Solar Water Heating (Thermal)

How would Solar Hot Water Work for my Business or Organization?

Commercial-scale solar water heating systems are designed to pre-heat the facility's water prior to entering the traditional water heating system.  Typically these systems achieve a solar fraction of 70% or less, meaning the Sun would provide approximately 70% of the annual water heating energy. On a sunny day in summer, that could be all of the water heating. The backup system provides the rest. Smaller systems are often installed if there is a limited budget or limited solar exposure. SES can size the system appropriately to maximize the economic benefit to the building owner. The important thing to remember is that whether a system is big or small, every unit of renewable energy captured from the Sun, is one unit of traditional energy that will not be purchased and will not be consumed.

Many Benefits

Not only will Solar Hot Water systems provide energy cost reductions with short paybacks, (typically 2 - 8 years), the benefits to your corporate image can be immeasurable. Customers, employees, vendors, and local authorities frequently convey that they want to support sustainable business models. Using solar will build your brand and enhance your image in the local community.

Custom Solutions

With over 30 years experience in the industry, we know each application is different and each business has it's own unique needs. Solar Energy Services will evaluate your individual application and provide the best design based upon your operation, budget, solar resources, and goals of your solar project. This includes the critical considerations of demand patterns, system capacity, thermal storage, and hot water recovery. SES has unmatched experience in this niche market.

Government Incentives & Financing

Financing a commercial system is easier than you may think. There are tremendous government incentives to help offset the capital cost. Additionally, there are third party financing models that can be very attractive, allowing for positive cash flow on the renewable energy investment in the first month. Ask us about our partners who provide project financing. SES also provides assistance with grant applications for state rebates. 

SRECS

SRECs = Solar Renewable Energy Credits. These are tradable credits that represent all the clean energy benefits of the electricity or thermal energy generated from a solar system. Each time a solar system generates 1,000 kWh (1MWh) of electricity (or thermal equivalent), an SREC is issued which can then be sold or traded. This SREC transaction is completely independant of the $ savings generated by using solar power instead of traditional power.

How it Works

Solar Collector Parts

1. Collector manifold
2. Glass wool insulation
3. Copper header pipe (liquid flow)
4. Stainless steel mounting frame
5. Evacuated tube (solar absorber)
6. Heat transfer fin and heat pipe Collector

Operation:

Step 1: Sunlight is absorbed inside the evacuated tube causing it to heat up.

Step 2: The heat pipe inside the tube carries this thermal energy up to the manifold box.

Step 3: Fluid circulates from the storage tank up through to the header pipe and extracts the energy from the hot heat pipe tips.

Step 4: The newly heated fluid circulates back to the storage tank where it can be used, and the cycle begins again.