subject: Solar Water Heating [print this page] More often solar power is considered as the energy technology of the future. Solar power is the single most prevailing form of power in the world in terms of the total energy available and in comparison to all renewable and non renewable types of energy combined together.
The energy needs of the entire United States of America is equivalent to the amount of power that falls in a hundred square miles of desert. The implementation of solar power has always been a problem though. Now, due to lot of technologies been developed, anyone in the appropriate location can take advantage of the sun and reduce their dependence on external power.
First and foremost among them is solar heating. This technique uses heat from the sun to warm water for use in a home. In place of using gas or electric methods to heat water for home use, this allows a homeowner to reduce their heating costs by tapping into the free energy from the sun. Solar water heating is a distinct form of solar power, not related to the more familiar solar panels that rely on a photovoltaic cell to produce electricity. Instead, solar water heaters use lenses and dark material to collect heat from the sun to warm water, which is then moved as necessary to provide heat. The heated fluid can be used to provide underfloor heating or shower water. Properly installed solar heaters can even allow cooling as well as heating and be part of a comprehensive solar environmental management system.
The heart of the typical home solar heater exists above the house, in the form of a series of solar collectors which focus the heat of the sun on a fluid medium used to transfer that heat. When weather conditions are right, the sun provides enough energy to heat a given volume of fluid, which then stores the heat for release when the temperature decreases. More advanced models include pumps and energy storage systems and can even be used to generate electricity. Great strides have been made in producing industrial scale systems that reduce the energy costs of factories.
In general, solar heating systems are split into passive and active families. Active water heaters are essentially the same as the system above, with the addition of electronic systems to regulate temperature control. Both active and passive systems can be startlingly effective in reducing energy expenses related to heating or cooling. In addition to their financial advantages, solar heating is the single most green way to produce heat for a home, with no emissions at all.
