Types Of Solar Power Water Heater
~ Tony Hartmann ~
Types Of Solar Power Water Heater
By Tony Hartmann
Solar power is arguably the most available, most renewable and potentially least expensive type of energy. But that’s all in the future – probably the near future. In the meantime, the expense of setting up and maintaining a solar array to provide energy for a private home is still high. Additionally, the efficiency is still not high enough to provide all of the necessary energy everyday. Newer homes are built with energy efficiency in mind and can save a lot of money with a solar array. Older homes, however, waste energy and can’t be fully supplied by solar energy. Sunlight, although dependable, isn’t reliable. There are always days with clouds and the winter brings less sunlight during the day. While many types of appliances can efficiently use the energy generated by a solar array, a solar power water heater is not one of them. A solar power water heater is more than just a water heater hooked up to a solar array.
Two Kinds
Water can be heated by the sun either passively or actively. Of course, the heat of
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the sun can heat water. The hard part is getting the hot water into the pipes and delivered where it is needed at any hour of the day or night. Compact systems are passive; they use the heat of the sun without converting the energy to electricity. The circulation of water in a vertical closed –loop circuit doesn’t need a pump, it works by convection. As a solar collector heats the water, the warmer water flows upward to a tank. The warm water displaces some cold water and the hear transfer occurs without a pump. Other types of solar power water heater use pumps to transfer hot water. The solar heat collectors may be integral collector-storage systems, flat collectors or evacuated tube collectors. Besides being used to heat water for use in a home, they can be used to heat a swimming pool.
The integral collector-storage systems, also called batch systems, have an insulated box with at least two tanks or tubes. The solar collector in this type of solar power water heater heats the cold water which then moves on to a backup water heater. Flat-plate collectors are insulated boxes that contain a dark-colored absorber plate which pulls in the heat of the sun. Evacuated-tube solar collectors are most often used for types of commercial solar power water heater. They use parallel rows of glass tubes each with an outer tube and metal absorber tube attached to a fin which absorbs the sun’s heat and inhibits heat loss.
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