Components of Solar Thermal Systems

Solar thermal is an advanced and energy efficient technology that can meet all your hot water needs for your home.  Other heating systems involve burning of fossil fuels. Like natural gas and oil cause a serious threat to the environment by emitting harmful gases on burning. The fuel for solar thermal system comes from the sun, and the system does not involve any burning. Solar thermal systems do not produce electricity from the sunlight, but they absorb energy from the sun, using it for water heating. Main components of solar thermal systems are solar collectors and storage tanks.

Collector panels are of three types used in solar hot water systems for residential use.

1.       Flat plate collectors

2.       Evacuated-tube solar collectors

3.       Integral collectors

Flat plate collector is an insulated metal box which contains solar absorber plate at the bottom and a glass cover at the top. Insulation around flat plate collectors makes them weatherproof.

Evacuated tube solar collectors contain a metal absorber and rows of transparent glass tubes. Metal absorber in the inner glass tube absorbs sunlight and produce heat.

Integral collector storage system or batch system contain large size heating tubes placed inside an insulated box.  This system does not require electronic controls and circulation pumps.

Working of each collector panels is different and suitable in different conditions. We help our clients to decide which collector panel is right for them to produce hot water for their homes.                           

For the purpose of hot water storage, large insulated tanks are used in solar water heating systems.  Number of storage tanks could be one or two depending upon the type of heating systems. One tank storage connects to the collectors and contains backup water heater and solar thermal storage in it. In heating system of two tanks, before moving water to a conventional heater, solar water heater preheats the water.

If you cannot meet your household demands with a solar thermal heater, you may need a backup heating source. It is to provide energy when the weather is cold and cloudy. To solve this problem, sometimes we use a solar hot water system in combination with a conventional water heater. For a backup hot water, the equipment of solar water heater can also be used with solar heat panels or tank-less water heater.

You can reduce your dependency on conventional water heater by installing solar thermal systems for your home needs. Making use of the sunlight, solar thermal systems can bear all the heating load of your home. You pay heavy amount in the form of utility bills while pool heating, long hot showers and laundry. It is about time to implement a solar thermal system in your home, to meet all hot water requirements in a cost and energy efficient manner.