Solar Powered Water Heater Inspection

[Reggie Russell]

Hey Guys,

I have a Home Inspection scheduled tomorrow that has a solar powered water heater. I have not ever seen one of these before, much less inspected one. While I do have solar heating systems excluded per my Contract every client signs, I still do not want to sound too inept when describing it. Can anyone give me any info or tell me what to look for on these types of systems? Any info you guys could give would be greatly appreciated! :confused:

[Jim Luttrall]

Solar water heating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_heater)
pretty good start

[A.D. Miller]

Hey Guys,

I have a Home Inspection scheduled tomorrow that has a solar powered water heater. I have not ever seen one of these before, much less inspected one. While I do have solar heating systems excluded per my Contract every client signs, I still do not want to sound too inept when describing it. Can anyone give me any info or tell me what to look for on these types of systems? Any info you guys could give would be greatly appreciated! :confused:

RR:

http://www.solreliant.com/SOLRELIANTmanual.pdf

Solar Water Heating Projects and Plans (http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm#Basics)

Solar Panel Installation Manual - Solar Pool and Water Heating from Sun Ray Solar (http://www.sunraysolar.com/waterheatinginstallation.php)

http://www.ecosmartinc.com/productdocs/Solahart-USA_InstMan_347098_Rev_E_100306.pdf

Solar hot water heating system parts & design basics - guide to using solar energy (http://www.inspect-ny.com/plumbing/Solar_Hot_Water.htm)

[Mike Schulz]

Hey Reggie,

Post the pictures of the unit here so we all can get an education.

[Reggie Russell]

Hey Mike,

I can't seem to get 5 pictures to load at one time. I keep getting this error message - Invalid Post specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator.

I will keep trying but it may have to wait until tomorrow. :(

[Mike Schulz]

Make sure the KB size is correct and the pictures are Jpeg, names might not allow dashes,etc.

[A.D. Miller]

The easiest way to resize photos is to install a free copy of:

Screen Print & Capture 32 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com (http://download.cnet.com/Screen-Print-Capture-32/3000-2384_4-10135610.html?tag=mncol)

Once installed, just select the picture while it is on your screen and save it as another file. The saved version will always be small enough to use on the Hann's (typically) severely limited function site.:D

[Reggie Russell]

Hey Guys,

Well, I got 3 of them to load.

I also found somebody who is very knowledgeable about these types of systems. We are scheduled to go back to the home Sunday afternoon for him to inspect the unit and educate me and my client on how it works. He charges $50 an hour, that includes his travel time, and I and my client will split the costs of that. So I think this is going to work out pretty good!

[Reggie Russell]

Hey Guys,

Here is a picture of inside the wood cabinet on the wall with labels Photo-shopped on the major components of the system. Glad that guy came out because the Water Circulating Pump is bad and needs replacing.

[Mike Schulz]

Reggie,

How does the solution which you have marked silicone circulate in conjunction with the water circulation. The heat exchanger seems so small for heating.

[Reggie Russell]

Hey Mike,

I hope I am remembering this right. The Silicone Pump pumps silicone up through the ceiling all the way up to the Solar Panels located on the roof to get heated. It then comes back down into the Heat Exchanger to give up its heat to the water coming through at the same time, and then back around into the Pump again forming a complete loop. It then proceeds to do that same cycle over and over again. The Water Pump takes water from the bottom of the Holding Tank, pumps it around through the Heat Exchanger to be heated by the silicone that is coming from the other direction, then it goes back into the Holding Tank at the top. Water is then drawn off the top to feed the normal electric heater whenever it needs it.

Anyway, that is just a rough draft, but I think it captures the basic idea.

[Jerry Peck]

Typically ... the two lines are spiraled together around each other in a long coil, making for a very large heat sink contact transfer area.

Another way is for one to be in a spiral coil and be immersed into the larger outer cylinder where the other fluid is, and there is contact along the entire outer surface of the spiral coil.

Sometimes there is simply one pipe inside of a larger pipe, which results in a very limited heat transfer contact area. This is what I suspect you are thinking of, Mike.