| Solar energy is a great alternative for heating your | | | | to transfer as much heat as possible from the sun's |
| pool or for heating water for inside your home. The | | | | energy to the water that flows directly through it. |
| materials needed to create solar collection devices | | | | 2. The cold water pipe is simply a pipe filled with tap |
| and solar panels are becoming increasingly inexpensive | | | | water that feeds directly into the solar collector so that |
| due to advances in technology. | | | | it can be heated up. |
| If you are looking at a diagram of solar energy panels | | | | 3. The hot water pipe is an extension of the cold |
| that can be used to build a water heating system, you | | | | water pipe, but it is the portion that comes out (the |
| may not be 100% clear on the function of each | | | | output) of the solar collector and contains hot water. |
| component in the system or how they all work | | | | 4. The boiler receives the hot water from the hot |
| together to produce usable hot water from the sun's | | | | water pipe and transfers the heat from this water to |
| energy. This overview should help clarify things for you. | | | | water in the boiler's tank. In other words, the hot water |
| The basic principle behind a system of solar energy | | | | from the first pipe itself is not actually used in the |
| panels for heating water is the transfer of heat energy | | | | water heater that supplies the home or pool. Rather, |
| from available sunlight to the water. Building a system | | | | the heat energy from the hot water pipe is merely |
| to do this is in effect harnessing the sun's energy in the | | | | transferred from one to the other. |
| most efficient way for a practical purpose in your | | | | 5. Finally, the controller is the mechanism that controls |
| home (i.e., providing hot water for a pool, hot tub, or | | | | the pump that pushes the cold water through the cold |
| water heater). | | | | water pipe to the solar collector. It can be manually |
| When looking at a diagram of solar energy panels, | | | | adjusted depending upon energy needs. |
| here are the primary components you will see: | | | | Solar power systems are a great way to save |
| 1. The solar collector is similar in some ways to a | | | | money on energy usage while protecting the |
| regular photovoltaic solar panel used to make | | | | environment by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels like |
| electricity. However, instead of converting the sun's | | | | oil, coal and natural gas. |
| photons into electricity, the solar collector is engineered | | | | |