Sustainable Heating Solutions

Solar thermal

Solar water heating systems use heat from the sun to supplement your conventional water heating system. The technology is well developed and there is a large choice of equipment to suit many different applications.

How does it work?

For domestic hot water there are three main components:

• Solar panels or collectors are fitted to your roof. They collect heat from the sun's radiation. There are 2 main types of collector:
• Flat plate systems - which are comprised of an absorber plate with a transparent cover to collect the sun's heat, or
• Evacuated tube systems - which are comprised of a row of glass tubes that each contain an absorber plate feeding into a manifold which transports the heated fluid.
• A heat transfer system - transfers the collected heat to provide you with hot water;
• Hot water cylinder - stores the hot water that is heated during the day and supplies it for use later.

The benefits

Solar water heating can provide you with up to a third of your hot water needs. The average domestic system reduces C0 2 by around 325kg per year.

Is it suitable for my home?

Solar water heating can be used in the home but it is important to understand that, whilst during some periods of the year it may be able to provide all the hot water you need, it is unlikely to provide more than around a third of the hot water you will use during the course of a year. For a domestic system you will need 3-4 square metres of southeast to southwest facing roof receiving direct sunlight for the main part of the day. You may also need space to locate an additional water cylinder if you don’t want to replace your existing cylinder, or don’t currently have one.

Some text reproduced from www.energysavingtrust.org.uk. © Crown copyright.

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