solar is up, water is hot
13 FEBRUARY 2011
The final few steps to start the solar hot water system running this weekend. Wiring the sensors, and pumps. Plumbing a little bit of copper pipe. Cleaning, flushing, and filling the solar loop with antifreeze. The system works by monitoring the temperature of the solar collectors on the rooftop-- whenever they're warmer than the water at the bottom of the thermal storage tank (i.e. an 81-gallon tank full of potable domestic water), the solar pump sends sun-heated antifreeze from the rooftop down through a copper pipe to a hermetic heat exchange coil within the tank, making the water HOT.
The propylene glycol antifreeze is used so the rooftop plumbing will never freeze, even on the coldest winter nights. The old refractometer helped me set the concentration to be used:
Read: -20 degrees F.
Our neighbor Bonnie asked a keen question regarding the chemical nature of the antifreeze. A good question, since it's in such close proximity to the domestic water supply. In the unlikely event of a breach in the solar loop, would we have a problem? Well... it turns out the stuff is pretty common in a variety of manufactured food-stuffs. Here's a short list of where it can be found:
dunkin donuts:
wake-up wrap
vanilla flavor shot
muffins
brownies
cookies
hot chocolate
dominoes pizza:
garlic parmesean sauce
bleu cheese sauce
hannafords:
bread pudding
whoopie pies
cake mixes
mcdonald's:
bagels
hotcakes
oatmeal raisin cookie
big mac sauce
chipotle bbq sauce
honey mustard sauce
tangy ranch sauce
breakfast sauce
So, don't worry. That tasty ranch dipping sauce won't ever freeze. WTF, by the way, is breakfast sauce?
Enough of the glycol digression. I'm happy to say, that as long as everything went well, the next sunny day (which is forecast to be Tuesday), we should see some good heating of the solar tank, and some reduction in natural gas, which is now used as backup hot water heat.
The general scheme of the system is particularly east to mess up, so I have to qualify the above statement. If all of the four sensors report correctly, the solar control logic is set correctly, and the chemistry and hydronics of the antifreeze loop are good- then the system should operate for several years before requiring any maintenance or recharging. I'll try to follow up with a good visual of how the system operates.
CHEERS - will
 |
| From BLOG pics |
The final few steps to start the solar hot water system running this weekend. Wiring the sensors, and pumps. Plumbing a little bit of copper pipe. Cleaning, flushing, and filling the solar loop with antifreeze. The system works by monitoring the temperature of the solar collectors on the rooftop-- whenever they're warmer than the water at the bottom of the thermal storage tank (i.e. an 81-gallon tank full of potable domestic water), the solar pump sends sun-heated antifreeze from the rooftop down through a copper pipe to a hermetic heat exchange coil within the tank, making the water HOT.
The propylene glycol antifreeze is used so the rooftop plumbing will never freeze, even on the coldest winter nights. The old refractometer helped me set the concentration to be used:
 |
| From BLOG pics |
Our neighbor Bonnie asked a keen question regarding the chemical nature of the antifreeze. A good question, since it's in such close proximity to the domestic water supply. In the unlikely event of a breach in the solar loop, would we have a problem? Well... it turns out the stuff is pretty common in a variety of manufactured food-stuffs. Here's a short list of where it can be found:
dunkin donuts:
wake-up wrap
vanilla flavor shot
muffins
brownies
cookies
hot chocolate
dominoes pizza:
garlic parmesean sauce
bleu cheese sauce
hannafords:
bread pudding
whoopie pies
cake mixes
mcdonald's:
bagels
hotcakes
oatmeal raisin cookie
big mac sauce
chipotle bbq sauce
honey mustard sauce
tangy ranch sauce
breakfast sauce
 |
| From BLOG pics |
So, don't worry. That tasty ranch dipping sauce won't ever freeze. WTF, by the way, is breakfast sauce?
Enough of the glycol digression. I'm happy to say, that as long as everything went well, the next sunny day (which is forecast to be Tuesday), we should see some good heating of the solar tank, and some reduction in natural gas, which is now used as backup hot water heat.
The general scheme of the system is particularly east to mess up, so I have to qualify the above statement. If all of the four sensors report correctly, the solar control logic is set correctly, and the chemistry and hydronics of the antifreeze loop are good- then the system should operate for several years before requiring any maintenance or recharging. I'll try to follow up with a good visual of how the system operates.
CHEERS - will
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