Types of Solar Water Heating Systems

There are 3 major types of solar water heating systems. In the sections bellow they are detailed from the most economic type to the most expensive type.

Even if you need to invest in the most expensive type having the evacuated tubes collector this investment is one of the best you can make and it will be paid back in a matter of few years.

Different commercial sites and different stores use different brand names, however I’ll use the generic terminology.

The Passive Solar Hot Water Heater

The lowest cost type is the passive solar heating system. it consist of 2 elements, the flat plate collector and the hot water tank.

The collector is a flat plate solar collector. The flat plate collector is an insulated sealed rectangular casing. The bottom plate is covered with a thin absorber sheet. Above this sheet there is a coil of thin pipes running water in a loop to the tank. The top is made either from a glass or a polycarbonate (transparent polymer) sheet.
The glass allows the sun light to enter in and hit the bottom plate absorber. The absorber heats up, and emits heat (in the infrared wavelengths). This heat radiation heats up the water in the water pipes. The top sheet is transparent to visible light but it is opaque to infrared wavelengths therefore the heat stays within the close casing.
(click to view the greenhouse effect page)

The hot water storage tank is an insulated reservoir of hot water. In most cases it is equipped with an auxiliary heater. The auxiliary heater is automatically turned on during heavy cloudy days.

The Active Solar Hot Water Heater

The medium cost type is the active solar water heater. An active solar water heating system consists of 3 major elements, a flat plate solar collector,a solar hot water tank, and a pump.
An optional element is a solar heat exchanger, usually built into the hot water storage tank in case the collector to tank loop runs anti-freeze fluid (glycol)

The collector and the tank are the same as those described above for the passive system.

There is variety of available pumps, operating from the grid AC supply, from DC batteries or from a small photovoltaic panel generating DC power.

For mild weather with no freeze threat the fluid used in the loop between the collector and the tank is water (this is an open system or direct system)

A more expensive alternative for cold weather with ocassional freezing is to use an anti-freeze fluid instead of water. (this is called closed system or indirect system)

If anti-freeze fluid is used, an heat exchange must be used. A thermostat is used to stop the circulation once the water temperature reaches a safety limit.

For active solar water heating system (with a pump), the collector can be installed higher than the storage tank or in any other desired position. Typical situations are indoor tank (typically in the attic), concealed tank or a condo installation.

Because the active system is more complex than the passive collector system, there is usually a need for a controller to turn on or off the different components as needed.

The Vacuum Tube Solar Water Heating Type

Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are the second generation of solar collectors. Solar Evacuated Tubes Collectors, unlike the first generation Flat Plate Collector, use a group of cylindrical shaped solar collectors.

Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are more efficient and are used in colder, cloudy, northern higher altitudes states. They are able to capture sun radiation from many more angles because of their circular shape. They can collect sunlight earlier and later in the day, when the sun is at lower altitude angles. They exhibit more collector aperture area, allowing better efficiency in lower light conditions, typical to northern areas.

The extra cost of Evacuated Tubes Solar Collectors doesn't justifies installing them in mild and warm regions.

A (usually indoor) hot water tank and a pump complete the system. The fluid in the loop between the tank and the collector is anti-freeze fluid and a heat exchange is needed, usually an integral part of the tank.

Here is a perspective drawing of an early construction of Evacuated Tube Solar Collector

Buying and Installing Solar Hot Water Heaters

You can get a turnkey proposal from a solar contractor, or you can Do It Yourself (DYI); DIY can be done the easier way by buying the DIY solar hot water kit from a store you can trust and install the kit yourself. Compare the solar kit price to the turn key job price.

click to view my page on solar water heater design dependency on application and region

The ICS Solar Water Heating

There is one more type, not in the main stream. It is the simplest and the lowest cost. It is the ICS Solar Water Heating, also known as the batch solar collector. It fits best to small families (1-2 people) in the Sun Belt states, it integrates the water storage functionality into the collector, making it a very cost effective solar hot water heater system