Solar Water Heating
Following previous posts examining Solar Panels and what different types of solar panels are, we move on to looking at some popular uses for solar panels. One of the most widely used techniques to save money on utility bills and reduce your carbon footprint is by using solar panels as part of a solar water heating system.
In the UK, solar panels have been the renewable energy product of choice for consumers, with 70% of all renewable energy products being solar panels or solar water heating systems.
Solar Water Heating systems take heat from the sun and use it to heat water. This makes domestic solar water heating systems a kind of Solar Thermal Collector system. Solar hot water heating systems heat water in domestic hot water cylinder’s to a higher temperature than it would normally sit at in the tank so that when you want to take a bath or shower, your domestic boiler only has to give a boost to heat water to a hot enough temperature for a bath or shower. On hot and sunny days, your solar water heating system can often heat to a high enough temperature so that your conventional boiler doesn’t have to do any work, saving you money on utility bills and reduce your carbon emissions and carbon footprint.
Solar water heating panels are usually installed on people’s house roof’s. On larger solar water heating systems these can often be twinned with Photovoltaic Panels to heat and provide free electricity for homes and businesses by harnessing the power of renewable solar energy.
Solar water heating brings a number of benefits:
Free Hot Water- All year round, your water will be heated for free, cutting your utility bills considerably. It is estimated that a solar water heating system can cut gas bills by 50%-70% anually.
Cut Your Carbon Footprint- As well as a solar hot water heating system being kind to your wallets, it is also great for the environment, cutting carrbon emissions and allowing you to reduce your carbon footprint considerably. An average system saves around 580kg of CO2 a year, that’s enough to fill 1000 cubic metres full of CO2!
Tags: microgeneration, Renewable Energy, Solar Panels, solar water heating