| Frequently Asked Questions |
Thank you for your interest in Solar Water Heating
How does a solar water work? There are different kinds of solar thermal (heat) collectors. As you might expect, each has advantages and disadvantages. The two most popular collectors for heating water are flat-plate and evacuated-tube collectors. Evacuated-tube collectors are newer, more high-tech, and very popular on magazine covers. They are made of vacuum tubes that contain an absorber plate, very similar to a flat-plate collector. Because the vacuum does not transmit collected energy back to the atmosphere, they can outperform flat-plate collectors. However, this advantage does not come into play at water temperatures typical for household use. Evacuated-tubes are more expensive and require more maintenance than flat-plate collectors. Flat-plate collectors represent the mature technology in domestic water heating. They use flat sheets of copper that are specially coated to make them absorb more of the sun's energy. Heat is conducted directly to water that flows in tubes that are welded to the flat plates. The plates are housed in insulated enclosures. Light passes through special tempered glass that traps the solar heat and improves the collector's efficiency. All solar water heaters use pumps to circulate fluid through the collectors and transfer the heat to your storage tank. Solar water heaters usually have larger storage tanks so that they can store enough water to get us through a cloudy day or two. Regardless of the type of collector, the system is controlled by electronics that sense the temperature in the storage tank and at the collectors. The controller only turns the pumps on when there is heat needed and available. |
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