Solar Water Heating Panels-
Are They Worth It?

Unlike tropical countries where there is nothing more refreshing than a cold water bath after a hard day’s work, the situation is quite different in Europe and Northern America where the weather does not permit such luxuries most of the time. Particularly in winter, hot water is essentially required while enclosed heated pools allow comfortable swimming when it snows outside. However, the only way of heating the water, whether for domestic use or the pool was done either electrically or by way of burning fossil fuel, generating enough CO² to fill the atmosphere and aggravate the greenhouse effect.

But things have changed radically now. Gone are the days of oil burners or mini electrical furnaces that used to draw enough kilowatt hours to illuminate a home for a week. Instead, solar water heating panels do the job effortlessly and that too at a fraction of the cost.

However, there are several types of solar water heater panels that are discussed below.

Solar Water Heater Panels: Integral Collector-Storage device is ideal for southern states where the weather is moderate to warm. These feature one or more black-painted tanks or tubes in an insulated and glazed box. Here the water initially passes through the solar collectors in the solar panel that pre-heats the water. It is then allowed to pass into the conventional backup water heater, thus providing a good source of hot water. The progressive Tube passive system, incidentally, is the most cost efficient water heater.

Solar Water Heating Panels: Evacuated-tube Solar Collectors are recommended for colder climates. These have parallel rows of transparent glass tubes, each having an outer tube and a metal absorber tube attached to fin. Here the fin’s coating absorbs solar energy but does not allow radiation heat loss. The Closed Loop Drainback type is the ideal choice for colder states. They provide up to hundred percent of water heating requirement as well as 60% space heating needs.

Solar Pool Heating Panels: Unglazed Collectors are best for pools and are recommended for above-freezing climates. These panels do not have a glass covering (glazing) and are usually made of heavy-duty PVC or rubber treated with UV protecting material to extend the life of the panel. Unglazed collectors are usually less expensive than the glazed ones since they are made of inexpensive material and undemanding construction.

People are being now encouraged to go for these climate-friendly, pollution-free water heating systems that can help save a lot of money and they are also friendly to the environment. It has been estimated that in certain cases, savings may rate up to 60% to 70%. This is why there are so many alternative energy incentives in place.