SOLAR WATER HEATING BASICS
SOLAR WATER HEATING BASICS
Before investing in any solar energy system, it is more cost effective to invest in making your home more energy efficient. Taking steps to use less hot water and to lower the temperature of the hot water you use reduces the size and cost of your solar water heater.
Good first steps are installing low-flow showerheads or flow restrictors in shower heads and faucets, insulating your current water heater, and insulating any hot water pipes that pass through unheated areas. If you have no dishwasher, or your dishwasher is equipped with its own automatic water heater, lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120ºF (49ºC).
You'll also want to make sure your site has enough available sunshine to meet your needs efficiently and economically. Your local solar equipment dealer can perform a solar site analysis for you or show you how to do your own. You can also contact EREC for more information.
Remember: Local zoning laws or covenants may restrict where you can place your collectors. Check with your city, county, and homeowners association to find out about any restrictions.
Solar Water Heater Basics
Solar water heaters are made up of collectors, storage tanks, and, depending on the system, electric pumps.
There are basically three types of collectors: flatplate, evacuated-tube, and concentrating.
A flatplate collector, the most common type, is an insulated, weather-proofed box containing a dark absorber plate under one or more transparent or translucent covers.
Evacuated-tube collectors are made up of rows of parallel, transparent glass tubes. Each tube consists of a glass outer tube and an inner tube, or absorber, covered with a selective coating that absorbs solar energy well but inhibits radiative heat loss. The air is withdrawn ("evacuated") from the space between the tubes to form a vacuum, which eliminates conductive and convective heat loss.
Concentrating collectors for residential applications are usually parabolic troughs that use mirrored surfaces to concentrate the sun's energy on an absorber tube (called a receiver) containing a heat-transfer fluid.
Most commercially available solar water heaters require a well-insulated storage tank. Many systems use converted electric water heater tanks or plumb the solar storage tank in series with the conventional water heater. In this arrangement, the solar water heater preheats water before it enters the conventional water heater.
Some solar water heaters use pumps to recirculate warm water from storage tanks through collectors and exposed piping. This is generally to protect the pipes from freezing when outside temperatures drop to freezing or below.
Written by: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a DOE national laboratory.
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