18/11/2024
SELLECTIVE COPPER PANELS SYSTEMS - How does it work?
If you are familiar with the working principle of the instant heaters, it will be very easy to understand what our new generation water heaters do and how. But to start with, let’s see how the standard Cypriot systems work. On your roof you have two solar panels connected to a hot water tank in what we call an ‘open loop system’. Water is being heated in the panels that have a number of pipes going through them (painted black so they attract more energy from the sun). Following the rules of physics, the water heated by the Sun will rise into the ‘hot water tank’. When you open your hot tap, the water will start flowing to you while in the same time the missing volume will be replaced by cold water coming from your mains or from the extra cold water tank. Hence the cooling rate is quite high. Another issue regarding heat loss is that the hot water tanks are made of metal and most of them are not even insulated. Metal + no insulation (or little insulation) means a high rate of heat loss especially during the night. We all know that we don’t need hot water in the summer, we need it in winter. But that’s the season when the nights are much longer and of course much colder. So what’s the efficiency of such a system? Very low… Even if you had enough hot water for a shower at 6 PM, by the morning, your water will obviously be stone cold !
How do the gas or electric instant heaters work? They don’t store water in any way. It’s a system where cold water goes in, instantly gets the heat from a heat source and goes out as hot. These instant heaters work with gas or electricity and probably all of you have used one of them at least once in your life!
Now imagine an instant heater where the heat source is the SUN! And the Sun is for free! How does it work? Contrary to the standard Cypriot systems, the instant solar heaters are what we call a ‘closed loop system’. Water gets heated in the panels and rises to the hot water tank BUT that’s NOT the water that you will be using. The tank in this case is only the ‘instant heat source’! When you open the tap, cold water will enter the ‘heat source’, get the heat and come to you just like it would do in a gas heater for example and voila!
Even though the system in the picture looks similar with the standard Cypriot system, the difference between the two is huge! Let’s see what this is all about. This ‘solar instant heater’ consists of two selective surface panels (or only one, depending on capacity) and a ‘double tank’ system: the exterior tank and the inner tank (Titanium enameled) insulated with 6 mm thick poliurethane (lowers drastically the heat loss). The tank is also provided with Catodic protection, one of the most effective methods for preventing or stopping corrosion on a metal surface.
We call the panels ‘thermal collectors’ (they collect thermal energy – heat). A selective surface or selective absorber is a means of increasing the collector’s operation temperature and/or efficiency. Under the collector surface there is an array of copper pipes that transfers the heated solar fluid to the heat source (water tank). With the copper being the second best heat transferring metal (after silver) these panels are the most efficient ones on the market. The solar fluid used in this case is a water & antifreeze mixture, a fluid with a higher boiling point and a higher heat transfer rate, hence more effective than simple water. In conclusion, with a drastically reduced heat loss factor, as long as the ‘hot water tank (aka the heat source)’ has heat in it, you will have hot water. It could last for two, three or even four more dull days after fully charged BUT it will all depend on your HABITS and on how ‘SMART’ of a user you are (for example if you are a family of three and your habit is to have a shower in the morning and a shower in the evening, totally 6 showers a day, plus washing hands and dishes etc. then this system is not for you).
So what happens if you feel that the water is not hot enough? The system comes equipped with an immersion heater. Switch it on for an hour or two (depending on the size of the system) and VOILA, it will be fully charged again.
To compare the immersion heater usage and costs between a standard Cypriot system and a Kuzeymak one: they both have 3 KW however it will be cheaper to heat water from 30 Celsius to 60 (in the Kuzeymak) than it is from 10 Celcius to 60 (in the standard one). The standard system will need to be charged again in the morning, while the other one will not.
All in all, if you are a ‘smart’ user, the environmental friendly Kuzeymak solar instant heater will cut down on after costs.
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