Solar Thermal Systems

The installation of a solar thermal hot water heating system is of advantage where there is a suitably orientated roof, any orientation ranging from south east to south or west to south could be suitable but the further from south the systems becomes the larger the collector area may have to be. It is also a requirement that hot water from the cylinder is used regularly, for example; homes using baths regularly, hot water fed showers, hot water fed washing machines and hot water used for and washing and dishwashing is the ideal situation, homes using cold fed showers are unlikely to see significant benefit from these systems. thermal

There are three major collector types to consider when thinking about solar hot water heating, these are:

  1. Unglazed flat plate collectors

  2. Glazed flat plate collectors

  3. And evacuated tube collectors

The first of these is most effective when the required to heat a load to a temperature only a few degrees above the ambient, the most common application of this technology is in heating swimming pools. You may recall people making solar panels from old radiators, which came under this category. The second and third options are most commonly used for heating hot water for domestic use which represent a step up from the old 'painted radiator' method.

We only install Evacuated Tube and Glazed Flat Plate collectors as the efficiencies are what everyone now expects from a Solar Thermal system.

There is a selection of manufacturers we use, and all systems are designed to match your requirements, based on amount of people who use hot water in the premises and the amount of appliances using hot water, etc. One of the standard issues we encounter will be amount of available space on a South facing roof. Sometimes compromises may need to be made.

 

In addition to the two basic system types we install, a further option is available to flat plate collector users, Drain Back.

A Drain Back system is ideal for a number of situations, such as holiday homes (common in Devon), and other possible lower users of hot water. drainback

A small insulated drain back tank is installed inside the loft space, which literally has the contects of the collector drain back into it. The advantages of this system is twofold, during the winter when the collector does not achieve a temperature over freezing (for example overnight), there is never any possibility of liquid freezing, thus expanding and possibly causing fractures. On the other end of the scale during the scorching summer months, if your hot water system is not in operation on a conventional system, there will be leakage of fluid due to expansion in the collector. Over a few years your system will need to need to be topped up, plus the glycol will have broken down and may need a complete drain and refill.

Drain Back systems get around these problems simply by draining the collector back into a holding tank whe your system is not pumping. It costs a little more, but avoids all these nasty little side issues indicated above.. We like Drain Back! .. Saves you money and us maintenance vists.

 

Download our solar thermal information leaflet HERE