Radiantec Solar Water Heater Owner's Manual - Components
2
A thermal sensor near the solar
collectors sends temperature
information to the solar controller. The
controller compares this information
with the temperature on the pipe
returning from the storage tank. If the
collector temperature is warmer, the
pump comes on and circulates the heat
transfer fluid so that the heat energy is
transferred to the solar storage tank.
The Radiantec Basic Solar Domestic
Water Heater can be technically
described as a
“closed loop, hydronic,
antifreeze-based, indirect solar
water heater
– In layman’s language,
this means that a solar collector warms
up a solution of antifreeze and water.
Then the antifreeze solution is
circulated by a pump from the solar
collector to a copper heat exchanger
that wraps around the bottom of the
hot water storage tank, and then back
to the solar collector to be reheated.
COMPONENTS
Solar collector array
Three solar panels from Alternative Energy Technolo-
gies
will make up the solar collector array. The model
number is AE-32 and the dimensions are approximately
4’X 8’. The
net solar aperture
is approximately 90 square
ft and is relatively large in comparison to many other
solar collectors. The net solar aperture is the actual
amount of black solar absorption area that is exposed to
the sun and is a very important factor in performance.
The solar panel is a shallow aluminum box with glass
cover. It is essentially a heat trap, like an automobile on a
sunny day. Solar radiation passes through the glass cover into the collector where it
turns into heat. The collected heat cannot escape easily by radiating back out. The heat
is then carried away by a black copper absorber plate with attached fluid passages. In
other words, the solar collector turns solar energy into a hot antifreeze solution.