What is Solar Thermal Heating ?
Solar Thermal Heating is the uses of the sun's thermal
properties to heat your hot water, it can provide up to 60% of
your annual hot water needs reducing your energy bill.
Do we
get enough sun in the UK ?
As you can see from the chart fig 1 of the UK solar coverage,
over the year we can average around 60%
How does it work ?
Looking at fig 2 & 3,
it works by solar collectors absorbing heat from the sun, this
heat is them transported to the hot water cylinder via a liquid
which is pumped through a second coil in the bottom of the
cylinder, this heats the water in the cylinder.
If enough hot water has been generated when your usual source of
hot water heating is timed to come on, it checks the cylinder
temperature and realises it doesn't need to fire up.
Do you only
install one make of system ?
The Viessmann system needs you to currently have a none combi
boiler system, but if you are seeking a system that would
work with a combi boiler we can offer you the
Alpha SolarSmart System fig 4
What do I need ?
South East to South West facing roof, ideally South see fig 5.
The chart shows the roof orientation around the outside and the
inner circles show the roof angle, the internal colours show the
UK annual average irradiation and you
will probably need to upgrade your hot water cylinder to a twin
coil type.
What are my options ?
If your roof does not face directly south you are probably
better off using the tube collectors as they can be twisted to
face the ideal direction. But even if your south wall has no roof
the tube can be mounted on vertical walls. Panels can be mounted
to your roof either above the tiles or in roof (removal of tiles
and fixing panels directly to the roof battens) see fig 6 |
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