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 Systems for residential or buisiness use
All solar panels or collectors are used to collect the sun's energy
either by using its heat for hot water and swimming pool heating
or by converting it to electricity. Each type of collectoris designed
differently to meet its intended use.
Domestic hot water systems
The chief component of any solar water heating system is the collector.
Solar collectors absorb the radiant energy of the sun and change
it into heat energy. The flat-plate collector is the predominant
type used in solar domestic hot water (DHW) systems. This type is
an insulated box covered by a glass faceplate with copper tubing
and fins mounted inside. A circulating pump and controller store
the hot water in a conventional or specially designed hot water
storage tank.
A second type of collector is the Integral Collector Storage (ICS)
unit. The outstanding feature of this collector is that collection and storage
are in the same unit. ICS units are very similar to standard flat plate
collectors, though they contain either very large storage tubes or small tanks. They generally serve as a means to pre-heat the water to lessen the load of the conventional water heater.
Swimming pool heating
A comfortable swimming water temperature is relatively low compared
to other uses of hot water. This allows the use of simple, efficient
solar collectors. These systems require no separate storage tank,
since the pool itself serves as the storage tank. Collectors for
pool use are almost exclusively made of extruded heat resistent
plastic that form a large somewhat flexible blanket with circulating
water channels.
Electricity directly from the sun
Collections of photovoltaic circuits are also often referred to as a solar panel. PV is short for photovoltaics (photo=light, voltaics=electricity).
PV is a semiconductor-based technology (similar to the microchip) used
to convert light energy into direct current electricity, using no moving
parts, consuming no fuel, and creating no pollution. Photovoltaic (PV)
systems were first developed for the NASA space program over 30 years
ago and the cost of PV has dropped about 100 times since the start of
accelerated research in 1973, the year of the first oil embargo.
 A solar panel for your energy choice
Taking advantage of renewable energy
Types of collectors in hot water systems
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