Recently, Susan told me Dave wanted to show me what he was up to in his shop. Dave had recently obtained a used water heater ($10 Thanks to Wes!) and he was going to hook this up to some solar water heating panels that would bring hot water into his new shop.
Dave stands with one of his two panels that need to get to the roof.
Susan uses the Kubota Trailer while I guide the panel and Dave stands atop the roof waiting for the panel. I ran up the ladder after the picture and helped lift and move the panel into place.
The two panels on the roof of Dave's building.Solar water heaters are a unique combination of traditional water heating technology and solar technology. Many of us have experienced the warm or, sometimes hot, water that comes out of the end of a hose when you turn it on in the summer time. Solar water heating plays off of the suns energy and efficiency at warming water in thin layers. A solar water heating system includes a storage tank and solar collectors. There are two types of solar water heating systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, and passive, which don't. In a passive system where the storage is separate from the collector, as water in the collector warms, water flows by natural convection through the collector to the storage tank. A forced circulation system requires a pump to move water from the storage tank to the collector. While Dave has a pump, he hopes that convection heating will work to his favor as New Mexico has so much solar energy to offer.
Solar water heaters have been around for a long time, probably since the 1800s. What's different is the efficiency and how solar water heaters look today. Most modern solar water heaters mount flush with the roof and look like skylights. Solar water heaters are an environmentally sound way to reduce energy bills.
I'm interested in seeing the system in place and to see how Dave's plumbing prowess will work together for a nice hot water return.
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