Solar Hot Water Panel

The solar hot water panel is the heart and soul of your solar home's hot-water system, and can even be used to warm the water in your swimming pool.

The design, shape and sizes of the solar hot-water panels will be different for home hot water or for swimming pool use, but the principles of hot whey work is much the same. In both cases, multiple panels will be required to do the job. And since a swimming pool holds a very large volume of water, it is going to need a much bigger area of solar water panels to collect that hot water. And it will need a substantial electric-powered water pump. A home solar hot water system will use a smaller electric pump or none at all, but it will require a very-well insulated hot water storage tank.

All solar hot water panels capture free radiant energy from the sun and heat up water with it. Most homes would use two roof-mounted solar hot water panels to collect enough solar energy for household use. Your exact requirements will depend on the location of your home and the water-usage needs of your family.

Solar water panels to heat up a swimming pool do not need a water storage tank because the water is kept in the pool. The pool is losing much of its heat all the time, so it needs a lot of solar hot water panels to keep that large volume of water warmed for swimming in spring and autumn. But in winter, it won't gather enough heat on its own for a pool.

Up on the roof, the hot water panels are installed to catch as much sun as they possibly can. This is accomplished by pointing the panels so they face the sun in the middle of the day. They may be attached directly to the roof, or they may be fitted into a mount or frame so the water panels are angled so as to favor the sun during the winter months. This is because the sun is stronger and more directly overhead during the summer months. But during winter, the hot water panels need all the help they can get to capture every bit of the sun's warmth.

The sun-warmed water then flows into a well-insulated hot water storage tank, where it is stored until you are ready to use it. Or it is pumped electrically back down to your swimming pool.

Your home hot water storage tank is thermostatically controlled, and can use an attached or inbuilt water heater to boost the temperature up to where you like it. The booster heater can be gas or electric powered.

This means your solar hot water system will gather sun-warmed water for free all the time the sun is shining, and stores it for you.

So you and the kids can have several extra weeks enjoyment of the swimming pool, and you can take a warm shower or a hot bath any time you like.

It doesn't matter if you shower at night or in early morning darkness, your solar hot water is available at the twist of a tap. And in the winter months or cloudy days when there is less sunlight hitting your hot water panels, then you will still have hot water, but it will have been heater the old-fashioned way, by gas or by electricity. But you still save money on all the water that's been heated by your solar hot water panels.