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Does solar hot water work in cold climates?

03 Jan 08 | Solar Hot Water

I was at a lecture this past September when the speaker stated “Solar thermal just doesn’t work in this climate (the Northeast), it is not a consideration…” I wanted to stand up, raise my hand and say “Um, excuse me, but you are wrong.” There is a persistent misconception that solar thermal only works in temperate climates. The truth is that is works in cold climates as well. As evidence I submit the following:

It is January, the temperature outside is 17 degrees (that was the high temperature of the day) with a foot of snow on the ground.

AET AE-40 solar collector in northeast

The water temperature coming back from the solar collectors on my roof is 150 degrees.solar collector water return temperature

Furthermore, last night it was 0 degrees and I suffered no freeze damage to the collectors or piping, even though I use distilled water as my heat transfer fluid.

This is no accident, of course. A properly designed and installed solar hot water (solar thermal) system can work in almost any climate. The snow surrounding the collector reflects sunlight unto the collector itself, making it more efficient. I have a drain back system, so when the sun goes down and the temperature drops, all the water drains out of the collectors into a reservoir inside the house. The collectors and piping all are sloped so that the water drains out properly thus providing excellent freeze protection without the use of expensive anti freeze.

Naturally, I didn’t say anything to the photovoltaic guy who made the above statement. After all, we are playing on the same team.

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03 Jan 08 | Solar Hot Water
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Reader's Comments

  1. Dan | January 10th, 2008 at 6:12 pm

    Why didn’t you raise your hand say something to this guy again?

  2. Paul Thurst | January 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    Yeah, that is a good question, isn’t it. I guess I didn’t feel like side tracking the guy from his Photovoltaic presentation.

  3. jake | March 29th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

    what brand solar panel do you use? could you post a picture of the piping going to the reservoir? i’m intrested in the set up. thanks.

  4. Paul | March 30th, 2008 at 7:20 am

    Jake,

    I will try and snap some pictures of the balance of system stuff and post it. Those are AET AE-40 collectors

  5. Dave | February 13th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    I’d like to see the pics for the balance of the system as well. Some added description details to go along with new pics would be great as well. Thanks for the great post.

  6. Josh Murphy | September 6th, 2009 at 10:49 am

    Hello I am very interested in the system you are using also. I am trying to implement a purely Solar powered heating system at a christian run Rehabilitation Centre that I am involved with in Almaty Kazakhstan. My dilema is it can get down to -30 degrees celcius here in the winter, even during the day. What would be my options in this case?



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