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Solar Water Heater
Solar Water Heaters can save you a bundle on energy cost - AND you can personally do something about the reduction of the CO2 production from bruning fossil fuels that are used to produce the electricity of conventional water heaters.
The Solar Water Heater Book:
If you only want ONE book about Solar Water Heaters, this is it!
Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water and Space Heating Systems (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 05/17/2008)
List Price: $24.95
This is THE authority book about Solar Water Heaters!
Release Date: 12/31/1969
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Hot Water from the Sun: A Consumer Guide to Solar Water Heating
Hot Water from the Sun: A Consumer Guide to Solar Water Heating
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 05/17/2008)
Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water And Space Heating Systems
Solar Water Heating fills this gap. It reviews the history of solar water and space heating systems from prehistory to the present, then presents the basics of solar water heating, including an introduction to modern solar energy systems, energy conservation and energy economics. Drawing on the author's experience as an installer of these systems, the book goes on to cover:
* Types of solar collectors, solar water and space heating systems and solar pool heating systems, including their advantages and disadvantages
* System components, their installation, operation, and maintenance
* System sizing and siting
* Choosing the appropriate system.
Since people often get turned off by the up-front cost, the book focuses especially on the financial aspects of solar water or space heating systems, clearly showing that such systems can save significant costs in the long run. Well-illustrated, the book is designed for a wide readership from the curious to the student or professional.
Bob Ramlow is the solar thermal consultant for the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program. The owner of a renewable energy company, he has over 30 years experience with solar energy systems and is a founder and director of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA). Benjamin Nusz currently works as a solar water heating consultant and site assessor in Wisconsin.
Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Water and Space Heating Systems (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)
Despite Federal tax credits (up to $2,000 at this writing) for solar water heating there's a lack of information on the subject.
For a handyman with good plumbing skills, or a homeowner wanting to learn about solar water heating, this is the best book available.
After a history of solar water heating in the US, the book describes various systems that use the sun to heat and store water. Climate, freeze conditions, water quality and amount of sunlight available are some of the factors considered in choosing a system, and the book describes them all. Individual components are detailed in a logical, straightforward way. It's obvious the authors have extensive practical knowledge. The writing style is informal and easy to read.
Besides all the solar water heating information, this book also has a good section on radiant floor heating, detailing the use of PEX tubing to heat a concrete slab.
The book uses a lot of drawings to demonstrate how things work. More actual photographs of systems and components would have been helpful. I also wish the authors would have included brand names and sources for equipment. The industry still suffers from the stigma of poorly designed systems of the 1970's and 80's. Some reassurances from the authors regarding which component manufacturers are good would have been nice.
For the past two years, I've lived with a solar water heating system I bought as a package and installed myself. I've been happy with all the "free" hot water it's provided. If this book had been available when planning my system I would have had a much better idea of what I was doing. Having all the components matched and sized with specific instructions gave me a lot of confidence during installation. In my opinion, for the neophyte, a component package is a good way to go.
For anyone planning a residential sized solar water heating system, this is the best book available. It's an excellent guide, whether you decide to choose the individual components yourself, buy a package, or hire a contractor to install a turnkey system.
If you're a contractor or someone wanting to get into the solar water heating business, "Solar Hot Water Systems - Lessons Learned 1977 to Today" (Tom Lane) is very good, but the amount of technical detail implies you already have a good working knowledge of plumbing and roofing. -- David Stebbins
Not being a plumber I can't say this book will be as much value to someone with those skills. He covers the systems so thoroughly that I would imagine if you had the plumbing ability this book would be all you need to get started.
I was a little frustrated having read the first chapter only to find out that several systems described in detail the author would never recommend using. I was thinking to myself why did I waste time reading about those. But that's where the comprehensive part comes in. And by knowing why the author doesn't recommend those systems you get to participate in the joy of knowing everything there is to know about solar water heating.
I especially enjoyed the cost analysis of the hot water systems vs. gas and electric, as well as the discussion of using solar heated water to provide whole house heating. -- C. Thomas (Dallas, TX)
This is a great collection of information on the subject of solar water heating. I love how the author doesn't pull any punches. There are definite reasons why we don't use more solar hot water in this country. Regan led by example in the 80's when he pulled the solar collectors off the white house roof. While the author spends a bit on the history of solar heating this is definitely a manual on how to design and install a system. The author obviously has had a lot of experience with these systems and he knows what works. read this book and get a high quality solar hot water system up and running in your home. Our planet depends on it.
In fact he dedicated the book for our earth. -- Diego Martinez (Colorado, USA)
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Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 05/17/2008)
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Gravity-Fed Solar Water Heater
Gravity-Fed Solar Water Heater - 53-Gallon Capacity, Model# 54122
- Heater consists of a series of evacuated solar tube collectors and a water storage tank
- Can be refilled manually or by low pressure source
- Aerospace technology produces higher water temperatures than other solar systems
- High-capacity heater can provide household hot water needs for most of the year, depending on location
- Operates in temperatures down to 28 degrees F
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Amazon Price: $1,199.99 (as of 05/17/2008)
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Gravity-Fed Solar Water Heater - 26-Gallon Capacity
- Heater consists of a series of evacuated solar tube collectors and a water storage tank
- Can be refilled manually or by low pressure source
- Aerospace technology produces higher water temperatures than other solar systems
- High-capacity heater can provide household hot water needs for most of the year, depending on location
- Operates in temperatures down to 28 degrees F
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Amazon Price: $699.99 (as of 05/17/2008)
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Solar Water Heater
Solar Hot Water refers to water heated by solar energy. Solar heating systems are generally composed of solar thermal collectors, a fluid system to move the heat from the collector to its point of usage, and a reservoir or tank for heat storage and subsequent use. The systems may be used to heat water for home or business use, for swimming pools, underfloor heating or as an energy input for space heating and cooling and industrial applications.
