Why Do You
Need A Solar Hot Water System
If you live in a country with quite a cold climate, chances
are great, most of your electricity costs stem from your water
heating system. What if you have an option to lower down your
electricity costs? You can get huge savings if you adopt a
solar hot water system instead of relying
solely on electricity.
Heating water using the sun is not a new technology and it
is not a costly one either. It uses bare sunlight to heat
water, which is actually a very cheap and natural way to do.
Popular application of this solar technology includes the
heating of swimming pools or simply for domestic use.
Countries Using Solar Water Heating
Systems
The heating of swimming pools is popular in the Australia,
United States and Canada. To date, an estimated collective
total capacity of 20 GW of solar hot water systems has been
installed.
This is not impossible since these countries do have cold
climates and so hot water is a regular treat for houses and
buildings. In fact, all the restrooms and toilet and bathrooms
in these countries have provisions for hot and cold water for
winter and even on summer months.
China is a major proponent of the solar hot water system and
in fact is a world leader in its total installed capacity at
about 75 GW. The country plans to increase this installed
capacity to 210 GW by the year 2010.
Cyprus and Israel wouldn't want to be left behind when it
comes to solar water
heating systems. You might get surprised, but these two
countries are leaders in per capita with about 90% of the
households using solar hot water systems.
Types of Solar Water
Heaters
The types of solar water
heaters include glazed flat plate collector, unglazed
plastic collector and evacuated tube collector. Among these
three, the evacuated tube collectors command about 44% of
popular use.
The glazed flat plate collector is popularly used in a solar
hot water system that heats water for domestic use. This is
typical of most households in the US that always has a faucet
for hot and cold. The unglazed plastic collector, on the other
hand, is used to heat the water in swimming pools. Comparable
to electric motor-powered heaters, a solar water heater for swimming
pools is cheaper and noise-free.
These collectors are installed such that it directly faces
the sun for maximum gain. In a solar hot water system, water
heaters are usually supported with brackets to control its
angle relative to the sunlight. Throughout the day, the bracket
can be adjusted such that the solar collectors are always at a
direct angle to the sun. This will keep the water heaters to
collect and concentrate enough solar energy to heat water
throughout the day.
Conclusion
Whether you want a cost-free system to heat the water in
your swimming pool or you want to have a regular supply of hot
water from your faucet, a solar hot water system is the right
one for you.
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