Solar Hot Water Systems for Your Home

Green_House_350 Go green, think green, be green, act green. The entire world is going green. What does "Going Green" mean? Why should we care?

Do you remember the summer of 2008 when much of the industrialized world was brought to its knees as the price of oil exploded towards two hundred dollars a barrel? Oil powers the world and it is getting more and more expensive and one day we will run out of it. Finally, whether you believe in Global Warming or not, spending a day in a city like Los Angeles or Beijing has to convince you that we would better off if we clean up our air.

Of all the potential alternative energy sources -- geothermal, bio-diesel, synthetic fuels, or wind -- none has the universal appeal of solar. The sun powers life on earth as we know it and it is always there. Australia went green long before the rest of the world caught on, sponsoring ground breaking research on solar water heater roof panels. As a consequence Australia has become a world leader in the manufacturing and installation of solar hot water systems.

When it comes to choice, we Australians have far more options from which to choose than inhabitants of many countries, including the United States. And we still get a $1,000 rebate in 2010 for the installation of solar hot water systems. Check your Province to see if there are additional rebates. What kind of system should you look for?

There are two basic choices: solar roof panel systems and solar heat pump systems. In the roof system solar collector panels are mounted on the roof and store the sun’s energy which is then transferred to holding tanks within the home where water is heated. These solar collector panels make use of different media to store solar energy and the latest advance in roof flat plate collectors is the Evacuated-Tube Collector which uses metal absorber tubes encased in glass outer tubes. This tube within a tube system enables evacuated tube collectors to achieve higher temperatures than standard collectors. This makes them one of the best solar heating systems available, but their enhanced designs also makes them more expensive. Less costly options include air-filled liquid flat plate collectors and liquid-filled flat plate collectors

Solar heat pump systems collect solar energy from the air into an outdoor evaporator unit. Gas within the unit further heats the air which is then transferred to an indoor storage tank through a condenser coil. It’s a process that is almost magical, as the refrigerant gas within the evaporator can extract solar energy, even with temperatures as low as -10 degrees, centigrade. This gives these systems a huge advantage over many flat plate collector solar panels, which don’t like extreme cold very much!

Selecting the right system is not an easy task. A good place to start is at the Solahart web site. They are one of Australia’s leading manufacturers of solar hot water systems. They have been in business for over 55 years and they offer both solar heat pumps and an ingenious evacuated-tube collector system they call “Thermosiphon.” There are other manufacturers and you should check them all. Once you narrow your choices down, make sure you talk to people who have solar hot water systems installed. Make the change. You’ll be glad you did.