Solar hot water solutions

Solar domestic hot water systems are the most popular solar technology, involving a tested set of designs. Be aware to that different designs and their relation with climate and intended uses.

Domestic solar water heaters

Solar hot water systems differ hugely, responding basically to different climate demands: some are specially designed for moderate and hot climates, and others for colder climates.

See:

- The rmosyphon solar systems
- Solar open-active heating systems (moderate and hot climates);
- Ba tch ICS solar systems (a basic system for moderate climates);
- Drai nback systems(cold climates);
- Anti-freezing pressurized systems (cold climates).

The differences

Some of these systems use flat-plate collectors, while other use evacuated-tubes collectors and batch collectors.

Some use pumps (active systems) while others are based on gravity or natural convection (passive systems).

Some use anti-freezing fluids (glycol, in colder climates), while others use potable water at the collector level.

A system uses an integrated tank (the batch solar system), another (the thermosyphon system) a storage tank on the top of the collector, while others use auxiliary and backup tanks and well separated storage tanks. And, as expected, prices may vary a lot too...

Note:
Do no confuse Solar Hot Water systems (thermal systems) with the Solar Electric PV (Photovoltaic) systems, used for electricity production. Thet involve not only different goals but also different technologies. This page is on thermal solar systems.

Solar hot water kits and retrofits

The market is now offering solar hot water kits and retrofits.

See for details:

- Solar hot water kits (including those for radiant heating)
- Prepackaged solar retrofits for gas and electric heaters

Solar Hot Water Heaters Prices

Prices vary a lot, not only among manufacturers. They are decreasingly steaply, and there are very cheap systems (the batch/ICS system and the Thermosyphon solar system), and other much less cheaper ones.

Obviously, the price of any solar hot water system depends also on the size of the system, which depends on the amount of water needs, closely related with the homeowners needs and appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, etc.

See for details:

Prices of solar heating systems
Prices of PV solar electricity

Solar Hot Water Heaters Maintenance

Simpler systems require very little maintenance (every 3–5 years, in some cases). Other more complex systems require a little more maintenance (replacing of anti-freezing, maintenance of the tanks or pumps....) and the correspondent costs.