| RSS Web Feed for Renewable Energy UK |  | REUK Shop | Directory | About Us  

Solartwin Solar Water Heating



Solartwin Solar Water Heating

Find out more about the Solartwin solar water heating system

solar | water
  Printer Friendly Version Print Article     

Solartwin solar heating system installers

Solar Twin Ltd are a UK based company with almost 10 years of experience of installing solar water heating systems in the United Kingdom.

Solartwin DIY Solar Water Heating Kit

The Solartwin water heating system can be installed in a day by a two people - with a full system installed for under GBP 3,500, or available for DIY installation for under GBP 2,500.

Solartwin Solar Water Heating System


Solartwin solar water heating system panel

The key component of the Solartwin solar water heating system is the double glazed solar hot water panel (pictured above). This flat panel is 2.465 x 1.265 x 0.080 metres in size and weighs in at 33kg when full.

Solartwin PV solar panel - for powering hot water pump

The small 5 Watt photovoltaic solar panel (pictured above) is used to provide power for the water pump. (A shunt resistor is used to reduce the solar panel output to 4 Watts giving a peak pumping rate of 0.7 litres per minute.)

The pump is a long-life brushless (i.e. permanent magnet) model which should have a zero-maintenance working life of at least 10 to 20 years. With the narrow 6mm microbore flexible pipes used in the Solartwin system, total pipe lengths of up to 30 metres can be achieved. Longer runs of pipe are possible if wider pipes are used, but more heat would be lost between the solar panel and the hot water tank.

Solartwin Features


Schematic diagram of the Solartwin solar water heating system

The main advantage of the Solar Twin system is that water is pushed through the system by a low current water pump powered directly by a PV Solar Panel. When it is very sunny, the water is pumped quickly; when it is cloudy (and the water is heated more slowly) the water is pumped slowly; and when there is no sun, zero power is used. There is also no need for battery backup or a solar charge controller so the overall system is quite simple.

In addition, the numerous aluminium parts of the system are made from aluminium brought in from Norway where hydroelectricity is used extensively, therefore reducing the carbon footprint of this product.

More Information about Solar Twin


Solartwin Website

To find out more about Solartwin visit the official Solartwin website.

A 6 page Solartwin Brochure (PDF) is available as a free download, as is a 2 page Solartwin User's Guide.

For very detailed information on installing the Solartwin system, take a look at the Solartwin Installation Instructions (37 page PDF). The information contained in this document is also likely to be very useful for anyone interested in putting together a DIY solar water heating system.

More Information about Solar Water Heating

Evacuated tube solar water heating is becoming more popular than the flat panel type solar collector used by Solar Twin because of its increased efficiency - click here to find out more.

It is perfectly possible for anyone with basic DIY skills to put together a basic solar water heating system from scratch thereby saving a lot of money. Here are some useful links to related articles on the REUK.co.uk website:
Introduction to solar water heating.
Simple solar water heating.
Build a concentrated solar water heater.
Solar water heating pump controller.
Thermosyphon solar water heating (no pump required).



Article Last Modified: 11:08, 30th Jul 2007

Comment on this Article

If you have any comments on this article, please email them to neil@reuk.co.uk.


Related REUK Categories

solar | water
© 2006-2012 REUK - All Rights Reserved
Page Last Updated on 4th February 2012 at 12:42:53pm

Latest
Articles


Make a PICAXE Repeating Timer
Make your own repeating timer with our automatic PICAXE Basic code generator
education
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

Karasouli SCC 20 Wind Turbine Charge Controller
Find out more about the SCC-20 wind turbine charge controller and dump load controller
wind
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

UK Feed in Tariff to be Cut by 50 Percent
UK government announces 50% cut in feed in tariff payable on new solar PV installations
solar
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

PIR Sensor Circuits
Find out more about using PIR sensors within renewable energy applications
electronics
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

Water Heating with Surplus Solar PV
Heat water with surplus solar generated electricity
solar
10:58, 4th Feb 2012

Hacked PIR Sensor
Cannibalise a cheap PIR sensor to put it to other uses
electronics
10:44, 4th Feb 2012

Make a Still
Find out how to make your own still for distilling ethanol fuel
biomass
13:49, 31st Jan 2012

PICAXE Microcontrollers
Find out about PICAXE microcontrollers and their use in renewable energy projects
electronics
13:12, 30th Jan 2012



REUK Shop

Popular Items


REUK SUPER LDR DUSK DAWN RELAY CONTROLLER
Multi-function light detector triggered light/dark dawn/dusk relay controller
£18.95 each.
Complete Circuits



KARASOULI SCC 20 CHARGE CONTROLLER
20A rated wind turbine charge controller and dump load controller with blocking diode and heatsink
£43.95 each.
Renewable Energy System Parts



SOLAR PUMP CONTROLLER WITH RELAY
Solar water heating system microprocessor controlled circuit with fitted 10A relay
£25.99 each.
Complete Circuits



REUK SUPER POULTRY LIGHTING CONTROLLER
Control up to 8 Watts of LED spotlights to stimulate egg production in birds
£29.99 each.
Complete Circuits



REUK SUPER TIMER 2
User programmable 12VDC powered 16A rated repeating relay timer. 1 second to 99 hours ON and OFF times
£23.99 each.
Complete Circuits



300 WATT POWER INVERTER
Convert 12V DC battery power into 230 AC to power portable televisions, computers, video recorders etc. 300 Watt power rating - peak power 600 Watts
£29.99 each.
Renewable Energy System Parts



CONVERTED PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL TIMER RELAY
Mains powered programmable timer converted to low voltage with relay board
£21.99 each.
Renewable Energy System Parts



12 VOLT REGULATOR
Supply a fixed 12.0 Volt DC to your devices (up to 1 Amp output)
£4.99 each.
Complete Circuits



MR16 CERAMIC BULB HOLDER
Bulb holder for 12 Volt LED spotlight bulbs
£1.39 each.
Energy Efficient Lighting