I need to replace a really old electric solar water heater in a domestic hot water system, and I'll buy a conventional electric heater because solar tanks cost much more but are of inferior quality.
Conventional heaters are usually modified for solar use by shortening the dip tube in half and using it as the inlet for the solar-heated water, and the drain opening replaces the normal dip tube for cold water But I found this diagram:
which shows an unmodified conventional tank being used for solar heating. Instead of feeding the solar-heated water into the middle of the tank, in this diagram it goes into the bottom. Will that work well?