Solar Water Heating System Types

Indirect systems water is heated directly into solar collectors and circulating in your home.

Solar water heating system types.

Although there are a large number of different types of solar water heating systems the basic technology is very simple. In an indirect system solar energy is collected and held in a special antifreeze fluid. The main difference between direct and indirect solar hot water is the type of fluid used to collect heat in the system. This system is used if the tank is bellow the collector e g when concealed under a slanted roof.

Passive solar water heating systems. The water tank of a thermosyphon system itself usually does not require any pumps and controllers to operate in its simplest form using the pressure of the water connection in house would allow the system to operate effectively as an on demand hot water system heating the water in the tank to well over 60 degrees under fair conditions. Worse still there are many different types on the market such as electric water heaters solar water heaters on demand water heaters conventional water heaters storage tank water heaters gas heaters tankless systems for heating water and high efficiency water heaters. Passive solar water heating systems are typically less expensive than active systems but they re usually not as efficient.

An active solar water heating system consists of 3 major elements a flat plate solar collector and a solar energy hot water pump. However passive systems can be more reliable and may last longer. There are 3 types of solar hot water system to choose from. There are two basic types of passive systems.

Collector based systems the first two types both use a solar collector that is placed on your roof. When a solar water heating and hot water central heating system are used together solar heat will either be concentrated in a pre heating tank that feeds into the tank heated by the central heating or the solar heat exchanger will replace the lower heating element and the upper element will remain to provide for supplemental heat. An estimated one million residential and 200 000 commercial solar water heating systems have been installed in the united states. Integral collector storage passive systems.

The antifreeze is circulated into your hot water storage tank which heats water for use in your home. It is best suited for cold or freezing conditions where the absence of heat exchangers means that cold cold water cannot be heated effectively.