Solar Heating Panels Explained
Bryan Wong
If you look at a modern home today you will see that there is a lot of
energy needed. All this energy is needed to keep your house warm and
use all the electric equipment or just to shower with warm water. The
modern home needs and uses lots of energy and the costs are high. The
energy demand is increasing every day world wide and energy prices are
rising. For energy plants it is hard to keep up with the increasing
demand and this will have its effects for the consumer. It has already
happened in states like California where energy demands could not be
met and total chaos was the result.
The answer for this problem can be found in alternatives for
traditional energy sources. One of the alternatives is solar energy.
The advantage with this source of energy is that it can be used by a
single household through individual systems. The generated energy can
be used to complement the traditional hot water supply, if you live in
area where sunlight is in abundance it can be substitute the whole
traditional electric supply. In many places, including the United
States, a solar heating system can give a satisfactorily high
percentage (usually between 50 to 75 percent) of domestic hot water
energy. In northern European countries, combined hot water and space
heating systems can produce 15 to 25 percent of home heating energy.
These percentages up to 75% can make a huge difference on your monthly
bill.
Solar heating system uses the energy of sunlight to provide heat on a
certain structure. It can be used to heat water (either for shower or
for washing) or a swimming pool, or to supply heat for a heating
circuit (usually radiators or floor heating coils) that makes inside
the house warm.
A solar heating system generally consists of the following components:
- A solar heating panel- this panel collects the sunlight that will be
converted into thermal energy;
- A fluid system- it transports the converted energy from the panel to
its point of usage; and
- Heat reservoir- this stores some of the heat produced for subsequent
use.
However, this article will be focusing on the first component, which is
the solar heating panel.
Solar Heating Panel in Work
Solar heating panels (SHP) are collections of solar cells and solar
thermal collectors that are used primarily to capture energy from the
sun. It is quite distinctive to the solar photovoltaic panels (SPP) in
the sense that the latter is used to provide electricity to the
structure. However, SPP and SHP have the same function in capturing
energy from sunlight.
SHP works by placing it on direct sunlight, preferably on the roof of
your house, or on a wall facing the sun. It has the usual solar cells
which will convert solar energy into thermal energy, and solar thermal
collectors which have a set of metal tubes surrounded by a glass
cylinder. It has also a parabolic mirror to concentrate the sunlight on
the tube.
The heat that is generated will be stored in a hot water tank that will
be the source for hot water in case of cold weather condition. For home
heating purposes, that hot water tank is connected to an internal
radiator or floor heating coils that will provide heat inside the
house.
The usage of the SHP can really make a difference in the warm comfort
in your home. The usage of warm water and the heating of your home with
these panels can really make a difference in your monthly bill. This
really depends on the place you live on this beautiful planet. Using
this system will not only save you money but will keep this planet a
beautiful place to live in.
Bryan Wong is the owner of the solar information website
http://www.GetEasyInfo.com/solarpower - A great website that shares
quality Info, News and TIPS on solar energy.
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