Solar Power - the options

Even on a cloudy day there is a great deal of clean, low-cost energy available from the sun. For many people this is done with solar water heating.

Solar panels

A typical system includes a roof mounted solar collector sometimes referred to as the solar panel. In fact they can also be made up of tubes like the photo. Heat is then pumped inside the building to a hot water store where supplementary heat is often added to make it useful for normal domestic appliances.
Solar energy is also used to produce electricity with different equipment generally referred to as photo-voltaic panels. See solar power page.
Also solar energy is used to heat rooms directly, like in a greenhouse. This is called passive solar gain.

There's more to solar water heating than the choice of what sits on your roof.

The choice of solar collector influences the appearance, temperatures and efficiency of the system. However the following points are equally as important:

where to position the storage cylinder
insulation on pipes and cylinders
the way the solar system connects to your existing hot water supply
type of pump controller

For more information read the article reprints below, explore the rest of our site and then contact us.

Getting into Hot Water with the Sun - A general introduction.
Optimizing Solar Water Systems - A more technical overview.

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