1. Introduction
Solar energy can be captured for use in a home in several ways. This section will look at using solar energy to heat water and/or air. The hot water created by a solar system can be used for domestic hot water or space heating. Hot air solar systems are primarily used for space heating.
The fundamental requirement for a solar system is to have a sunny location where the solar collectors can be located.
The collectors should have full sun from 9 AM to 3 PM.The collectors should face south at approximately the same angle as our latitude (30 degrees).
Collectors can be oriented as much as 30 degrees off of south and still function well. Similarly, the slope of the collectors can vary by plus or minus 15 degrees without significantly harming the performance of the system.
2. Active Solar Domestic Water Heating
The active water systems that can be used to heat domestic hot water are the same as the ones that provide space heat. A space heat application will require a larger system and additional connecting hardware to a space heat distribution system.
2.1 There are five major components in active solar water heating systems:
- Collector(s) to capture solar energy.
- Circulation system to move a fluid between the collectors to a storage tank
- Storage tank
- Backup heating system
- Control system to regulate the overall system operation