Solar water heater systems for your home
Solar water heaters is a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home. They can be used in any climate, and the fuel they use — sunshine — is free. Once you’ve paid the initial installation cost, your hot water costs will be reduced leading to a reduced energy bill.
How Solar Water Heating Works
Solar water heating is a simple process. Water is heated by the sun while it goes through a solar panel or collector and then is stored in a tank. The process is repeated over and over and every time higher temperatures are achieved. It’s a slower process and that’s why a storage tank where the water can be kept and sent back to the solar collector to get heated again is necessary.
Natural circulation systems
This system uses the natural property of hot water to raise in a vessel to recirculate the water between collectors and tank. When the water (or the gas in the case of the heat pipe systems) is heated in the collectors, it goes up into the tank and cold water goes down filling the collector. The process is repeated indefinitely
No pump is required, no need of electricity to work. Just physics.
The tank needs to be almost always attached to the collector and sit on your roof with them.
Forced circulation systems
They are all those where the tank can be elsewhere and doesn’t need to be close or attached to the collectors because the water between the two is circulated by a pump.
The tank doesn’t need to be on the roof making the installation lighter.
Water must be recirculated constantly between tank and panels to avoid overheating and potential damages and therefore a reliable source of power for the pump must be provided.
Types of Solar water heater systems
There are two main types of solar water heaters technologies
Flat plate
Flat plate are provided with a special glass that captures as much sunlight is possible and a series of copper rods where the water goes through and gets heated.
Advantages : They are sturdy, reliable and last a very long time.
Disadvantages : They are heavier than the heat pipe or evacuated tubes. In case of leakage from one of the pipes the entire collector stops working because all the pipes are interconnected.
Heat Pipe Tubes
They are evacuated glass tubes containing a copper rod filled with a special glass. The sun rays are captured by the glass, trapped within the tube by the evacuation technology that ensure no heat is lost (like a thermos), the copper gets heated and heats up the gas.
Advantages: They are super efficient because of their round shape that allows them to capture sun rays from all angles and makes them more effective in situations of cloudy skies. This characteristic allows them also to heat up water at higher temperatures
They are also light and since every tube is plug and play and lives an independent life from the others, in case one or more get damaged, the system stays fully functional while you wait for replacement.
Because the tubes are made of glass and there is no water going through them, they are ideal in situations of poor water quality (brackish or dirty water) and in the coastal areas where the wind is saturated by sea salt which is very corrosive for any metal.
Disadvantages: Because of the high temperatures achieved, the system needs to be constantly run and fully utilised otherwise they tend to have a shorter lifespan than the flat collectors one.
Design, installation and maintenance of solar Water heating systems
Outright solar is a full solar water heater service provider, We provide full solar water heater design, installation and maintenance throughout the life of your system. Get in touch with us to learn more.
Contact us