Ken's Large Solar Water Heating System

This is a very nicely done larger version of the $1K style solar water heating system.

Ken was able to get a set of older, but unused collectors from Craig's list.  The six collectors provide  nearly 200 square feet of collector area, so the system has excess capacity that Ken plans to use for hot tub heating.

The tank is a very nicely done EPDM rubber lined tank with a capacity of nearly 500 gallons.  The design details on the tank are very nicely done, and it should be a good source of design information if you are building a tank for your system.   The PEX coil heat exchanger has been recoiled for improved heat transfer.

 
Ken's panels mounted on the roof -- it really looks great.

 

Thanks very much to Ken for sending in the details on this project!

 

Download Full details on building Ken's system...   (2.3 mb pdf)

 

 

Some Highlights of Ken's System

 


This is the 490 gallon non-pressurized tank.  Very nice workmanship.

The tank is well insulated, and has enough excess capacity to handle both domestic water heating and hot tub  or space heating.

 

 

 

This the the Taco 009 pump with integrated differential controller and variable speed control.

 

 

 


Very nice job of recoiling the 300 foot of 1 inch diameter PEX into a more efficient heat exchanger.

 

 


This is a flow gage that also serves as a water level gage for the tank -- very handy.

 

 

You can send email questions to Ken: 

 

 

Download Full details on building Ken's system...   (2.3 mb pdf)

 

 

 

 

Gary January 15, 2011