Solar panels for home heating - views and features

Modern technologies do not stand still and regularly offer new solutions to ensure comfortable living conditions. An example of this are solar-powered heating systems.

In this article we look at the types of devices that allow you to use the energy of the sun for heating, and their features.

General information

Batteries that can convert sunlight into electricity have been invented relatively long ago. In our country, they appeared in calculators and other various devices in the early 90s, but in the west they began to be used much earlier.

In particular, in the "solar" countries, people have come up with the use of solar energy to heat the rooms, installing batteries on the roofs of their houses. Soon this decision became widespread throughout the world.

The popularity of such technology of heating is associated with the following advantages:

• There is no need to pay for heating or energy sources for heating.
• Independence from utilities.
• Energy can be spent not only on heating, but also on other domestic needs, for example, for lighting (when using photovoltaic cells as batteries).
• The long service life of devices, so you can not think about replacing them for at least 25 years.
• The ability to adjust the level of heating.

Of course, along with the advantages of such heating, there are some disadvantages, the most serious among which are the following:

• The high cost of batteries, and, one square meter gives only 120 watts per month. Therefore, to heat a small house you will need 15 - 20 square meters of batteries.
• Solar heating is not efficient in regions where there are few cloudy days. To get about 500 kW of energy per month in the region, there should be no more than ten cloudy days.
• Installing batteries requires a large roof area.
• It is possible to equip the house with solar panels only if there are no high buildings or trees near the house that shade the roof.
• Devices have a certain weight, so the roof truss system must have a certain margin of safety.

Tip! It is advisable to plan solar heating during the housing design phase. In particular, it is necessary to take into account the arrangement of elements relative to the cardinal points, to allocate a certain roof area for them, and, as mentioned above, to provide a more solid roof system.

Types of batteries

All existing solar for heating batteries for the home are of two types:

• Conventional solar photovoltaic cells - from a silicon film or on photovoltaic crystals.
• Vacuum collectors (solar power plants).

Despite the fact that both types of devices catch the rays of the sun, the principle of their work is completely different. Accordingly, each of them has its positive and negative sides. Therefore, below we consider the features of modules of both types.

Photoelectric elements

When they talk about solar batteries, most often they imply photovoltaic cells, which simply provide electricity to an electric boiler (boilers). The effectiveness of such a system depends on the area that is covered with light-trapping modules.

For example, if a 800 W panel is located on the roof, then it will be enough only to connect one heater, and then not for a long time. But the power of 8 kW is enough to heat several small rooms. In order to fully heat the house of a medium size, as well as provide electricity for a water heater and household appliances, you will need modules with an output of about 20 kW.

The disadvantage of such batteries is the space they occupy, which will need a lot. In addition, solar heating is effective only in good sunny weather, which rarely happens in our latitudes in winter. True, the exceptions are thin-film plates capable of delivering electricity even from diffused light.

Tip! If the roof of the house does not meet the basic requirements, you can install batteries on the adjacent roof.

Collectors

The solar heating system of the collector type, in contrast to photovoltaic modules, does not work from electricity, but due to the heat of the fluid flowing through the collector tubes and heated by the sun. Immediately it should be said that such collectors are of two types:

I must say that the collectors are able to provide housing with heat even in the most cloudy weather, since the vacuum between the double-walled tubes retains heat. As for the shortcomings, they include the need for a system in electricity, because boiling liquid is supplied to the collector under pressure, which is provided by an electric pump.

However, to generate current, you can optionally install photovoltaic cells. In order for the system to work automatically, electronics is connected to it, which turns the system on and off depending on the temperature sensor readings.

It should be noted that the heating of the coolant in the collector can be carried out up to 200 degrees Celsius. It does not matter the ambient temperature. What is important is the light from the sun, which must fall on the solar power plant.

Therefore, if you decide to organize the heating of a private house with solar panels, it is best to give preference to collectors of indirect water heating, which are also called all-season.

Tip! There are models of these devices that are able to change their position during the day and thus catch the maximum amount of sunlight at different times of the day. Of course, their cost is higher, but they are more efficient.

The nuances of solar heating

In order for heating to be effective, it is important not only to choose the right batteries for it, but also to take into account some of the nuances that are given below:

• Installing collectors and photovoltaic cells is necessary on the south side of the roof.
• The angle of the roof should not exceed 45 degrees.
• Be sure to perform the correct calculation of the required system power. Designing is best left to experts, as is the installation of modules.

Tip! In winter, low solar activity can significantly reduce the efficiency of the heating system. Therefore, experts do not recommend completely abandon the traditional types of heating.

Here, perhaps, are all the main points with which it is necessary to become familiar, before making a decision about installing such a heating system at home.

Conclusion

Heating a country house with solar panels is a sensible solution. The main thing is to choose the modules that meet your needs, as well as correctly calculate the system. At the same time, it is safe to say that all the costs of arranging such heating will pay off over time (see also the article Repair of ventilation: some features and recommendations of the masters).