 volt pump to circulate the water at a set temperature. Being that the sheeting is in the back of the cells you wouldn’t lose any sun light . You wouldn’t wont to put any pressure in it just just gravity fed that would be ample for taking a shower or clothes washing . Maybe you should design it and put it on ebey .I would buy it .