You don’t need to pay a fortune for heating your water. The amount paid for water heating for a regular household is typically one third of a regular fuel bill in a regular household. This amount can be significantly, and in some seasons totally, cut by utilising solar energy.
Solar water heaters absorb the energy in sunlight through solar panels and use it to heat the water. This hot water is then collected in a tank and used for your hot water needs. There are many options to choose from. They are categorised depending on panel technology, panel location and heating fluid transfer method. Depending on the collector (panel) type they can be either flat-plate or evacuated tube collectors. Both systems have advantages and disadvantages. Flat-plate collectors are cheaper but
evacuated tube collectors are more efficient, thus which one to choose will depend on your own needs and budget.
However, due to high efficiency of evacuated tube collectors the overall cost would be approximately the same Collectors can be mounted on a roof and these are called on-roof systems. Sometimes it is possible to embed the collectors in the roof and these systems are called in-roof. Depending on space availability, some collectors are installed on the ground as standalone systems. Regardless of the collector type or location, heat absorbed from the sun is transferred to the water to be heated by means of a heat transfer fluid. If this fluid is circulated by pumps these systems are called active systems and if pumps are not used for fluid circulation those are passive systems.
How much can you save by using solar water heaters?
It depends on the season; however as you see below you can save up to 70% of your water heating costs and 30% of your overall heating costs by solar water heaters.
The seasonal savings are:
It is possible to get hot water even in winter because solar water heating systems don’t need direct sunlight. They can convert even indirect sunlight to heat. So you will have the comfort of plenty of hot water for a very little cost.
Solar water heaters have other hidden advantages
Do you think that the initial investment would cost you a lot?
Don’t worry. SEI grants up to € 1800 are available for solar water heaters under the
Greener Homes Scheme which aims to support use of renewable energy for domestic energy needs.
What points should be considered while choosing a solar water heating system?
Quality is the most important point when choosing a solar water heater as they are intended for long-term use.
Here are some useful tips:
Greentech can help you in all steps of your solar water heating system installation, from concept to design, grant assistance, product selection and installation. Our expert team will help you get the best value for your investment.
Aidan Doran is a freelance author who writes about various technology related topics, to know more about Aidan please visit his website www.techstore.ie