Solar water heaters occasionally called solar domestic hot water systems, can be a cost-effective mode to develop hot water for your home Most solar hot water in Brisbane requires a well-insulated depository tank. Solar storage tanks have an extra outlet and inlet attached to and from the collector. In two-tank systems, the solar water heater preheats water before entering the actual water heater. And in one-tank systems, the backup heater is connected with the solar repository in a single tank.
Traditionally there are three types of solar hot water systems, namely:
- Heat pump system
- Flat plate solar hot water system
- Evacuated tube solar hot water system
Read on to know more about them.
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Heat Pump Systems
Many people assume that the heat pump isn’t a proper solar-powered system because it does not operate using collectors. But that’s a myth!
They don’t operate using collectors as they use a different type of solar energy. Where ‘traditional’ solar hot water systems require sunlight to heat the water, heat pumps draw solar heat out of the atmosphere around us and employ this heat to raise your water temperature. Although it appears far-fetched, there is actually sufficient heat in the air, even on a winter’s day, to heat your water straight up to boiling temperature!
Heat pump systems employ electricity to pull the heat from the air and transmit it to your water. Still, they use way less electricity for doing so, compared to a conventional electric water heater.
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Flat Plate Solar Hot Water System
These are the most typically used systems for solar hot water in Brisbane. Flat plate collectors are shallow rectangular-shaped boxes with glass covers and usually have aluminum used for the body. Straight underneath the glass are positioned copper pipes. These copper pipes bear the water via the collector and soak the sun’s heat.
Now, if we put these pipes in the container as they are, they will get our water heated, but they won’t be efficient enough. To catch as much sun as attainable, we desire to maximize the surface area of the pipes that are exposed to the sun. You can even paint the copper pipes black, so it absorbs even more heat.
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Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water System
Evacuated Tube Collectors accumulate the heat through some annealed glass tubes that individually have their separate heat-absorbing plates inside. There are countless different designs, but the bare principle is identical for all designs. Primarily, each tube is like a bit of conservatory that traps sunlight inside the glass tube, which is employed to heat either the water directly, or a unique heat transfer fluid that transmits the heat to the water.
Bottom Line
Though all three solar hot water systems harbor the same process to fetch you heated water, they all have pros and cons that need to be taken into consideration to make the right choice. Since not all of us have the requisite knowledge to understand and evaluate them, it is better to contact experts like Hot Water Heroes.
