In order for the solar water heating system to run safely and efficiently, a range of valves are installed in the heating fluid circuit. A series of temperature sensors are connected to a digital solar controller to switch the system on or off according to the solar energy available.

On days of limited sunlight, solar energy alone may not be sufficient to heat the household's water to a usable temperature. In this case your conventional boiler or your immersion heater (if fitted) can be used to further boost the temperature of the solar heated water.

choosing the right system

As with all technologies there are good and not so good solar water heating systems. When choosing a solar water heating system there are a number of points to consider:

hot water storage cylinder

The size of the hot water storage cylinder is generally determined by the amount of hot water your household uses in a day.

Typical daily hot water usage:

	appliance	volume (litres)
	standard sized bath	60
	corner bath	120
	shower / power shower	15-60
	washing machine	50
	kitchen sink	15
	bathroom washbasin	5

A new solar hot water storage cylinder is usually fitted in the airing cupboard replacing your existing storage cylinder. If the space around your existing storage cylinder is limited an alternative position or design can normally be agreed.

size and quantity of solar collectors

Allow around one square metre of collector surface area for every 45 - 50 litres of hot water to be stored.

position of solar collector

Collectors in the UK work best when facing south and at an angle of around 35 degrees from the horizontal.

durability

A well designed and constructed solar water heating system should provide many years of good service with little maintenance.

cost

Assuming a life span in excess of 20 years, solar water heating offers good value for money when comparing the initial investment to the cost of a household's current heating fuels. The costs of conventional heating may increase over the years as existing oil and gas supplies diminish and 'pollution taxes' are levied.

It is also important to consider the cost of electricity to run the solar heating system (pump, controls etc). For a typical home this is less than £5 per year.

Solar water heating cannot be considered good value if the initial system cost is too expensive. For this reason it is important to shop around for a competitively priced system using high quality components.

HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Alternative Energy, Why do we address it as Alternative?

The sun is something that has been used for it's energy for much longer than modern day man has walked our planet, cold bloodied animals have used it to warm their blood, plant life uses Photosynthesis to produce energy to grow and humans use it to keep warm.

Why is it then that we see Solar energy as an Alternative Energy Source?

Solar energy is responsible for our global weather, the wind, the rain both rely on the solar energy to drive our weather patterns across the planet.

Currently our technology for creating energy from the sun (Solar Photo Voltaic) is primitive, we are achieving somewhere in the region of 20% efficiency, I believe with better funded research and time we will be able to extract much more power in the form of DC Electricity, maybe nearer to 70% I would imagine this will make Solar PV installations much more common place.

Whilst the Sun shines and the wind blows we should strive to harness our energy needs from these sources, learn to minimise our waste of heat and power and become much more energy efficient.

We can do it, we all just need educating on how to tackle our individual power requirements before we are beyond the point of no return.

I have listed an auction for my monthly magazine Feb edition HERE For £1.00 I hope the people who could not afford the initial price will be able to purchase this copy.

It is in electronic format and can be, If you really must, be printed out. Please print responsibly, if you have to then the publication is in High Definition so it looks as good as a commercial product.

Enjoy, it is only small but covers some nice stories and places I have visited and researched.

Andy

Editor

I am very pleased to announce that the February edition of Homebrewpower Magazine is now out.
It is a brand new monthly publication. If it reaches 2000 purchases then it will become my full time job and will give me the opportunity to bring you the latest news on Eco & Sustainable energy from the UK and around the world.

Please help me make this happen. I need interest from around the globe, I call on advertisers, sponsors, people & groups to purchase this months magazine.

If this works out I will be able to develop my hobby and magazine all year round and bring you the information you want each and every month. I have spent a full month every evening designing, writing, changing & researching Homebrewpower mag and hope this is a taster of things to come.

The more who purchase Homebrewpower Mag the bigger and better it will get.

Homebrewpower will bring you future info on the following.
M CHP Micro Combined Heating & Power Installation and systems (CHAP)
Solar PV
Solar Thermal
Alternative Energy
Hydro Power
Geo Thermal
Wind Turbine Installations
DIY Projects
Technical Advise
Case Studies
UK Reports
Site Visits
Help
On Test This Month
Startling Photography and Graphics
In The News
Plus Much Much More............

My future is in your hands.

Owner & Publisher Of Homebrewpower
Andy Mahoney

Solar Water Project - My First Attempt

When I came across the idea of heating water with the sun I set out to purchase some Solar Water Heating Panels. As everything I do here on Homebrewpower is funded from the items I sell (Look at the For Sale Link to the right) then of course I could not afford to purchase new, nor would I have wanted to. I have a desire to see how things work for myself and never rest until I have my head around a project.

I purchased a couple of old solar collectors from www.ebay.co.uk for I seem to remember £100.00 for the pair. They were in a poor state and needed stripping and a little bit of homebrew style reconditioning to get them to work

The picture you see here is nothing more than a mock up at the bottom of my back garden to prove the technology would actually work!

They did but nothing like the solar evacuated tubes you can get now. I will post some info on them in the near future as I want to cover them for every ones benefit.

Andy M