Solar Water Heaters - Save Money and the Environment

With the every growing cost of energy and the alarming issue of global warming, solar heating has become a great way to save money and also save the environment. Unlike solar photovoltaic which converts the sun's energy to electricity, Solar water Heaters use the heat radiation of the sun directly. This means there is very little loss. As an example, a solar heating system can be 97% efficient versus a PV cell which is typically 8-14% efficient.

How does it Work?

A Solar heater uses a special coating that absorbs the sun's radiation. This is very similar to how a black car heats up in the sun. The absorbed heat energy is then transferred to a heating medium such as water or glycol. Glycol is normally used when the home owner experiences freezing conditions. The heated liquid is then moved via as small energy-efficient pump to where it is needed. The heat is then transferred to the home or hot water via a heat exchanger.

The most common use of solar water heaters is to heat domestic hot water. A typical solar heating system comprises 5 key elements.

Solar collectors - capture the suns energy Piping - holds the heating medium that is heated in the solar collectors (usually copper or stainless steel) Pump - that moves the solar heating fluid from the collector through the piping to where it is needed Solar Tank with an internal heat exchanger- this is where the heating fluid transfers its energy to the domestic hot water through the internal heat exchanger inside the tank Solar controller - this calculates when the heating fluid is hotter than the water in the solar tank. If it is then it activates the pump so that the heating fluid can circulate through the heat exchanger in the tank

Solar Water Heaters can typically provide home owners 60-70% saving on their water heating bill. With the Federal Energy Tax credits being applied, a typical solar water heater cost about $3000-$4000 and can have paybacks in less than 5 years in some states. This makes them very popular for home owners. In fact in some states such as Hawaii and European countries, new home construction must have a solar water heater as part of the build.

As energy cost are sure to continue to rise and energy management solutions' continue to gain in popularity, so will solar water heating. Next time you see a black looking solar collector on a neighbour's roof, thank them for helping save our planet!