The largest and least efficient panels are the eight 4 by 8 foot panels that I will use to heat the pool. In later articles I will report on the extra cost of electricity to run the pool water through these panels versus the amount of gas required to heat the pool by the same amount, were I not to use the panels.

How do you heat the water in your house? My three-bedroom home has a 60-liter hot water tank on the first floor for the kitchen, laundry room and one bathroom and a ridiculously large 200-meter tank that feeds the Jacuzzi and two bathrooms on the second floor. My gas bills are horrendous.

I’m told that by preheating the water in one of those glass tubed solar panels and then running the preheated water through an instant-on 20-liter tank I will have the same hot water as before, but at a fraction of the cost. My biggest problem is that my architect thinks the solar panel and storage tank are ugly and he wants to hide them from view with a high wall. We’re tearing part of that wall down now so that the panels will not be shaded from the sun during the mornings and afternoons. I’m looking forward, perhaps a half year from now, to reporting how well this solar panel and storage tank works.

My most daunting and most expensive project is the use of photovoltaic solar panels to generate electricity. They were installed last week. My goal was not to provide all of the electricity needed for my home, but to provide a sufficient amount of electricity to lower the CFE (electric company) billing rate from DAC, where I am paying 3.58 pesos per KWH, to a level where the average cost is half that.

The panels are generating electricity as advertised, but sadly the controls seem to be built to meet US voltage requirements not Mexican. In Mexico, 127 volts +/- 10 percent is normal. In the US it’s closer to 120 volts +/- 5 percent. As a result, when my panels generate excess electricity, the voltage isn’t high enough to sell the extra electricity back to the electric utility. I will be meeting with the manufacturers when I return to the U.S. next week to see if the equipment can be altered to meet the Mexican market. I hope to soon write a glowing report about my photovoltaic system.