Solar Hot Water Systems
Typical solar hot water systems can supply 70% of annual domestic hot water, and in some cases up to 15% of home heating.
Solar hot water systems consist mainly of a solar hot water collector, a piping system, a circulation pump and a fluid. The collector is usually placed on a roof or South facing wall. The thermal energy from the sun is absorbed by the collector and is passed to the fluid which is being circulated by a pump. The fluid which was heated in the collector then goes through a heat exchanger and passes the thermal energy to hot water which will come out the tap or be used for heating.
Threshold Energies provides two basic types of solar heat collectors: Flat Plate and Evacuated Tube.
- Flat Plate collectors are basically an insulated enclosure with a glass cover and a heat absorbing material. Small fluid filled tubes are run through the heat absorbing material. As fluid flows through the tubes it absorbs the thermal energy which them circulates through the rest of the system.
- Evacuated tube solar collectors use evacuated (vacuum) glass tubes to absorb heat from the sun. Copper pipes inside of the tubes reach high temperatures and heat water being pumped through the collector.
