Solar Water Heating Systems For Your Home

A residential solar energy water heating system consists of solar collectors, sometimes called solar panels, water piping, pump, heat exchanger and storage tank. These systems generally supplement the oil boiler, gas furnace and/or water heater.

You can find excellent theoretical information on solar heating systems for your home at the Solar Technologies Program

Here I want to talk about the practical aspects on how to go about adding a solar water heating system to your home.
Some basic requirements must be met, regardless of the type of collectors you will ultimately install, be it flat plate collectors
or evacuated tube collectors.

Minimize The Heating Requirement
The first is to minimize the heating requirement. Maybe you have already done that. If not, I suggest you do as many of the items on the list below as you reasonably can. The more, the better. Most heat loss occurs in the following areas:

• Around windows, doors, electrical outlets on exterior walls
• Attic, especially the area where the attic rafters and exterior walls meet
• Windows
• Doors
• Crawl space

Seal and add insulation, replace the windows or doors, add storm windows or doors. Do as much as you can to end up with a well-insulated, tight home. You will feel much more comfortable in your home and the solar heating system will be less costly.
Remember to use green building materials!

What Will You Use The Solar Heating System For?
Solar water heating systems can be selected and sized for domestic water (pre)heat and/or space heating. It generally is best practice to size the solar heating system to provide 40-80% of your home heating requirement. This will give most of you sufficient capacity to also heat almost all of your domestic hot water.
Designing an active solar heating system for 100% of the heating load is generally not economically or practically feasible. You would need to be able to store sufficient hot water for heating your home during a week-long snow storm or overcast weather pattern, when you have essentially no sunshine.
Most jurisdictions and many lenders require you to have a back-up system anyway.

Location For Solar Collectors
The roof, wall, field where you are planning to install the solar collectors must have south-facing direct exposure to the suns’ rays from approximately 9 am to 3 pm. No evergreen trees or tall buildings should shade the collector area.
Solar collectors are tilted at an angle that corresponds to within plus/minus degrees to your latitude. The angle of the collectors can be optimized to meet your specific needs. For example, if your collectors will primarily be used for heating, they can be installed at a steeper angle to take advantage of the lower elevation of the sun during winter months.
If you are planning to install solar collectors on a new home, you can work with the architect and builder to ensure that there will be sufficient south-facing roof area with the appropriate slope. You will then be able to install the collectors directly on the roof.
If you are planning to install the collectors on an existing roof, you might need to install them on a frame that allows you to adjust the angle of the collectors.

Where Will You Install Storage Tank, Pumps And Pipes?
The solar storage tank is generally located in the basement, next to the water heater, or instead of the water heater if you are only heating domestic water. You will need a storage tank if you plan to heat your home with solar energy! The pump is located right next to the tank. Does you basement have the room for the additional tank?
Two insulated 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch pipes will need to be installed between the area where your storage tank and pump will be located. Can you run these pipes up through an easily accessible wall or tucked in a corner in closets? How disruptive will the installation of these pipes be to your household?

Structural Support
You might need to re-enforce your roof framing or rafters to support the weight and wind load from the solar collectors. New construction allows you to easily strengthen the roof for additional loads.

Make It Happen
You have done your homework, understand how solar energy systems work and what they require. You can either have a complete system installed by professionals, do it yourself, or something in between.
Unless you really know what your are doing, I recommend hiring professionals for some or all of the solar heating system installation.
“Solar Water Heating, A Comprehensive Guide is a great resource if you a re planning to do all or none of the solar energy water heating system.

Tags: Solar Thermal Energy, active solar energy, residential solar energy system, solar energy, solar water heating system