1. Can I use a solar water heating system in place of my existing traditional gas or electric hot water system?
A solar hot-water heating system can take care of the bulk of your hot water needs. However, in some instances, such as when it’s cloudy or rainy, the solar hot-water system may not be able to provide all the hot water you need. We strongly recommend that you install a solar hot-water system in conjunction with your existing system, or install the system with a solar storage tank that has an electric or gas backup.
2. Which collector is better: flat plate or evacuated tube?
At Solar Panels Plus, we supply and sell both types of technologies. Flat plate collectors work very well in warm, sunny conditions, or where a strict budget is a concern. Evacuated tube collectors, which cost about 20 percent more than their flat plate counterparts, work very well in cold, cloudy or otherwise unfavorable conditions. There are a number of factors to weigh when choosing between the two. Consult a seasoned dealer or your sales person to help you decide.
3. Do solar thermal systems produce hot water in the winter? What about when it's cloudy or cold?
Solar Panels Plus manufactures and distributes solar hot-water systems that work exceptionally well in cold, cloudy and winter conditions. At times, however, especially during long periods of cloud cover, some light use of your backup system may be required to meet demands.
4. Can the solar air conditioning system replace my existing system?
The SPP absorption chiller solar air conditioning and heating system is not designed to replace an existing system, but rather to sit alongside it and keep the current (legacy) system from operating a large percentage of the time. The solar HVAC system will not work at night or during times of extended overcast conditions. From a controls standpoint, the solar air conditioning system will be configured as primary and the legacy system will be set up as supplemental.
5. Why should I heat my pool?
Your pool represents a significant financial investment. Heating your pool allows you, your family, and your guests to enjoy that investment longer throughout the year.
Heating your pool enables you to comfortably enjoy your pool - this means swimming earlier in the spring, later in the evenings, and later into the fall.
6. Can I use a solar space-heating system in place of my existing traditional gas or electric heating system?
A solar space-heating system can take care of the bulk of your space-heating needs, significantly reducing your heating bills. However, in some instances, such as on days when it’s cloudy or rainy, the solar space-heating system may not be able to provide all the heat you need to keep your home or business warm. That’s why we strongly recommend that you get you a solar space-heating system installed in conjunction with your existing heating system.
7. Can I use a solar water heating system in place of my existing traditional gas or electric hot water system?
A solar hot-water heating system can take care of the bulk of your hot water needs. However, in some instances, such as when it’s cloudy or rainy, the solar hot-water system may not be able to provide all the hot water you need. We strongly recommend that you install a solar hot-water system in conjunction with your existing system, or install the system with a solar storage tank that has an electric or gas backup.
8. What incentives are offered for users of PV solar systems?
Currently, the Federal gives a personal or business tax credit of 30% of the cost of a PV system. Many states also offer additional incentives for utilizing PV solar products.
9. Can I use a solar hot-water system for my business or to cut costs in my facility?
Absolutely. Solar hot-water systems can generally take care of the bulk of hot water needs for businesses, industrial facilities and manufacturing plants, to name a few. These types of applications generally use a large volume of hot water and can benefit greatly from a solar hot water system.
10. What is a PV panel?
A PV solar panel, referred to in the industry as a solar module, is constructed by connecting photovoltaic cells (or PV cells) to produce electricity. The cells are a semiconductor-based technology that converts solar radiation into direct current (DC) electricity. Solar panels for grid-connected home or business use typically use 60 or 72 PV cells.
11. How does a solar pool heating system work?
Cold water is pumped from your pool using your existing pool pump & filter through our solar pool heaters. Our long-lasting, high perforance solar pool heaters then warm the water from your pool using the sun's energy, much like water in a garden hose will become hot by sitting in the sun. This warm water is then pumped back to the pool. This continous cycle warms the entire pool, allowing you to enjoy your swimming pool later into the day, and longer throughout the year.
For more information, see our solar pool heating diagram here.
12. Why use a solar pool heater instead of an electric or gas pool heater?
A solar pool heater can be less expensive up front than an electric heater, heat pump, or gas heater, depending how large your pool is. Once a solar pool heater is installed, you heat your pool for free. With an electric or gas heater you need to pay the electric or gas company depending on how much you use the heater. In the spring and fall when you need heat the most, you use the pool heater more, so with an electric or gas heater it will cost you more - but a solar pool heater is always completely free.
