Installing solar power at ... this system for his water heater that takes care of some of this excess incoming energy. A normal water heater, at least one based on electric resistive heaters ...

[Darrell]’s idea was simple enough. He hooked up solar panels to just the bottom heating element of his hot water heater. This cut his power bill in half. His calculator is now up at pvh20.com ...

To do this, it needs collectors, which can be photovoltaic (PV) panels or solar heat absorption panels. If you use PV panels, an electric heater typically converts the electrical power into heat.