Energy efficient and free, solar hot water is a great way to get free energy contributions to your property via the sun.
See our article that may answer all you questions on solar hot water.
In Adelaide the solar contribution during our warmer months from November through to February is so strong that it’s all property owners need to keep their water hot inside of their hot water tanks. During the cooler months of the year where the sun is no longer as warm the solar contribution is not as efficient and therefore a boost is required to maintain the desired temperature inside of the hot water tank.
The boost is either derived from electrical contribution or gas fired contribution.
Popular in South Australia
Solar hot water has become increasingly popular over the last 10 years in South Australia with the growing awareness for saving money on utility bills. Solar hot water is achieved by having numerous solar collecting panels installed on a roof.
The storage facility for the hot water created is either located on the roof with the panels (hiline) or on the ground (loline). When a solar system is setup with the panels and tank joined together on the roof the mains pressure water is used to move the water in and around the panels to gain the solar contribution. When the storage facility for the heated water is located away from the panels then a pump is required to move the water through the panels and back into the storage tank.
Location Of Panels
In a domestic arrangement you will find that a majority of households with have two solar panels located on the roof when they have a solar hot water systems installed.
There are also some smaller designed systems which have just the one panel located on the roof where the demand is much lower for smaller properties. In a commercial arrangement you will find that depending on the available roof foot print there can be anywhere from 10 to even 30 or more solar water collectors on a roof space transferring water backing to a plant room for establishments such apartments blocks, hotels, medical centres and manufacturing plants.
Evacuated Tube Systems
Another form of solar hot water heating which is not as common in Adelaide when it comes to solar contribution for hot water is the use of the evacuated tube systems. As the name suggests evacuated systems use tubes made of extremely strong glass which are air tight creating a vacuum inside of them, the heat which is then created inside of these tubes is then evacuated back through to the heat exchanger creating the hot water.
The evacuated tube system is extremely popular in environments where the temperature differential between inside the tubes and outside on the roof is very high. The evacuated tube system is widely used in environments where the suns temperature hitting the tubes is of an extreme temperature, this is because the glass these tubes are created from is capable of handling on wards and upwards of temperatures of 200 degrees C.
Also you see our information on electric hot water systems, and brands such as Chromagen hot water, Dux, Bosch and more.
Also see our information on electric hot water, tankless hot water systems, and heat pump systems. Also see out article on common issues with solar hot water.