Solar water heater –The department of energy

Solar water heater uses sun’s energy to produce hot water, it uses solar energy which is free and have gained a lot of popularity recently. They are not just cost effective but also an environmental friendly way to produce hot water for the home. The energy of the sun is endless, sufficient and free of charge. Using solar water heating technology makes you independent of the rapidly increasing fossil fuel prices. It saves custom energy, money, is clean and safe which provides the long-living technology with life-cycle of twenty-five years. When we use such system there is no dependency on non-renewable sources of energy like fossil-fuels which pollute the environment while giving hot water .since solar energy is used there is independence and a person can avail hot water anytime. The major advantage of using solar water heating system is that it is very cost-effective in nature as solar energy is free of cost and no bills comes to using solar energy.

#:  Solar collectors

The solar water heater comprises of solar collectors and storage tank .it is available in two types of heating system namely active and passive. An active system has circulating pumps and controls; it is more expensive and requires more controls. The passive systems are usually not as expensive as active systems and can last longer, they are generally less efficient. Although the passive solar water heaters cost less to maintain, because they do not use pump to circulate water, they will not work with every roof design. An active solar water heater, despite being more costly, might be your only choice in roof design and climate play a prohibitive role.

#: Components

The primary components of solar water heating system are one or more collectors to trap the sun’s energy and a well-insulated storage tank. There are three common types of collector’s flat plate panels, integrated collector system, and the evacuated tube collectors.

Flat plate collectors: solar flat plate collectors is a very simple and maintenance free way to immediately reduce the monthly energy costs. Both the flat-plate and evacuated tube systems work in a similar manner .flat-plate collectors panels have a dark absorber plate behind a glass or polymer cover. Water circulates through dark-colored pipes running through collector. As sunlight passes through the clean-cover, its heat is absorbed by the absorber plate and piping is transferred to the water. The collector panels are usually mounted on the roof, facing south .they also mounted on a south-facing wall or on a stand in the ground.

Evacuated tube collectors: Evacuated-tube collectors are a most recent technology with the common element being a glass tube surrounding an absorber plate. Evacuated tube collectors consist of parallel rows of transparent tubes containing metal absorber tubes that absorb the sun's heat. This type is used mainly in commercial applications. The space inside the tube is vacuum, which is a far superior insulator than air, these collector have much better heat retention than the glazing design of flat-plate collectors. Storage tanks are typically large-capacity than conventional solar water heaters. The large capacity allows for more free hot water during periods of overcast weather. Evacuated tube water heating collectors perform very well in a variety of conditions especially for commercial and residential applications.

# integrated collector system: The integrated collector-storage system offers a high-quality, design-oriented solution at an affordable price. Water is heated directly in the solar-collector and stored; hot water is produced in a minute when the sunlight hits. The process is quick and water always remains fresh and clean .the smallest amount of sunlight can be converted into heat and used effectively. For more details about solar visit http://www.glazerindia.com/