How a Solar Hot Water System Works
To provide adequate freeze protection, the majority of solar hot water systems in the Midwest region are indirect or closed-loop systems. In a closed-loop system, a pump moves a non-toxic heat transfer fluid through the solar collectors where it is heated. After the heat transfer fluid exits the solar collectors, it passes through a heat exchanger where the solar heat is transferred from the solar fluid to the domestic water supply inside your solar storage tank.
There are two types of closed-loop systems suitable for installations in our region: Pressurized anti-freeze systems and Drainback systems.
Closed loop, pressurized antifreeze systems are the most widely distributed solar heating system worldwide. For an interactive illustration how these types of systems operate, view the tutorial below.
- How a Solar Hot Water System Works
- Is My Home Suitable for Solar Hot Water?
- Frequently Asked Questions
To provide adequate freeze protection, the majority of solar hot water systems in the Midwest region are indirect or closed-loop systems. In a closed-loop system, a pump moves a non-toxic heat transfer fluid through the solar collectors where it is heated. After the heat transfer fluid exits the solar collectors, it passes through a heat exchanger where the solar heat is transferred from the solar fluid to the domestic water supply inside your solar storage tank.
There are two types of closed-loop systems suitable for installations in our region: Pressurized anti-freeze systems and Drainback systems.
Closed loop, pressurized antifreeze systems are the most widely distributed solar heating system worldwide. For an interactive illustration how these types of systems operate, view the tutorial below.
Are you ready to go solar hot?
Solar Dynamix installs, designs, and services Solar Thermal Domestic Hot Water Heating, Solar Hydronic Floor Radiant Heating, Solar Air Space Heating, Water Softening and Filtration, Greenhouse Solar Root-Zone Radiant Heating, Photovoltaic Electric and Photovoltaic Thermal Coolers.
Our mission is to provide you with a full line of high quality products including solar collectors, pump stations, frames, pex-al-pex and copper tubing, air panels, photovoltaic coolers and all the solar equipment you need necessary to save on energy costs by converting to solar energy.
We provide system sizing for our customers. Using regional solar radiation or “insolation” data provided by NASA we can accurately calculate system output in either Btu’s or kWh. We are certified and licensed installers available 24/7 for all your solar needs.
Our mission is to provide you with a full line of high quality products including solar collectors, pump stations, frames, pex-al-pex and copper tubing, air panels, photovoltaic coolers and all the solar equipment you need necessary to save on energy costs by converting to solar energy.
We provide system sizing for our customers. Using regional solar radiation or “insolation” data provided by NASA we can accurately calculate system output in either Btu’s or kWh. We are certified and licensed installers available 24/7 for all your solar needs.
Latest Blog:
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"Customer Testimonials"
"I am very pleased with my decision to install a solar thermal system from Solar Dynamix in October, 2011. They were very knowledgeable about solar thermal energy and worked with me diligently to design and install a system to meet my specific needs. I am using solar heated water for almost all of my basic needs and have never run out. The panels look very cool on the house and lots of friends and neighbors ask me how I like it. I have seen instant savings in my electric bill. My system almost always reaches the 175°F limit in the 80 gallon solar tank, and then supplements my older 60 gallon electric tank that rarely turns on in the mid-winter months. I always have plenty of hot water left, and the heat is provided by the sun almost 12 months out of the year!!!
That, in itself, is an awesome thing!"
Pat Hosch - Dubuque, IA
That, in itself, is an awesome thing!"
Pat Hosch - Dubuque, IA
"We recently had our very own Solar Thermal System installed on August 21st 2013. With an 80% solar efficiency and its total SRCC certified 25.Kwh/day combined it currently is the largest residential system of its kind in the area.
The 60 powerful evacuated tube system is connected to twin 80 gallon solar tanks that generate up to 85-95% solar domestic hot water and an estimated 35% supplemental radiant floor heating. In addition, it is backed up by a 55 gallon high efficiency natural gas water tank mixed together with the solar tanks via gravity circulation loop that also supplies constant hot water at every tap with no more running water and waiting for hot water to arrive. We also added a water pressure control valve, an anti-scalding valve and a whole house water filtration with a water softener system. Solar Dynamix uses the most advanced and the highest quality components on the market. Temperatures in our tanks are consistently reaching the 180°F mark at the bottom of the tanks and over 200°F at top for longer storage capacity.
The future for solar thermal energy is not only the most cost effective and efficient of all solar energy, but we are sitting on a sleeping giant that people should be made aware of its potentials.
I believe that our every word, every action, has consequences and effects far beyond what we will ever know. So I try to be mindful of the consequences of my actions, knowing that somewhere, somehow, they will have an effect. I found that when I started living in a more environmentally conscious way, it felt good. It made me feel like a better person.
Daniel Dani - Dubuque, IA
The 60 powerful evacuated tube system is connected to twin 80 gallon solar tanks that generate up to 85-95% solar domestic hot water and an estimated 35% supplemental radiant floor heating. In addition, it is backed up by a 55 gallon high efficiency natural gas water tank mixed together with the solar tanks via gravity circulation loop that also supplies constant hot water at every tap with no more running water and waiting for hot water to arrive. We also added a water pressure control valve, an anti-scalding valve and a whole house water filtration with a water softener system. Solar Dynamix uses the most advanced and the highest quality components on the market. Temperatures in our tanks are consistently reaching the 180°F mark at the bottom of the tanks and over 200°F at top for longer storage capacity.
The future for solar thermal energy is not only the most cost effective and efficient of all solar energy, but we are sitting on a sleeping giant that people should be made aware of its potentials.
I believe that our every word, every action, has consequences and effects far beyond what we will ever know. So I try to be mindful of the consequences of my actions, knowing that somewhere, somehow, they will have an effect. I found that when I started living in a more environmentally conscious way, it felt good. It made me feel like a better person.
Daniel Dani - Dubuque, IA
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