How Do Water Heating Solar Panels Work

Closed loop or indirect systems use a non freezing liquid to transfer heat from the sun to water in a storage tank.

How do water heating solar panels work. Solar collectors are mounted on or in your roof. The solar collector will use the sun s rays to heat a transfer fluid which is usually a mixture of water and glycol antifreeze which prevents the water from freezing. Here s how it works. The main source of heat generation is through roof mounted solar panels which are used in conjunction with a boiler collector or immersion heater.

The solar energy collected is then used to heat the water in your home. First the water pumps through the filter. It uses sunlight to warm water. Here s a simple summary of how rooftop solar hot water panels work.

An immersion heater unvented hot water cylinder might be needed as a back up heater or to get the water to the temperature you want. You set the desired water temperature on the solar control and when solar energy is available at the solar collectors an automatic motorized valve diverts the water through the solar collectors and carries the suns heat back to the pool. Unlike traditional water heaters solar water heaters don t use energy from the grid to heat water. At its core a solar water heater does one thing.

Cold water first passes through the solar collector which preheats the water. The components usually include a solar collector filter flow control valve and pump. Also known as ics or batch systems they feature one or more black tanks or tubes in an insulated glazed box. This is then used to heat your water which is stored in a hot water cylinder.

These components work together as one large integrated system that heats your pool water to the desired temperature. Solar water heating process 1. The non freezing fluid then cycles back to the collectors. Most solar pool heating systems have a few different components.

In the simplest panels sun heats water flowing in a circuit through the collector the panel on your roof. Then this fluid passes through a heat exchanger in the storage tank transferring the heat to the water. The sun s thermal energy heats the fluid in the solar collectors. When sunlight hits these solar collectors energy is transferred to the heat transfer fluid inside the collector.

Solarcraft s solar pool heating systems work seamlessly with your pool equipment and are fully automated. The water then continues on to the conventional backup water heater providing a reliable source of hot water. Solar thermal panels use heat from the sun to warm fluid passing through them as the diagram below shows.