Solar Hot Water Heating Explained
Specially coated roof panels or ‘collectors’ on your roof absorb both direct solar radiation and atmospheric diffused radiation. The energy absorbed is converted to heat through a series of pipes containing a special anti-freeze
type liquid. The heated water is then pumped via a controller to heat your hot water tank which is also heated from a conventional boiler to make up the 30%+ of your domestic hot water needs. Envirosol systems use only high efficiency oil boilers to provide the conventional part of your energy needs.
Direct & Diffused Radiation
· Direct Radiation is where the sunlight reaches the earth’s surface uninterrupted.
· Diffused Radiation is where the suns rays are partially blocked by cloud cover or other atmospheric median and are diverted towards the earth’s surface.
· Diffused Radiation provides most of the “daylight” in our rooms, i.e. north facing windows.55% – 62% of the solar radiation reaching ground level in Ireland is diffused.
The Firebird Flat Plate Collector
The Firebird Flat Plate collector is specially designed to maximize the absorption and retention of solar radiation.
The collector contains an absorber plate made of copper and coated with a highly selective TiNOX absorber coating. This surface of Firebird Plate Solar Panel greatly enhances the collector’s ability to capture and retain solar energy.
A Heat transfer fluid flows through a grid of double parallel copper tubes which are ultrasonically welded to the back of absorber plate. The 40mm mineral wool insulation (U = 0.045 W/mK) on the back of the absorber, protects the heat collected and aids against heat loss. A sheet of 4mm toughened glass covers the collector as it faces the sun, and this helps to prevent most of the convection losses. Furthermore, it reduces heat radiation from the absorber into the environment in a similar way as a greenhouse does.