Solar Hot Water


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To see examples of installed hot water systems, please visit our GALLERY page. If you have any questions or would like more information please CONTACT US.


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Installing a solar hot water system on your home is one of the best ways you can cut your energy bills and is a great first step to going green. Whether used solely for domestic water heating, or for other applications as well, such as space heating, a solar hot water system will provide years of trouble free, clean energy.


Using the sun to heat water is the most efficient and direct means of converting the sun’s power into usable energy yet found. A heat-transfer fluid is pumped from your hot water tank to the solar collector where it is naturally heated. This captured heat is then returned to your tank to heat the potable water. As long as the sun is shining you are collecting free energy!


A solar hot water system is made up of three basic systems that work together to harness the energy of the sun. These three systems are collection, storage, and control. The collection system includes the solar collectors (usually mounted on the roof), the pump, and the related piping and valving which get the fluid from the storage tank to the collectors. The storage system usually employs a large hot water tank that stores the energy collected from the sun for use at a later time. The control system synchronizes the operation of the other two systems.


We employ evacuated tubes to collect the sun’s energy. These tubes are constructed of copper heat pipes surrounded by evacuated glass tubes. This collector design is more efficient in colder climates than others, and we believe is more aesthetically pleasing for most installs. All of the collectors we employ are SRCC certified and qualify for all applicable TAX INCENTIVES.

In this climate zone, we employ a non-toxic propylene glycol and water heat-transfer solution to prevent freeze damage in the winter months. From the collector, a pump circulates the glycol to a heat exchanger that transfers the captured energy to the domestic hot water. In this process, there are two distinct fluid loops that never come into physical contact with each other: the glycol loop and the domestic hot water loop. We use Rheem tanks that have a built-in heat exchanger. A coil of copper that is part of the glycol loop wraps around the outside of the bottom half of the tank and transfers the heat from the collector loop to the domestic hot water. This design ensures that hard water deposits that must be regularly removed in other designs, never compromise the heat exchanger.


The storage tank can be thought of as the system battery. It stores energy for use at a later time. Ideally, household hot water demands would coincide with the energy capture of the solar system, but this is rarely the case. A large hot water storage tank, usually 80 gallons or more, ensures that the maximum amount of available solar energy can be captured. It also ensures that hot water is still available even during periods of weak solar resource, such as cloudy days. All solar hot water systems have a backup heating method for extended periods of cloudy weather. This is usually a single electric element in the tank or an instantaneous water heater. All of our systems also include an anti-scald valve that prevents injuries when tank temperatures exceed 120 degrees.


The controller dictates when energy is collected and where it is sent. It accomplishes this by comparing the temperature of the collector fluid to that of the storage tank. When a differential set-point between these two sensors is reached, the circulation pump is activated. The controller can also be used to direct energy away from the hot water tank for other uses, when a specific high limit tank temperature is reached.