How Solar Panel Heating Works

Solar thermal panels use heat from the sun to warm fluid passing through them as the diagram below shows.

How solar panel heating works.

A heat conducting material usually a dark metal or plastic absorbs sunlight and transfers the energy to a fluid passing through or behind the heat conducting surface. This is then used to heat your water which is stored in a hot water cylinder. Heat collected by the panel heats up water or oil or another fluid that flows through a circuit of pipes into a copper coil inside your hot water tank. Solar space heating systems are an effective and excellent way to reduce costly energy bills during your heating season.

Solarcraft s solar pool heating systems work seamlessly with your pool equipment and are fully automated. An immersion heater unvented hot water cylinder might be needed as a back up heater or to get the water to the temperature you want. Ways on heating greenhouse using solar panels. But when you re talking about heating water as opposed to powering light bulbs or stereos the sunlight doesn t need to become electricity.

And turning sunlight into heat is no problem. There a few things to remember on how to heat a greenhouse with solar panels. Step by step overview solar panels work by absorbing sunlight with photovoltaic cells generating direct current dc energy and then converting it to usable alternating current ac energy with the help of inverter technology. Solar panel installation is a good option to power your greenhouses or buildings.

You set the desired water temperature on the solar control and when solar energy is available at the solar collectors an automatic motorized valve diverts the water through the solar collectors and carries the suns heat back to the pool. A solar space heater works alongside your current heating system to use the sun s energy to reduce your consumption of oil propane or other fossil fuels. Solar photovoltaic technology or pv is less efficient at converting its fuel into electricity than say a wind turbine. Ac energy then flows through the home s electrical panel and is distributed accordingly.

An unglazed solar collector is one of the simplest forms of solar thermal technology. The basic principle of solar thermal heating is to utilize the sun s energy and convert it into heat which is then transferred into your home or business heating system in the form of hot water and space heating. Typically solar panels work by transferring heat from the collector to the tank through a separate circuit and a heat exchanger.