Go Solar! Get Solar Hot Water from a Kit

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When finished, collectors for the solar hot water were mounted on a shed located away from the house.
When finished, collectors for the solar hot water were mounted on a shed located away from the house.
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The collector needed to be mounted away from the house for optimal solar exposure. A gravel foundation was sufficient.
The collector needed to be mounted away from the house for optimal solar exposure. A gravel foundation was sufficient.
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The shed is custom-build with a timber frame, which is mounted on tge gravel footer.
The shed is custom-build with a timber frame, which is mounted on tge gravel footer.
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The shed with collector mounted. Installation instructions for the collector are easy to follow.
The shed with collector mounted. Installation instructions for the collector are easy to follow.
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A sheath of Tyvek and metal roof wrap the frame.
A sheath of Tyvek and metal roof wrap the frame.
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The Sunward system works in conjunction with a standard tank (left), which provides backup hot water on cloudy days. 
The Sunward system works in conjunction with a standard tank (left), which provides backup hot water on cloudy days. 

When the “Go Solar!” battle cry first went up decades ago, handy folks with a knack for plumbing and carpentry put their skills to work designing custom systems that fit their precise solar vision. That adventure — of creating and installing cutting-edge energy technology — remains a draw for some homeowners today. The rest of us would rather skip the adventure and opt for a proven system, such as the Sunward solar hot water kit that Country Home Products offers. With factory mounts and prefabricated components, this kit will allow you to enjoy long, hot, and solar-powered showers in just a few weeks — without the challenges of designing and building a system from scratch. If you’d like some expert help with installation, you can even hire a certified installer.

The solar collectors of the new Sunward system capture heat and transfer it to glycol-filled tubes. The glycol then circulates through a heat exchanger in the hot water storage tank. Some systems use water to carry heat from the collectors, but water would freeze in winter in some climates unless there were a mechanism to drain it each time the temperature fell below freezing. A glycol-based system can be used in a wider range of climates.

Country Home Products designed its Sunward system for versatile installation, too. Customers can choose to mount the collectors on the roof or on a ground-based frame. The roof-mounted frame lies flush with your roof, so you’ll need a south-facing slope, and your collectors will likely be a little less efficient than they would be on a ground-mounted frame (unless you have a steep roof ). The closer the angle of the roof matches the angle of the sun, the more effective the system will be.

If you want to mount your collectors in a frame, you have a choice between a weatherproof steel rack and a timber frame rack. We chose the timber frame option and enclosed it as a shed.

The first thing you’ll notice when the truck delivers your Sunward system is that it’s big. Packed on a wooden pallet about 9 feet long with a 4-foot-tall backstop, it can’t be safely unloaded in one piece. Pretty much everything you’ll need comes in the package, including the collectors, heat exchanger, mounting hardware, framing, connectors, and glycol. To protect the components, make sure to tell the delivery driver to disassemble the package and unload the components one at a time. Even with a pallet loader, the huge package is unwieldy. After it’s on the ground, you’re ready to start the installation.

  • Published on Oct 28, 2010
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