News
Solar without getting into hot water
By Stuart Gizzi, of solar equipment manufacturer Altecnic
Safeguarding the environment is constantly at the top of the media agenda, and it’s becoming increasingly important with businesses and consumers too, and as a rapidly increasing number of UK households are looking to renewable and sustainable sources for heat and power, the heating and ventilating industry is gearing up to deal with the red hot and green phenomenon that is solar heating.
It’s an easy concept to grasp, especially when the sun is blazing. Water, left out in the sun gets hot. It’s simple. Harness that and you’ve got free space and water heating. But there are some issues with solar systems that mean higher specification control and management systems need to be installed. The principal difference between solar and conventionally heated systems is inlet temperature. When it’s oil or gas fired, it’s easy to control the power. With solar there is no way of regulating the input temperature; you can’t turn off the sun, so all of the system has to have the capability of coping with higher than normal temperatures, even in excess of 100°c. The Altecnic solar thermostatic mixing valve for example deals with inlet temperatures up to 110°c, in comparison with our standard valves which are rated for inlet temperatures of up to 85°c. The components do have to work harder, it’s not just high temperature performance, they have to function well at lower temperatures too. Every component between the collector panel and the storage tank, including air vents, release valves, some ball valves and the expansion vessel needs to be specially constructed for solar use to guarantee optimum, safe performance.
Even on dull days, solar systems will deliver water that’s piping hot – that’s what they’re designed to do, but with the extremes of input temperature, it’s vital that the control systems are capable of dealing with what would be in a conventional system, excessive heat.
It’s the same for thermostatic control valves, which it can be argued are even more important to include in solar systems than on any other hot water system. Imagine an unexpected blast of water at almost boiling point coming out of a basin, bath or shower. It’s a recipe for disaster.
To distinguish between solar and non-solar equipment, some manufacturers, including ourselves colour equipment differently. Our solar equipment is bright yellow. Because the area of both thermostatic control and solar heating is relatively new to many in the industry, the right technical information is vital for successful and efficient installations. Responsible manufacturers such as ourselves are providing free technical information and support too, to ensure that specifiers and installers get it right, because just like gas installations, getting it wrong is simply dangerous.
For more information on the Altecnic range or solar technical advice visit www.altecnic.co.uk or call 01889 207200.
ENDS
For more information please contact Clive Reeves on 01543 501111 or email clive@wardlovett.com