Solar Water Heater

Solar water heaters are one of many useful applications of solar technology. There are several places in the world, including several southern countries, where they can even provide up to 75% of domestic hot water power, and in cooler climates like Northern Europe they can provide about 25% of both space and water heating. In areas of southern Africa like Zimbabwe, because of the high efficiency and low environmental impact, solar water heating systems are becoming increasingly popular, as many projects funded by the EU and the UN are encouraging more use of green technologies. While this is especially relevant in Africa, where deforestation is a serious issue due to the need for firewood, it is also beneficial in Europe and North America, where higher gas prices mean that our energy bills are constantly on the rise. After the initial cost of buying and installing the system, as with most solar technologies, the energy produced is free. Once the start-up cost is repaid, which won't take long depending on the efficiency of your solar water heater, you have a fairly constant supply of free energy. What could be better than that?

How Solar Water Heating Systems Work?

Solar water heating systems usually involve the use of thermal collectors, and also solar panels. Both collectors, as mentioned on the home page, are solar energy gathering systems that collect the energy from sunlight and in the case of solar water heating, store it in tanks or reservoirs full of water. The benefit of storing the hot water is that it can then be stored for later, after the sun has gone down, or if the weather worsens. The stored solar heat energy is then usually converted into heating for your home, swimming pool, or hot water supply. Although these are the most common uses for the stored solar energy, it can also be used for industrial applications and to power cooling equipment. As you can see, there are many useful applications of solar water heaters.

The Options

The technologies used in solar water heating are different depending on where and what the heating system is used for, but whether you're using solar water heating for your home, pool, business, or even farm, you will need one or more of the following things: glazed or unglazed flat plate collectors (solar panels), batch collectors (thermal collectors), liquid-based collectors, vacuum tube collectors, and also likely a heat exchanger and hot water tank or reservoir. Residential solar thermal installations come in two system types, compact and pumped. Both are generally backed up by a conventional heating source that will activate once the stored water falls below a certain temperature to ensure that the homeowner is never without hot water. This back-up provides security for you and your family knowing that you'll never have the shower turn ice cold half-way through. While some people may find that refreshing, most consider it a hassle.