Arizona Solar Water Heating - Solar Plumbing Services
Phoenix East Valley (480)518-3663
Phoenix West Valley (623)516-9401
For solar hot water systems, flat-plate solar collectors are typically installed facing south on a rooftop.
The shallow water of a lake is usually warmer than the deep water. That's because the sunlight can heat the lake bottom in the shallow areas, which in turn, heats the water. It's nature's way of solar water heating. The sun can be used in basically the same way to heat water used in buildings and swimming pools.
Most solar water heating systems for buildings have two main parts: a solar collector and a storage tank. The most common collector is called a flat-plate collector. Mounted on the roof, it consists of a thin, flat, rectangular box with a transparent cover that faces the sun. Small tubes run through the box and carry the fluid — either water or other fluid, such as an antifreeze solution — to be heated. The tubes are attached to an absorber plate, which is painted black to absorb the heat. As heat builds up in the collector, it heats the fluid passing through the tubes.
The storage tank then holds the hot liquid. It can be just a modified water heater, but it is usually larger and very well-insulated. Systems that use fluids other than water usually heat the water by passing it through a coil of tubing in the tank, which is full of hot fluid.
Solar water heating systems can be either active or passive, but the most common are active systems. Active systems rely on pumps to move the liquid between the collector and the storage tank, while passive systems rely on gravity and the tendency for water to naturally circulate as it is heated.
Swimming pool systems are simpler. The pool's filter pump is used to pump the water through a solar collector, which is usually made of black plastic or rubber. And of course, the pool stores the hot water.
Find out more about solar water heating from the U.S. Department of Energy's
Solar Energy Technologies Program.
![]() |
|
|
The cost of installing an efficient Solar System is not cheap and their are variable, such as two story roofs, tile shingles as opposed to asphalt shingles, then length of the run from panels to the water tank, any updating to the exsisting system, and so on.
The cost of Solar is why you haven't heard about it as much as you did twenty years ago. It could have taken as much as seventeen years to recover the cost of a system! - THINGS ARE DIFFERENT NOW, VERY DIFFERRENT!
Thanks to incentive SOLAR REBATES from APS and SRP - as well as excellent TAX CREDITS from both the Federal and State Governments, you can have an out-of-pocket cost of as little as $400 (or less!) after the first year. Not all installations are the same, but here is an example of how it works.............
Suddenly, Solar Water Heating is viable again!!
![]() |
We do not install solar electric (photovoltaic) systems. For these services, we recommend that you call Arizona Energy Masters at 602-427-0007 |
Call TODAY, and Les Beaman will stop by and give you an
estimate on your new system --
Let Les Beaman put his 27 years experience to work for
you!
623-516-9401
(480) 518-3663 |
(623) 516-9401 |