Solar Thermal System Design

A solar water heating system transfers the sun’s heat to the hot water tank with minimum electrical energy input. There are two methods to achieve this: direct and indirect. In the former, water is directly heated by solar radiation in the solar collector, which usually sits on the roof. After being pumped through and heated in the collector’s copper tubing, the water is sent to the hot water tank. The other method is indirect heating, which pumps a heat-transfer fluid usually non-freezing glycol, through the solar collector. The heated liquid travels to piping in a heat exchanger tank that heats the buildings.


Energy Cost Savings with Solar Thermal

Recognizing solar thermal as a low-input and low-maintenance green technology, federal, state, and local governments offer a number of financial incentives to help you begin saving on energy bills. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government provides a 30 percent tax credit on installation and material costs. The Energy Conservation for Ohioans program, also known as ECO Link, provides a three percent interest rate reduction on loans for solar thermal. The Michigan Saves home energy loan program offers loans for residential improvements, including solar thermal heat. Serving Michigan businesses, non-profits, schools, local government, and low-income individuals, the Michigan Public Service Commission provides energy efficiency grants for solar water heating. Other states have similar loan and grant incentives, as well as tax breaks, such as Illinois’s property tax assessment. Contact a YellowLite representative for details on how incentives will reduce your system’s cost.

Estimated Energy Cost Before and After Solar Thermal:

Solar hot water reduces your electricity or gas bills and extends the life of your boiler. On average, water heating bills drop 50 to 80 percent. The electricity used for the small pump that moves the water or non-freezing fluid is nominal and can be powered by a small solar-electric panel. The solar heating system also provides the peace of mind that the basic convenience of hot water will be protected in the event of a fuel shortage. As the solar heating system is passively harvesting the sun’s heat, the main water tank’s boiler will be working less (and not at all in the summer) and therefore lasting longer. The payback period can be as short as three years depending on factors such as how much hot water the building uses, system efficiency, geographic location, and the cost of fuel. A solar heating system will result in an immediate positive cash flow if the monthly cost of financing it is less than the net savings.

Benefits the Environment as well as You!

A major incentive for this renewable technology is its effect on a building’s environmental impact. The residential sector creates 17 percent of greenhouse gasses in the US, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that the residential sector produced 1,200 million metric tons of carbon in 2005, while the commercial sector produced just over 1,000 tons. Electricity and natural gas, the most popular water heating fuels, make up the greater majority of those energy sources cited in the EIA’s data. A solar water heating system’s carbon reduction depends on a range of factors, such as the fuel type the system is displacing. On the low end, a system that is displacing gas would save about 575 pounds of carbon, and on the high end, a system displacing solid material fuel would save about 1,170 pounds. The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change puts solar water heating’s average carbon emissions reduction at 720 pounds a year. To place the numbers in perspective, an average passenger car releases that amount of carbon every 785 miles.

Of all of the renewable energy technologies, solar is found to be the most environmentally friendly considering the materials’ life-cycle and the installation’s minimal effects on local habitats. Taking notice of the benefits, governments are providing financial incentives to get a solar thermal system on your rooftop. Aside from the government incentives, the solar system will significantly reduce your future energy bills. Contact a YellowLite representative for more information on how solar thermal can benefit you.