Heating up water accounts for a good chunk of a home's energy use.

It's a near-constant need -- we use

hot water for showers, laundry, washing dishes -- and it adds up. In one year, an 80-gallon (302-liter)
electric water heater averages about $500 to run, uses 4,800 kWh of electricity and contributes about
6,600 pounds (2,993 kilograms) of CO2 to the atmosphere [sources: Olsen,Reuters, SB].
A natural-gas-powered heater does better, but it still accounts for about $400 and 3,900 pounds (1,769
kilograms) of CO2 per year [sources: Energy Star, GNG,PGE].
There are greener options out there. Both high-efficiency andtankless water heaters can cut back on
energy use. But solar is on another level. It's about as green as hot water can get. A solar water heater is
typically used in conjunction with a traditional heater, since weather affects solar hot-water production.
The traditional heater supplements the solar heater. Adding a solar water heater to a water-heating
system can reduce energy bills and corresponding CO2 emissions by 50 percent -- sometimes even more,
depending on where you live [source: PE].
Solar is an excellent clean energy source: Its fuel, sunlight, is limitless, free and emits nothing when
converted into energy. The problem with solar, as most of us know, is its efficiency. Solar photovoltaic
technology, or PV, is less efficient at converting its fuel into electricity than, say, a wind turbine. But when
you're talking about heating water (as opposed to powering light bulbs or stereos), the sunlight doesn't
need to become electricity. It needs to become heat. And turning sunlight into heat is no problem.
Which is not to say solar water heaters have no drawbacks. In this article, we'll find out how a solar water
heating system works, which factors determine its efficiency, how you could make your own, and why you
might or might not want to.
At its core, a solar water heater does one thing: It uses sunlight to warm water. The same thing is
happening when you leave a glass of iced tea in the sun: After a while, it's not iced anymore. Of course, a
home water heater has to work faster and bigger than that, so the system has to be more complicated.
But sometimes, only slightly.

A basic solar collector system

Image courtesy of Missouri Department of Natural Resources

Solar Water Heating Systems

The core of a solar water heater is a solar collector and a storage tank. A solar collector is basically a
glazed, insulated box with a dark-colored interior and, usually, a bunch of tubes or passageways for water
flow. (Glazing is a coat of material, typically glass, that aids in heat retention.) The solar collector turns the
sun's radiation into heat. A storage tank is exactly what it sounds like. It holds the water.
That's the basic setup, and some systems aren't much more complicated than that. The first distinction
among solar water heaters is cut and dry: passive or active? An active heater uses electrical pumps and
controls to move water around the system. A passive heater uses nothing but forces of nature. Passive is
the simpler of the two.
There are two primary types of passive systems:

Batch: This is as uncomplicated as a water heater gets. It's just one or more water tanks inside a
solar collector (no tubes in this one). The water warms up right inside the tank, and either gravity or
natural convection (the tendency of hot water to rise) moves water from the tank to a home's pipes.

Thermosiphon: The water tank is separate from the solar collector. Cold water moves through
the tubes of a solar collector, and natural convection pumps the resulting hot water into a storage tank.
From the storage tank, the water travels into the home's water pipes.
Active systems typically fall into one of three categories:

Direct: Water moves through the solar collectors and into a storage tank with the help of electrical
pumps and controls.

Indirect: Instead of heating water, the solar collectors heat a "heat transfer" fluid, such as
antifreeze. The antifreeze then flows into the sealed piping of a heat exchanger, where it is surrounded by

water. The water picks up the heat from the antifreeze (but never mixes with it), and is then pumped into a
storage tank.

Drainback: A drainback system is like the indirect system except that it uses distilled water as the
heat-transfer liquid, and it has a separate "drainback" tank for the distilled water. Pumping all of the heattransfer liquid out of the system and into an interior tank makes it ideal for colder climates, since the liquid
isn't exposed to extremely cold weather.
Whether the solar system is passive or active, it costs a lot more than you'd pay for a gas or electric
model (more on price later). But some people are cutting back on the cost by making their own. As it turns
out, the most basic type, the batch heater, is a relatively simple build-at-home project.

Image of a heat exchanger. | Photo from iStockphoto.com

Solar water heating systems use heat exchangers to transfer solar energy absorbed in solar collectors to
the liquid or air used to heat water or a space.

Heat exchangers can be made of steel, copper, bronze, stainless steel, aluminum, or cast iron. Solar
heating systems usually use copper, because it is a good thermal conductor and has greater resistance to
corrosion.

TYPES OF HEAT EXCHANGERS

Solar water heating systems use three types of heat exchangers:

Liquid-to-liquid
A liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger uses a heat-transfer fluid that circulates through the solar collector,
absorbs heat, and then flows through a heat exchanger to transfer its heat to water in a storage tank.
Heat-transfer fluids, such as antifreeze, protect the solar collector from freezing in cold weather.
Liquid-to-liquid heat exchangers have either one or two barriers (single wall or double wall) between
the heat-transfer fluid and the domestic water supply.
A single-wall heat exchanger is a pipe or tube surrounded by a fluid. Either the fluid passing through
the tubing or the fluid surrounding the tubing can be the heat-transfer fluid, while the other fluid is the
potable water.
Double-wall heat exchangers have two walls between the two fluids. Two walls are often used when
the heat-transfer fluid is toxic, such as ethylene glycol (antifreeze). Double walls are often required as
a safety measure in case of leaks, helping ensure that the antifreeze does not mix with the potable
water supply. An example of a double-wall, liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger is the "wrap-around heat
exchanger," in which a tube is wrapped around and bonded to the outside of a hot water tank. The
tube must be adequately insulated to reduce heat losses.
While double-wall heat exchangers increase safety, they are less efficient because heat must transfer
through two surfaces rather than one. To transfer the same amount of heat, a double-wall heat
exchanger must be larger than a single-wall exchanger.

