Solar

Solar water heating systems use the sun's energy to heat water. A solar water heating system is made up of several key components including solar collectors, thermal storage, system controls/controller, and back-up, conventional water heater. Sunlight strikes and heats an absorber surface within a solar collector or an actual storage tank. Either a heat-transfer fluid or the actual potable water to be used flows through tubes attached to the absorber and picks up the heat from it (systems with a separate heat-transfer-fluid loop include a heat exchanger that then heats the potable water.) The heated water is stored in a separate preheat tank or a conventional water heater tank until needed. If additional heat is needed, it is provided by electricity or fossil-fuel energy by the conventional water heating system.