In many climates, a solar heating system can provide a very high percentage (50% to 75%) of domestic hot water energy. In many northern European countries, combined hot water and space heating systems (solar combisystems) are used to provide 15 to 25% of home heating energy.
In the southern regions of Africa like Zimbabwe, solar water heaters have been gaining popularity, thanks to the AustrianThe Sundrum Project funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation and other EU funded projects that are promoting more environmentally friendly water heating solutions.
Residential solar thermal installations can be subdivided into two kinds of systems: compact and pumped systems. Both typically include an auxiliary energy source (electric heating element or connection to a gas or fuel oil central heating system) that is activated when the water in the tank falls below a minimum temperature setting such as 50 °C. Hence, hot water is always available. The combination of solar hot water heating and using the back-up heat from a wood stove chimney to heat waterHeating water with a wood stove can enable a hot water system to work all year round in northern climates without the supplemental heat requirement of a solar hot water system being met with fossil fuels or electricity.
Solar Power House Design
The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling
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Passive Solar House: The Complete Guide to Heating and Cooling Your Home
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The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence through Solar, Wind, Biomass and Hydropower (Mother Earth News Wiser Living)
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The Solar Electric House: Energy for the Environmentally-Responsive, Energy-Independent Home
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The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes
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Solar Energy News
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byLarge 5 Gallon Solar Shower Water Heater Clean Camping
Large 5 Gallon Solar Shower Water Heater Clean Camping
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More Solar Technology Information
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Solar Lights are a very paractical way of illuminating garden paths, or to mark waypoints and driveways without having to run power cables. Solar Lights are usually not delivering the lighting power of conventional lights, but their light is sufficie...
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Solar Energy Guide
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Solar Energy Guide - The sun... if we could only harvest a tiny, very tiniy fraction of the energy that the sun dissipates at any given moment, we would not have energy woes anymore! Technical development allows already today to harvest solar power. B...
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RV Solar Power
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RV Solar Power - Be independent from RV parks and generate your own electrical power! Check the information below and you'll find that it's quite easy to become independent from the power grid.
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Solar Energy
Solar energy is energy from the Sun in the form of heat and light. This energy resource drives the climate and weather and supports virtually all life on Earth. Solar energy technologies make controlled use of this energy resource. Passive solar architecture uses thermal mass and daylighting techniques to provide heat and light. Evacuated tube and batch type solar water heaters heat swimming pools and provide domestic hot water. In the agricultural sector greenhouses grow specialty crops and photovoltaic powered water pumps bring water to grazing animals. Evaporation ponds find applications in the commercial and industrial sectors where they are used to harvest salt and clean waste streams of contaminants. Solar distillation and disinfection techniques produce potable water for millions of people worldwide. Family scale solar cookers and village sized solar kitchens concentrate sunlight for cooking, drying and pasteurization. More sophisticated concentrating technologies magnify the rays of the Sun for high temperature material testing, metal smelting, and industrial chemical production. In the transportation sector a range of prototype solar vehicles cover ground, air and sea.
Solar power is used synonymously with solar energy or more specifically to refer to the conversion of sunlight into electricity. This can be done with photovoltaics, concentrating solar thermal devices and various experimental technologies.
How to Build a Solar Hot Water System.
How to Build a Solar Hot Water System.
The step by step procedures are excellent; the clear and comprehensive explanations of basic solar thermal heating concepts make the book invaluable. I never thought I'd be able to build and install my own solar hot water system from basic construction materials... until now! Thank you for blazing a trail into the "Solar Age" :-) -- Sunlover (NY)
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Solar Heating Systems for Houses: A Design Handbook for Solar Combisystems
* Details methods for analysing and optimizing combisystems for different house types
* Introduces standardized classification and evaluation processes and design tools for these systems
The use of solar collectors for domestic hot water over the past 20 years has demonstrated that solar heating systems are now founded on a reliable and mature technology. However, the development of similar, but more complex, systems to provide both domestic hot water and space heating (solar combisystems) resulted in a diverse range of different designs that were not carefully optimized to reflect local climate and practice.
Application of energy-efficient building strategies such as improved thermal insulation and use of low temperature heat supply systems is becoming increasingly common. This trend, combined with growing environmental awareness and the subsidies available in certain countries, favors an increase in market share for solar combisystems. The need for guidelines in selecting the appropriate system and designing this system according to the specific needs of the building and the local environment is therefore now increasingly pressing. This book fills that need.
Contributors include key figures working on solar combisystems worldwide (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, USA).
About the Author
Werner Weiss is a mechanical engineer and managing director of AEE INTEC in Austria, with nearly 20 years experience in the field of solar energy technologies.
Solar Heating Systems for Houses: A Design Handbook for Solar Combisystems
This book is a must for anyone who deals with or want to learn about solar combisystems. The book is actually a study (Task26) about 21 combisystems that generally are installed in many places in Europe including real examples based on these systems. It describes important aspects such as designing and dimensioning, behaviour and maintenance, performance in regards to different climates and types of construction. Many many references are included, book, internet links. Highly recommended.
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Amazon Price: $111.00 (as of 05/17/2008)
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