Using solar collectors for heating water can produce 42% to 72% of all your hot water needs. This can translate to 53% and 81% reduction in your energy water heating bill. If you maintain your solar water heating system, it can last for 25 to 30 years before needing replacing.

Our recommended supplier of Solar Water Heating is the altE Store, who offer a range of solar panels and accessories including:

Climate freezes: Closed Loop Systems

Closed Loop Systems for 1-4 People

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Closed Loop Systems for 5+ People

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Climates are mild: Open Loop Systems

Open Loop Systems for 1-4 People

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Open Loop Systems for 5+ People

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Collectors, Mounts and System Components

AET Collectors, Rack & Mounts

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AET Absorber Plates

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Heliodyne Collectors, Racks & Mounts

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Retrofit Kits for Drainback Systems

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SolarRoofs Skyline Collectors & Parts

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Differential Temperature Controllers

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Heat Exchangers

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Hot Water Storage Tanks

Tanks WITH Heat Exchangers

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Tanks WITHOUT Heat Exchangers

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Solar Circulator Pumps

Ac Pumps

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Dc Pumps

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Grundfos Flanges And Unions

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Taco Flanges

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Traditional hot water tanks are designed to be heated by a boiler, and/or they are fitted with an electric coil. This hot water is generally used for showering or washing not heating the home.

A hot water tank which has been produced for use with a solar panel is designed to be heated by a boiler and/or an electric coil and a solar panel. The way the hot water system works is that it has a copper coiled pipe inside the top of the tank which is connected to your boiler and has a second coil at the bottom which is connected to your solar panel.

The tank is filled with cold water from your mains supply or a header tank. The fluid that is heated by the solar panel is pumped to your hot water tank, it travels around the coil in the bottom of the tank and while doing so, transfers heat from the fluid to the cold water in the tank via the copper pipe. This cooled fluid is then pumped back to the solar panel where it is heated again and this continues until the cold water in your tank reaches the desired temperature.

If the cold water in the tank does not reach the desired temperature from the fluid heated by the solar thermal panel (because the suns energy is not strong enough) then the systems control panel instructs the boiler to kick-in, which then circulates hot water to the top coil in the tank until the required temperature is met. This ensures you have hot water all year round.

Therefore, unless you have a tank with a coil at the top and one at the bottom then you can’t fit a solar panel to it.

Unless, I hear you say, what if you pump the cold water from your tank to the solar panel and keep circulating it until it heats up? Well, you still have a couple of problems.

The first one is retrofitting a flow and return (inlet and outlet) connector to your hot water tank. Hot water tanks are either made of thin copper or thin stainless steel. They are sealed units so you do not have access to the inside, so there is no way you can fit these connectors.

Even if you could, you are still faced with another problem and that is stopping the water in the solar panel from freezing during the winter months because you can’t antifreeze in the water like you can with a closed loop system.

You could use evacuated tube solar collector panels in contrast to flat plate solar collectors because they won’t freeze. However, if you are going to use evacuated tubes, then you may as well go a step further and invest in a new hot water tank.

If anybody has any suggestions on how you can install a solar panel to an existing hot water tank or would like to add something to this article then please leave comment below.

Using the suns energy for solar heating rain water is a very simple system to design and make and can be very effective on hot sunny days. Ideal if you want to build a solar shower in the garden. Furthermore, a real bonus is that if you wash your hair in rain water it becomes very well conditioned!

The first thing you need to do is have a source of rainwater. The easiest way to do this is to harvest the rain water that falls on the roof of your home. So you tap into the down drain pipes and siphon off the water into tanks. You might want one tank per drain pipe.

From these collector tanks you now want to pump this water, using solar powered pumps, into a central holding tank. The ideal location for this would be on the roof of your house, installed in a position where it is in direct sunlight for the majority of the day. Make sure you paint the tank matt black, you will definitely notice the difference in the temperature of the water.

All you have to do now is hook it up to your outdoor shower and at the end of a sunny day you will have warm water to bath in.

If you are feeling more ambitious, you can boost the heating of the water in the central cylinder. You can do this by attaching a black hose pipe to the central holding tank. Connect one end to the outlet and one end to the inlet. The longer the hose pipe the better it works. Attach a solar pump to outlet of the central tank and slowly pump and circulate the water in the tank via the hose pipe. As the water travels around the hose pipe it can heat up to very high temperatures.

Another way to do this is to make a solar thermal panel using a radiator, if you need more panels just connect the radiators together in series. So that the water passes from one radiator to the next getting warmer as it passes through each one. Remember to paint your solar panels matt black.

If you have any ideas on how to improve this system or have any better solutions for solar heating rain water, then please leave a comment below.

Nobody likes to take cold showers.  Dishwashers are impossible to operate without heat.  Water heaters come in many styles and sizes.  The majority of the heaters run on fossil fuels.  If you live in any climate, do you realize you could actually build a solar hot water system for your home or office? You will want to make sure it’s done properly, and to save a little on labor and supplies, you can in reality build your own system.

One source is solarfriend.co.uk, the site goes into good detail about what is needed to install your own system.  The author of the website claims their household has the potential of spending only £300 annually on electricity using the solar hot water system they installed.  This site will give you great detail, with step-by-step photographs, on how to build your own flat plate or evacuated tube solar collectors, panels and pipes.  The author explains the difference between the two systems, while providing diagrams as visual aids. There is also mention of a freeze-proof roof mounted water panel.

The El Paso Solar Energy Association (epsea.org) has many tips on alternative energies, including using the suns energy for passive solar water heating.  Passive solar heating is the oldest form of commercial solar energy. Terms you might find familiar include PSWH, Batch heater and Bread Box – and these are the passive solar water heaters.  General descriptions are given for these systems on this site, as well as general information on how to build your own.  For instance, you can paint your water heaters a flat black to retain more heat for longer periods of time.  Small diagram drawings are provided to show you some of the final products that you can build alongside verbal instructions on the build.

Several different types of solar water heaters are covered on jc-solarhomes.com.  Whether you are interested in passive or active energy.   Diagrams are given to the readers for assistance in building their own solar hot water systems.    Minimal verbiage is provided to the public. The site does offer a lot of FAQs that should be able to answer most consumers’ questions about cost, how solar power works, and how the systems work.  Flow rate theory and flow dynamics are given their fair share of educational points.  This site gets into some of the nitty-gritty that engineers may be interested in knowing.  If you are to purchase the E-book that is available at the site, you will be given step-by-step instructions and a total list of supplies needed to build your own system.

Popular Mechanics has an article on their website regarding the "Energy Family" making their own solar water heater.  This family has piggybacked their solar system on with a propane system.  They are trying their best to retain a small carbon footprint.  There is a four-step method covered with matching photographs as the family put together their system.   Supplies are listed so that you know what you need to purchase to get started.  Some general information regarding savings and costs involved are also given to the reader.  A very informative comment section can be seen at the end of the article, allowing you to learn even more about the solar hot water systems.

The best recommendation that can be offered would be the first site.  It is the most informative of the bunch, and has photographs, diagrams, and verbal instructions so that most anyone can follow and be able to manufacture their own solar hot water system with a minimal amount of problems.  Ideas are complemented with suggested buys for the parts needed so that you can start your savings right away.

This means that after the payback period, you get an annual supply of hot water for about 50 bucks – sounds good to me.