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 Solar heating systems—also called
solar domestic hot water systems—can be an excellent and cost
effective way to make the hot water for your home or convert that
energy in to heat energy for your home. They can be used in any climate,
and the fuel they use—sunshine—is free.
Typical home solar panels systems have a rapid return on investment that
when properly designed can pay for themselves in just a few short years.
The top three applications for solar water heater systems
are:
1) Domestic
Hot Water Installations
2) Space Heating Installations
3) Swimming Pool Heating
Installations
Solar hot water heater systems include storage
tanks and solar collectors. There are two types of solar water heating
systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, and passive,
which don't.
Most solar hot water heaters require a well-insulated storage tank. Solar
storage tanks have an additional outlet and inlet connected to and
from the collector.
Three types of solar collectors are used
for residential applications:
 1) Flat-plate solar collector
Glazed
flat-plate collectors are insulated, weatherproofed boxes that contain
a dark absorber plate under
one or more glass or plastic (polymer) covers. Unglazed flat-plate
collectors—typically used for solar
pool heating—have a dark absorber plate, made of metal or
polymer, without a cover
or enclosure.
2) Integral
solar collector-storage systems
Also
known as ICS or batch systems, they feature one or more black tanks
or tubes in an insulated, glazed
box. Cold water first passes through the solar collector, which
preheats the water. The water then
continues on to the conventional backup water heater, providing
a reliable source of hot water. They
should be installed only in mild-freeze climates because the outdoor
pipes could freeze in severe, cold
weather.
 3) Evacuated-tube
solar collectors
They
feature parallel rows of transparent glass tubes. Each tube contains
a glass outer tube and metal absorber
tube attached to a fin. The fin's coating absorbs solar energy but
inhibits radiative heat loss. These
collectors are used more frequently for U.S. commercial applications.
Solar water heating systems almost always require a backup system
for cloudy days and times of increased demand. Our focus will be to
provide the optimal design assistance to satisfy the needs of your
project.
For more information about solar hot water heating system components,
contact our experts today.
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