Install a Solar Hot Water Heating System

I wanted to install a solar hot water heating system and so I investigated many different products and decided on installing a solar concentrator created by SolarTron Energy Systems.

I wanted to reduce my heating costs and since I have in-floor heating and radiant heating I could benefit from using thermal energy. I looked at flat panels but because they are static, they only could provide me with energy for about 4 hours a day. I have a huge house, about 4,000 sq. feet and we have cold winters (-20 degrees) and I needed to have a high amount of solar hot water, so that's where I got interested in solar concentrators. These systems are able to produce high amounts of thermal heat and are perfect for projects that require high amounts of solar hot water heating. I got a distributor to install the SolarBeam since I could not install it myself.

Here is the process for installing the system:

Step 1

The solar hot water heating system should be installed at a south facing location. The dish needs to be placed in a location that is 20ft away from obstructions (i.e. trees, buildings, etc.)

A hole 9 feet deep needs to be excavated for the foundation.

Step 2

Install the 8 foot post along with gear train. This piece came as one system and so no huge assembly was required.

Step 3

Install the ribs that will hold the reflective petals. These ribs are made from aluminum and are very light. Just needed a scaffold to install the ribs.

Step 4

Install the 16 reflective petals. Each petal weighs about 7 pounds. Just simply screw it into the holes in the ribs and you will be done in less than 6 hours.

Step 5

Install the heat exchanger and the 4 arms that hold it in place. The heat exchanger is a small box (10" x 10") that collects the thermal energy and heats up the water that is being passed through.

Step 6

Install the tubing that runs through the heat exchanger and connect it to the tubing that you installed in the ground

Step 7

Hire a plumber to connect the pump station to the existing hot water tanks. If you want more storage capacity, buy extra hot water tanks because this system can heat a 120 gallon tank to 90 degrees in 3 hours.

Step 8

Install the tracking system and calibrate to your latitude and longitude so it will automatically start tracking the sun

Step 9

Check your energy bill and see the reduction in your energy costs and smile. In 2011, I will be installing a photovoltaic module on this system to produce up to 4kW of electricity. So that will be even more energy savings. I may even sell some of the power back to the grid.

I am really happy with my solar hot water heating system. My energy bill has dropped significantly and I am also reducing greenhouse gasses. I think that if more people used solar hot water heating then we would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions.