Solar Panels Installation to power your Central Heating
Our heating and hot water systems often account for about 70% of our energy costs. Imagine being able to produce your own hot water for nothing and reducing the amount you need to purchase from a supplier. Using a solar-powered central heating system, you can do just that.
Both solar PV and solar thermal panels harness the sun’s natural energy to supply us with clean, renewable energy for use in our homes. Solar thermal panels generate heat for the creation of hot water, while solar PV panels generate electricity. We can reduce our energy bills and lessen our environmental effects if we adopt solar technology. Scroll down to learn more
Central heating powered by solar thermal panels
The natural heat emitted by the sun is used by solar thermal panels for central heating to warm water in storage cylinders that are then used to heat your home. On the roof, where they are exposed to sunlight, the panels are mounted. The panels have liquid-filled tubes that absorb heat and transfer it to a hot water cylinder in your home that is solar-compatible. You can use this renewable, free heat instead of as much gas, oil, or electricity to operate the cylinder.
Central heating powered by solar pv panels
Solar photovoltaic, often known as solar PV panels harness the power of the sun to generate electricity for your home’s appliances and perhaps even an electric vehicle. Unlike the electricity most suppliers supply, the electricity the panels generate is not only free but also beneficial for the environment because no carbon is released during the production process.
Therefore, if you have an electric heating system, you might be able to use free electricity to run it. Solar PV panels can be useful even if your heating system is not totally powered by energy. Even a gas or oil boiler has electrical parts that need to be powered. A hot water cylinder with an immersion heater will also be powered by electricity if you have one.
Many homeowners already make use of solar PV by using a solar power diverter to direct excess electricity to their immersion heater. Scroll down to learn more about what is a solar power diverter.
What is a solar power diverter and how will it help power your central heating?
There will be times during the day when your solar PV system is producing more electricity than you can need, such as when you are at work. It will be automatically transferred to the National Grid unless you have a solar battery to save it for later use.
A solar power diverter continuously measures the electricity your system is producing and compares it to the amount of energy your appliances are consuming. It diverts this electricity to your immersion heater when it notices an excess (an electric heating element in your hot water cylinder). This means that you will be using free energy to heat the water in your home.
When you turn on your kettle while your excess solar electricity is heating your immersion, a solar power diverter will immediately switch the solar power to the kettle since it will prioritise the other appliances in your home.
As a result, your boiler won’t have to work as hard and you can buy less power from your supplier. You also won’t have to export any of your excess energy to the National Grid. In essence, you will increase your savings.
As long as your existing immersion heater has a thermostat, a solar power diverter will work with it, and the supplier will include everything else necessary to make it work, installation is typically extremely simple. The device itself resembles a somewhat larger heating thermostat in appearance.
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Solar Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT)
A solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system is something to think about if you want the best of both worlds. Because it combines solar thermal and photovoltaic technology, it can use the sun’s energy to generate both electricity and heat for the creation of hot water. In the PVT system, a separate unit harnesses the heat generated as a byproduct of the solar PV panels (which would have otherwise been squandered) to heat a hot water cylinder. This allows the solar PV panels to operate at a lower temperature, which makes them more efficient.
How much does it cost to install solar central heating?
Your home’s solar thermal or solar PV panel installation will cost a different amount depending on a number of variables. In order to ensure that the system can handle the heating or power demand of the household, different-sized homes will require different-sized systems.
There are certain average costs that could provide a rough estimate. For a four-bedroom home, a solar thermal system will typically cost between £3,000 and £5,000, but if there is a larger need for hot water, the price may reach £6,000. The industry recommendation is you will need approximately 1 m2 of panel per person living in the home.
The complexity of the installation, including how easily the solar technology will integrate with your current plumbing and whether or not scaffolding is required, this will also have an impact on pricing. If you don’t already have a solar-compatible hot water tank like the Megaflo Eco Solar, you’ll also need to install one, which will increase the cost.
