Solar Thermal Energy
Solar Thermal Energy uses the light from the sun to heat water, air, or both. While the principle remains the same as placing a jug of water in the sunlight and letting it warm up, today's solar thermal collectors are extremely efficient, affordable, and cost effective!
Today, homeowners spend up to 40% of their annual energy bills on heating, and up to 20% on hot water alone. A solar thermal system, designed to provide domestic hot water, space heat your home, or heat your pool/spa can cut your heating bills by 60-80%!
Solar Water Heating
One of the most cost-effective ways to include renewable technologies into a building is by incorporating solar hot water. A typical residential solar water-heating system reduces the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds. It minimizes the expense of electricity or fossil fuel to heat the water and reduces the associated environmental impacts.
Most solar water heating systems for buildings have two main parts: a solar collector and a storage tank. Home Energy uses highly durable and efficient Apricus evacuated tubes. Evacuated tubes are the absorber of the solar water heater. They absorb solar energy converting it into heat for use in water heating.
The storage tank then holds the hot liquid. It can be a modified water heater, but is usually larger and very well-insulated. Systems that use fluids other than water usually heat the water by passing it through a coil of tubing in the tank, which is full of hot fluid.
Solar water heating systems can be either active or passive, the most common are active systems. Active systems rely on pumps to move the liquid between the collector and the storage tank, while passive systems rely on gravity.
Solar Air Heating
Whether you heat with oil, natural gas, propane or electric, a solar hot water system designed to provide central heating will help cut your utility bill every year, no matter where you live. And, a solar hot water system can be used to provide heating through an existing, or new-installation, home heating system. By use of heat exchangers, baseboard radiators or in-floor radiant loops, your solar hot water system can easily integrate into your current heating system, dramatically reducing your installation costs and initial investment.
Solar air heating provides a supplemental heating source that reduces the load on the primary heating system by warming the air in a building during daylight hours. Solar space heating systems operate in much the same way as indirect solar water-heating systems, but they have a larger collector area, larger storage units, and more complex control systems. They are also usually configured to provide solar water heating and typically provide 30% to 70% of the residential heating, or combined heating and hot water, requirements. Active solar space-heating systems require more sophisticated design, installation, and maintenance techniques.
In the right photo, homeowner Frank Levinson of Syracuse, Indiana stands in front of his solar thermal system for water and air heating with system designer and installer Leon Bontrager, President of Home Energy LLC. This system uses a SUN Equinox System with a Rotex Sanicube water storage tank on the left and a Quietside On-Demand Water Heater on the far right. Levinson's home also has a 5.5 kW solar PV system for electricity. You can see more photos of his solar PV and solar thermal systems here.
Be sure to visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for more on Solar Thermal Energy!
