Solar Heaters

The Southwest is blessed with 300 day plus of sun per year making it the most logical areas of the country to consider the use of solar energy. While most of the interest to date has been focused on creating electricity from the sun (Photovoltaic), for the home owner this still represents a large capital outlay and a long pay back period.

Using solar energy to heat hot water on the other hand has a much lower capital cost resulting in a faster net gain for the home owner. And has the advantage of providing hot water not only for domestic use (showers, kitchens etc.) but, also to heat your home.

SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM

A whole house solar heating system is comprised of three components.

The Solar Engine is made up of three main components:

1. Solar panels mounted on the roof.

2. A small heat exchanger tank located on top of the storage tank.

3. A 50 to 120gal hot water storage tank.

The Backup System insures that your home will have the hot water it needs even during periods of cloudy days. By using a high efficiency tank-less water heater as a backup, we insure that there will always be hot water available for washing and heating.

The Hot Water Furnace has a high efficiency radiator through which hot water is circulated; a distribution fan blows air from the home through the radiator and into the air distribution system of your home. This furnace acts exactly the same way as any forced air furnace with the exception it uses hot water to provide heat rather than a flame.

HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK?

When water temperature in the storage tank drops below 140 degrees a temperature control in the tank signals a pump to start circulating a glycol. The glycol solution is circulated through the solar panels where the solution is heated by the sun; this heated solution is then circulated through the solar heat exchanger tank located on top of the solar hot water storage tank. This tank has a coil of copper through which the glycol is circulated, heat is then transferred to the water in the heat exchanger tank and returns to the solar panels to be reheated. The heated water in this small tank is then circulated to the large storage tank where it is ready to be used. Once the storage tank comes up to the programmed temperature the circulation pump stops and all the glycol drains back into the heat exchanger storage tank.

Now that we have hot water lets assume that the shower is turned on in the house. Hot water leaves the storage tank and passes through the tank-less water heater. The tank-less water heater has a programmed set temperature and monitors the water temperature as the water passes through it, if the water temperature is less than the programmed temperature it will fire up its burners to bring the water temperature up to the programmed temperature. If the water temperature is equal to or higher than the programmed temperature the tank-less water heater does nothing.

Let's now assume that the thermostat in your home calls for heat. The hot water furnace has a pump which starts, which pulls hot water out of the storage tank, through the tank-less water heater (which is monitoring the temperature) and through the radiator in the hot water furnace. The furnace blower blows air through the radiator and into the air distribution system of your home. The water is then returned to the solar storage tank to be reheated.


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