Air-to-liquid
Solar heating systems with air heater collectors usually do not need a heat exchanger between the
solar collector and the air distribution system. Those systems with air heater collectors that heat water
use air-to-liquid heat exchangers, which are similar to liquid-to-air heat exchangers.

HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGNS

There are many heat exchanger designs. Here are some common ones:

Coil-in-tank
The heat exchanger is a coil of tubing in the storage tank. It can be a single tube (single-wall heat
exchanger) or the thickness of two tubes (double-wall heat exchanger). A less efficient alternative is to
place the coil on the outside of the collector tank with a cover of insulation.

Shell-and-tube
The heat exchanger is separate from (external to) the storage tank. It has two separate fluid loops
inside a case or shell. The fluids flow in opposite directions to each other through the heat exchanger,
maximizing heat transfer. In one loop, the fluid to be heated (such as potable water) circulates through
the inner tubes. In the second loop, the heat-transfer fluid flows between the shell and the tubes of
water. The tubes and shell should be made of the same material. When the collector or heat-transfer
fluid is toxic, double-wall tubes are used, and a non-toxic intermediary transfer fluid is placed between
the outer and inner walls of the tubes.
Tube-in-tube
In this very efficient design, the tubes of water and the heat-transfer fluid are in direct thermal contact
with each other. The water and the heat-transfer fluid flow in opposite directions to each other. This
type of heat exchanger has two loops similar to those described in the shell-and-tube heat exchanger.

SIZING
A heat exchanger must be sized correctly to be effective. There are many factors to consider for proper
sizing, including the following:

Type of heat exchanger

Characteristics of the heat-transfer fluid (specific heat, viscosity, and density)
Flow rate
Inlet and outlet temperatures for each fluid.

Usually, manufacturers will supply heat transfer ratings for their heat exchangers (in Btu/hour) for various
fluid temperatures and flow rates. Also, the size of a heat exchanger's surface area affects its speed and
efficiency: a large surface area transfers heat faster and more efficiently.

INSTALLATION
For the best performance, always follow the manufacturer's installation recommendations for the heat
exchanger. Be sure to choose a heat-transfer fluid that is compatible with the type of heat exchanger you
will be using. If you want to build your own heat exchanger, be aware that using different metals in heat
exchanger construction may cause corrosion. Also, because dissimilar metals have different thermal
expansion and contraction characteristics, leaks or cracks may develop. Either of these conditions may
reduce the life span of your heat exSolar Thermal Systems
There are two types of solar thermal systems: passive and active. A passive system requires no
equipment, like when heat builds up inside your car when it's left parked in the sun. An active system
requires some way to absorb and collect solar radiation and then store it.
Solar thermal power plants are active systems, and while there are a few types, there are a few basic
similarities: Mirrors reflect and concentrate sunlight, and receivers collect that solar energy and convert it
into heat energy. A generator can then be used to produce electricity from this heat energy.

The most common type of solar thermal power plants, including those plants in California's Mojave
Desert, use a parabolic trough design to collect the sun's radiation. These collectors are known as linear
concentrator systems, and the largest are able to generate 80 megawatts of electricity [source: U.S.
Department of Energy]. They are shaped like a half-pipe you'd see used for snowboarding or
skateboarding, and have linear, parabolic-shaped reflectors covered with more than 900,000 mirrors that
are north-south aligned and able to pivot to follow the sun as it moves east to west during the day.
Because of its shape, this type of plant can reach operating temperatures of about 750 degrees F (400
degrees C), concentrating the sun's rays at 30 to 100 times their normal intensity onto heat-transfer-fluid
or water/steam filled pipes [source: Energy Information Administration]. The hot fluid is used to produce
steam, and the steam then spins a turbine that powers a generator to make electricity.
While parabolic trough designs can run at full power as solar energy plants, they're more often used as a
solar and fossil fuel hybrid, adding fossil fuel capability as backup.
Solar power tower systems are another type of solar thermal system. Power towers rely on thousands
ofheliostats, which are large, flat sun-tracking mirrors, to focus and concentrate the sun's radiation onto a
single tower-mounted receiver. Like parabolic troughs, heat-transfer fluid or water/steam is heated in the
receiver (power towers, though, are able to concentrate the sun's energy as much as 1,500 times),
eventually converted to steam and used to produce electricity with a turbine and generator.
Power tower designs are still in development but could one day be realized as grid-connected power
plants producing about 200 megawatts of electricity per tower.
A third system is the solar dish/engine. Compared to the parabolic trough and power towers, dish
systems are small producers (about 3 to 25 kilowatts). There are two main components: the solar
concentrator (the dish) and the power conversion unit (the engine/generator). The dish is pointed at and
tracks the sun and collects solar energy; it's able to concentrate that energy by about 2,000 times. A
thermal receiver, a series of tubes filled with a cooling fluid (such as hydrogen or helium), sits between the
dish and the engine. It absorbs the concentrated solar energy from the dish, converts it to heat and sends
that heat to the engine where it becomes electricity.
changer.