Products

Solar thermal systems, Solar hot water systems

Solar hot water heating systems are a great way to harness the power of the sun to generate the majority of your homes hot water.

How Solar Thermals Work

Solar Thermal systems use a number of collectors (panels), generally fitted to the roof, to absorb the heat from solar radiation and transfer it to water in a hot water cylinder or a thermal store.

A collector is generally part of a sealed system (indirect) filled with an antifreeze mixture (heat transfer fluid). The heat transfer fluid circulates through the collector, round the system, through a coil in the cylinder or thermal store, and back to the collector once more. When exposed to sunlight a solar collector heats up to temperatures significantly above the ambient air temperature, this heat is absorbed by the heat transfer fluid which is then transported to the coil where the heat is transferred to the water in the cylinder or store, the cooled heat transfer fluid is then returned to the collector to be heated again.

The Benefits of Solar Thermal Systems

Solar thermal hot water (STHW) systems are one of the simplest and most widely installed of the renewable energy systems available today, transferring the abundant energy from the Sun into hot water, even in winter. In the UK some top up from a secondary heating source, such as your existing boiler or immersion heater will be required, particularly during the winter months, even so, a correctly sized and installed solar thermal system should still provide up to 70% of your annual hot water requirements.

Many tens of thousands of solar thermal hot water systems are currently in use in the UK and the numbers continue to grow as more and more people recognise the many  benefits including;

• Quick and easy installation, with little disruption.
• Free generation of hot water, saving up to 70% of annual hot water costs.
• These are simple, reliable, low maintenance systems offering long component lifetimes.
• Grants available
• A variety of installation methods are available including integration into roof.
• Low installation costs, (our standard systems start from as low as £3,395)
• Low interest finance can be made available if required.
• Systems are readily available, so contact us now for your free survey.

Solar Panel Grants

Grants are currently available through the low carbon buildings programmes (of up to £400 for Domestic customers and up to 50% for community based and “not for profit” organisations)

Some local authorities are also offering additional grant aid at the moment.

Please contact us for more details.

Solar hot water systems for your specific requirements

Solarwall offer a variety of solutions to allow you to combine with, or to convert to, a solar thermal system. If you have recently installed a new cylinder or have a combi boiler you could still benefit from solar hot water heating by using an external heat exchanger/solasyphon or a combi boiler conversion kit.

Solar hot water system thermal store

A thermal store is a large capacity cylinder which can act as a reservoir for heat from a number of sources (solar thermal systems, conventional boilers, heat pumps etc) and as a supply for Domestic hot water and for heating systems. The store includes a range of input/ output connections allowing the integration of a number of systems in a simple and effective manner.  

Combi boiler conversion kits

To utilise a solar thermal system where a combi boiler is installed has traditionally required the boiler to accept pre-heated water, which many of the existing types simply will not do.

Using a converter system this problem no longer arises, a purpose designed cylinder and advanced controls allow a solar thermal system to integrate safely with a combi boiler allowing access to the abundant free energy from the sun.External heat exchanger / solasyphon

Integration of a solar thermal system into an existing hot water system typically requires the replacement of the hot water cylinder by a solar compatible cylinder which includes additional heat transfer surface.

Where a new cylinder has recently been installed or the existing cylinder is still in good condition a lower cost alternative may be to fit an external heat exchanger such as a solasyphon, which adds heat transfer surface external to the cylinder thus allowing the integration of a Solar thermal system without a cylinder change.