baseboard heat powered solar?

[drainoil]

Anyone here do this? Would this be reasonable to do to heat , say a 900-1000 sg ft area at least 50% of the time during the winter months here in the midwest?

[Daox]

You would be way better off with some solar hot air panels or something less costly. PV is getting cheaper, but its still not cheap compared to other solar options, especially passive solar design.

[drainoil]

Hmm. Any suggestions on kits or packages to look at?

[Daox]

There is tons of solar heating info here:

Solar Heating - EcoRenovator

Personally I'd suggest DIY because its pretty easy to construct hot air panels.

[Ryland]

Solar hot water does work well for space heating if you have some mass to hold the heat, the best mass is a cement floor.
Heating domestic water with solar tends to be costly because you tend to need dual systems and you don't use all of your hot water that you are producing, solar hot water on places like breweries or laundromats is great because they use 100% of the water they heat, just like space heating, you use 100% of the heat.

Hot air panels are cheap but they also lack mass! they work well for garages, workshops and sheds that you spend time in during the day time when the sun is out.