Systems and the future
Solar water heater
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Equipment that heats water with the sun using a flat-plate or tube collector under glass connected to an insulated tank. It is different from the photovoltaic panel, which produces electricity.
Solves
What it solves
It provides hot water for bathing, cooking and washing without using electricity or gas. In the tropics the high sun lets it work almost all year.
Today
Place it on the roof without shade, tilted about 15 to 20 degrees and with the tank higher than the collector so the water circulates on its own. Insulate the pipes and leave access for maintenance.
Common mistake
Placing the tank lower than the collector or in the shade, which stops the natural circulation of hot water.
Tomorrow
Hybrid collectors produce hot water and electricity on the same panel. Made and repaired by local workshops with common parts, they serve homes, small eateries and health centers.
Fact In Costa Rica each square meter of flat-plate collector heats about 60 to 75 liters of water a day to around 50 °C.
Where it comes from
- 1Industrial invention Baltimore, United States, 1891
A commercial heater was patented with tanks inside a glazed box on the roof, delivering warm water for bathing. - 2Californian solar market California, United States, 1895
The manufacturing rights passed to Pasadena, where the sunny climate made the solar water heater a common product. - 3Energy policy Israel, 1980
A law required solar water heaters in every new home, and solar hot water reached the great majority of households.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Systems and the future
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.