General Solar Thermal Systems Information

General Solar Thermal Systems Information

I Am Installing A Drainback Solar Thermal System How Do I Facilitate Proper Drainback?

I am installing a drainback solar thermal system how do I facilitate proper drainback? In order for your system to "drainback" when the pump shuts off your collectors and piping must be sloped at 1/4" per 12" of run.  Be aware that visually your collectors will not be parallel with your roof ridge.

How Do I Determine Sun Angles Throughout the Year For My Location?

How Do I Determine Sun Angles Throughout the Year For My Location? The University of Oregon provides a free online tool that does just this. Plug in your location and this tool will provide a PDF with precise sun data. With this information you can determine the appropriate distances to place your arrays so as not to shade them during certain...

Do I Need To Mix The Glycol I Purchased From SunMaxx With Water?

Do I Need To Mix The Glycol I Purchased From SunMaxx With Water?No. You can commission your system with glycol strait out of the container. Our XMaxx Glycol Solution is not only premixed with distilled water but also made with bio-based raw materials and uses 20% less energy to produce than standard propylene glycol!

What can I do with excess energy in the summer?

Three choices- Steam, Drain or Dump.  For most places in the US, there will be more solar gain in the summer than in the winter. This occurs during a time when your load is lowest, so that means EXCESS HEAT. You must deal with this if you are to design and/build a solar thermal system that stands the test of...

How long does it usually take to install a typical Solar Hot Water System?

Well, this all depends on many things. But for an average home with average difficulty level and experienced installer shouldnt take much more than two full days. I have seen some that were installed by two men in one full day and others that take a week. If you are using a pre-packaged system, such as the Heliomaxx Kits from...

How long does it usually take to install a prepackaged DHW kit?

Well, that all depends but usually 2 workers can install a simple DHW kit and have it fully commissioned within 3 days. There are some cases where only 2 days is required and some days more. Our Heliomaxx kits are designed for simplicity and we expect that you shouldn't really need more than 48 total hours for a job and...

Do I need any experience in electricity to install a solar water heater?

No, you do not. In fact, if you purchase a pre-packaged kit from Sunmaxx, the pump station (which is has the controller and pump  built in) simply has a 3-prong plug that you insert right into a 110v wall outlet. The only thing that you would need to do is to insert the sensor wire into the appropriate location on...

How do I know if my system is performing the way it should be?

First of all, your system performance will be measured by BTU'S produced, NOT by temperature achieved. The simplest way to accomplish this is by following this method: 1- Record your solar tank temperature first thing in the morning, before the solar pump turns on. 2- be sure that no one uses hot water during this day. 3-Record your solar tank temperature at the...

How do I size a solar hot water system for my household?

Typically, an american average consumption of 20 gallons of hot water per day per person can be used to size systems. There are some variations in that however so we need to be careful about just using rules of thumb. For most of the Sunmaxx TitanPower Flat plates and Thermopower Evacuated tubes will yield about 2 gallons of hot water...