Solar water heating basics a solar water heating system has two necessary components.
How to use solar panels to heat water.
You can use a solar water heater no matter what.
With photovoltaics you simply add as many panels as you need to supply the extra power for your heating system.
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.
Park the car in the sun and close the windows.
A solar panel owner should monitor their use of electricity linked to their hot water system to ensure enough power is produced to cover that used by the heating element.
By using solar panels to heat your water you can cut energy bills and reduce the amount of emissions your heating fuel puts into the environment.
A collector to heat water and a tank to store it.
The collector must be in a sunny location and ideally not too.
Put large soda bottles filled with water in an area of the interior that is hit by direct sunlight.
This is then used to heat your water which is stored in a hot water cylinder.
This method can be used to heat up canned foods as well as make tea instant coffee etc.
This can be a disadvantage however if you have limited roof space.
Solar thermal panels use heat from the sun to warm fluid passing through them as the diagram below shows.
Making sure plenty of panels are available to cover the burst of energy needed to heat water at a rate of over three kilowatts is required.
The heat is then passed into the hot water.
During an emergency power outage or while camping use your car as a solar heater.