Solar UV - Thermal Energy
Solar hot water systems use the sun’s ultraviolet “UV” rays to heat water. The most common type of solar UV systems use evacuated tube collectors to collect the sun’s thermal energy and heat water used in hvac applications, cooking and process heat. Solar water heating systems include solar collectors and storage tanks. There are two types of solar water heating systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, and passive, which don’t.
Fact 1
Water heating, space heating, and space cooling accounted for 72 percent of the energy used in an average household in the U.S. in 2018 – representing a huge market potential for solar heating and cooling technologies.
Fact 2
A properly designed and installed solar water heating system can be expected to provide a significant percentage (60 to 80 percent) of a building’s hot water and heating needs.
Fact 3
Solar water heating systems are affordable. The return on investment can be as little as 3-6 years, the lowest of any solar technology.
Fact 4
Solar water heating systems can also produce air conditioning. The most common solar cooling systems, use solar water heating collectors and a thermal-chemical absorption process to produce air-conditioning, without using electricity. The process is nearly identical to that of a refrigerator, only no compressor is used. Instead, the absorption cycle is driven by the heated fluid from the solar collector.
Fact 5
In 1896 Clarence Kemp of Baltimore, USA enclosed a water tank in a wooden box on his roof, thus creating the first ‘batch solar water heater’ as they are known today.
Fact 6
Solar power is the most abundant energy source on Earth. There’s enough solar energy hitting the Earth every hour to meet all of humanity’s power needs for an entire year.