Solar Thermal
Solar Thermal units convert solar energy to heat that is most commonly used to provide hot water for the home. The Solar Collectors absorb the energy from daylight and will therefore work on both cloudy and sunny days.
These systems work in conjunction with traditional hot water heat generators, such as a gas central heating boiler. Insulated pipework connect the solar collector panels, on the roof, to a specialist hot water storage cylinder within your house.
Once installed and commissioned the system will continue to generate heat for your cylinder. When your cylinder is full of hot water the pumping equipment will detect that no more heat is required and stop the flow of heat to the cylinder. As you or your family uses the hot water, the pumping system senses the drop in water temperature and pumps the solar heat back into the cylinder.
The benefits of solar water heating:
- Hot water throughout the year: the system works all year round, though you'll need to heat the water further with a boiler or immersion heater during the winter months.
- Cut your bills: sunlight is free, so once you've paid for the initial installation your hot water costs will be reduced.
- Cut your carbon footprint:solar hot water is a green, renewable heating system and can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions
Maintenance costs are very low. Most solar water heating systems come with a 5-10 year warranty and require little maintenance. Dodd Group recommend that you take a look at your panels every year and have them checked more thoroughly by our accredited maintenance teams every 3-5 years NOTE the heat transfer fluid within solar hot water systems degrades over time and will need to be replaced, and the system re-commissioned.
Solar thermal systems can be combined with other renewable technologies to further enhance your property's carbon reduction and add to energy savings.
On 20th October 2010 the government announced their commitment to an initiative called the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), once implemented the RHI will provide a tax free income for the heat generated by the solar thermal system. The size and nature of the RHI is still to be announced.
If you would like to know more, call us to speak to one of our advisors.