Solar water heater

 

Solar water heaters or such hot water devices are now a day’s commonly used sophisticated techniques of using renewable sources of energy that harness the energy available from sun. After harnessing this renewable or reusable form of energy it is then converted into electricity using various modern tools & techniques. Solar water heating systems have been widely used in countries like Greece, Turkey, Australia, Japan & China etc. these are the heaters that heat water using inexhaustible sun’s energy. Since now a day’s use of hot water of daily life purposes has become an integral part of modern lifestyle & the abundant availability of sun light has brought in use the requirement of solar water heaters.

In order to generate heat from a solar water heater some construction for the device is involved that generally involves a collector which is fastened to a roof or a wall that faces the sun so that heat can be received that is actually linked to a working fluid which is generally pumped or at times is even driven by by natural convections through it. The collector is generally made of simple glass and this is topped in an insulated box with a flat solar absorber which is in turn made of metal sheets that are painted black or a set of metal tubes surrounded by an evacuated metal cylinder. When for some period of time when no hot water is being used for a day or two there is a drain back system to avoid over heating in case of less requirement or use of device. These are generally two types’ active device or passive device. These devices have some special characteristics like lightweight collector, low profile unobtrusive, low maintenance, space saving etc since no extra storage tanks are required.

Solar water Heaters are generally cost effective and only initial cost of establishment and life cycle is required.

But there can be complexity involved in the device storage and formation at higher latitudes due to involvement of special techniques for setting up. It has been proved that the use of these energy saving devices are cost effective and by saving a lot amount of electricity they can pay back their amount within four to five years of use. Generally the solar water heating devices last for fifteen years but if the water quality is not a problem they can even work up to thirty to forty years.

Application of Solar water heaters are mainly of three types. Firstly, domestic purposes that is in flats, bungalows & apartments. Secondly in commercials like hospitals, hotels, hostels etc. thirdly for the most important use that is in industries where most of the energy saving is required.  These devices are advantageous as they are cost effective on long term purposes. They use the inexhaustible source of energy that is the sun which is available free of cost. But they also have a few disadvantages like initial establishment and setting up cost. And also these devices cannot function without the sun’s energy or heat and that is not always available. But they are a really useful source of fuel saving & energy utilization.