COMMERCIAL SOLAR HOT WATER
HOW YOUR SYSTEM WORKS
The principles of solar hot water heating are straightforward.
Collector tubes absorb the heat from the sun and transfer it to the water or other liquid flowing through the tubes, in the same way that water in a garden hose will heat up if it’s left lying in the sun.
The main parts of your solar hot water system are...
- Solar collector panels;
- Well insulated storage tank(s), with heat exchanger(s);
- One or more circulating pumps; and
- Control unit(s).
The number of solar collectors used will be determined by your particular hot water requirements.
If you have a conventional water heating system , cold water (about 50 – 60 degrees F) is fed into the gas or electric water heating system where it is heated to 130 degrees F, or more if required. This uses a lot of energy.
With your solar hot water system
- Cold water is fed into the solar storage tank.
- The pump circulates a non-freeze fluid through the solar collectors where it is heated by the sun.
- The heated fluid is pumped back through the heat exchanger in the storage tank.
- The heat is transferred to the water.
Your control unit continually monitors the temperature of the fluid in the collectors and the temperature in the tank.
If the fluid in the collectors is significantly warmer than the water in the tank, your pump circulates fluid through the collectors.
Your pump switches off automatically when there is insufficient sunlight and the collectors are no longer able to raise the temperature of the water in the storage tank.
This happens when the sun is at a very low angle or when there is a thick cloud cover, and at night. The pump automatically starts again when enough sunlight is available.
Temperatures in your solar storage tank can be as high as 120 degrees F in the winter months, and 150 degrees F during the summer.
Heated water from your solar storage tanks will be fed into your existing water heating system, or into a specially installed instant water heating system, where the temperature will be further increased if required.
An instant water heating system can be particularly economical because you are heating only the water required at a specific time for a specific purpose.
