Solar Hot Water
Solar hot water systems harness the energy provided by the sun to produce hot water for the home. The technology involved in solar hot water systems is similar to that of solar panel electricity systems as well as conventional central heating systems. Indeed, solar hot water systems employ a blend of new and old technologies in order to provide a very 'green' or environmentally friendly solution for heating water, which would otherwise require a convential gas boiler or electrical immersion heater.
Clearly, these older technologies, whilst perfectly useful in a technical sense, do not typically avail of renewable energy sources and tend to increase the nation's carbon footprint, which refers to harmful carbon dioxide emissions that are thought to be damaging the Earth's protective ozone layer. Ultimately, solar power is free, renewable and does not leave a carbon footprint.
How Solar Hot Water Systems Work
Solar panels used in solar hot water systems are usually installed on the South-facing side of a rooftop to maximise the availability of direct sunlight. Indeed, the system will be made considerably less efficient if it is installed on a side of the roof that is not exposed to much sunlight or if overhanging tree branches obscure the path of sunlight. Unlike solar electricity systems, the photovoltaic cells do not capture sunlight for conversion to electricity but instead use the sun's heat to warm the water, which is fed through piping in the solar hot water system by a conventional pump. The hot water that is produced through the solar heating system is then fed back to a hot water cylinder for storage. As with a conventional hot water cylinder central heating system, the hot water is then piped through to the bathroom and kitchen for domestic use.
The Benefits of Using Solar Panels
Clearly, there are several key benefits to running a solar hot water system. First, solar energy is completely renewable (unless the sun dies out, which would really constitute a much bigger problem than one that merely affects solar hot water installations!), which means that limited resources are not being used to heat up the water, unlike with traditional methods that involve burning fossil fuels. Second, the completely renewable solar energy is also completely free. Indeed, after the initial costs of installing the system, there are obviously no service or fuel charges attached to sunlight, which is freely available. Third, solar energy releases no harmful carbon dioxide gases into the atmosphere, making it extremely eco-friendly.
However, although solar hot water systems will reduce the cost of heating water domestically in the United Kingdom they will typically provide only a third of the hot water requirements for the average home. This means that a conventional heating system will need to be in place to heat water when the solar panels are unable to generate sufficient energy, which will invariably be the case during the autumn and winter months. Nevertheless, solar hot water systems will eventually pay for themselves in the long term and any solution that aims to reduce humanity's negative impact on the planet is well worth considering. Furthermore, the systems are relatively straightforward to install alongside existing conventional hot water systems and they can also be coupled with a solar electricity system (depending on roof space) to produce a considerably more eco-friendly home.