Also, solar is non-polluting, and it can actually serve to cool your pool down to a comfortable temperature during very hot months, something no gas heater can do.
13. Will a solar pool heater save me money?
If you are currently heating with a gas or electric heater through the traditional swimming season, a solar pool heating system can pay for itself in as little as 1 or 2 years. Solar pool heating systems typically last in excess of 15+ years, meaning that you are constantly saving quite a bit of money as opposed to gas or electricty costs - which are always on the rise.
14. Which collector is better: flat plate or evacuated tube?
At Solar Panels Plus, we supply and sell both types of technologies. Flat plate collectors work very well in warm, sunny conditions, or where a strict budget is a concern. Evacuated tube collectors, which cost about 20 percent more than their flat plate counterparts, work very well in cold, cloudy or otherwise unfavorable conditions. There are a number of factors to weigh when choosing between the two. Consult a seasoned dealer or your sales person to help you decide.
15. Where can I purchase a solar hot-water system?
If you’re a homeowner interested in purchasing a hot-water system, you can locate a dealer near you by contacting us.
If you’re an existing dealer, or an installation, HVAC, plumbing or other industry professional, you can contact us and purchase a system directly.
16. Which is better for a solar space-heating system: flat plates or evacuated tubes?
At Solar Panels Plus, we supply and sell both types of technologies. Flat plate collectors work very well in warm, sunny conditions, or where a strict budget is a concern. Evacuated tube collectors work very well in cold, cloudy or otherwise unfavorable conditions. We generally recommend evacuated tubes for space heating systems because they consistently produce more heat when conditions are colder and unfavorable.
17. What are the benefits of using PV solar systems?
By utilizing PV solar cells, home or business owners are able to generate electricity from sunlight saving money and avoiding the harmful pollution generated by traditional methods of generating electricity. This solar generated energy is used to offset or replace power that would normally be purchased from the utility.
18. What is a grid-tied solar system?
98% of PV solar panels installed in the USA are grid-tied systems, meaning that the system is tied to the power grid (local electric power utility company). The solar power is added to the grid power, reducing the amount of power that must be purchased from the utility.
19. What is an off-grid solar system?
An off-grid solar energy system is where there is no connection to the utility company power grid. This type of installation requires a charge-controller, a bank of batteries and in most cases an inverter, so that electric power requirements can be met at night or during cloudy conditions.
20. How much roof space does a PV system need?
A typical solar panel of 200Wp will measure about 17 square feet. Depending on installation factors, the required square footage of roof space will be somewhat larger than simply the area of the panels. Based on your information, once our engineering department has determined the required angle, shading factors, etc. we can give you a more accurate number.
21. How long will a solar panel system last?
Solar panels are known to last 40 years or longer. Typical guarantees of a solar panel include five years workmanship and materials warranty and a 20-25 year performance warranty. The typical PV panel performance warranty will guarantee 90% of rated production for 10-15 years, and 80% for 20-25 years. Solar panels are designed to withstand hail, severe wind and weather conditions assuming proper installation.
22. How will a solar pool heating system work with my commercial pool?
Cold water is pumped from your pool using your existing pool pump & filter through our solar pool heaters. Our long-lasting, high perforance solar pool heaters then warm the water from your pool using the sun's energy, much like water in a garden hose will become hot by sitting in the sun. This warm water is then pumped back to the pool.
This system will work directly with your existing heater - gas or electric. During the day, the solar pool heaters will keep the pool at the desired temperature. During the night, or duiring a rainy season, your back-up heater can cut on if needed.
23. Should I use a pool cover with a solar pool heating system?
A pool cover helps prevents your pool water from evaporatiing, especially at night. A pool cover - especially a solar pool cover - traps the heat that was collected and put into the pool via our solar pool heaters during the day. This is very complementary to the solar pool system. Therefore, while a pool cover is not required, it does compliment your solar pool system.
24. How much does a solar pool heating system cost to maintain or operate?
Solar Panels Plus' pool heating systems use automated controls to operate the entire system with no supervision or monitoring needed. Therefore, there are no costs in operating or maintaining the solar pool panels.
In some cases, an additional booster pump may be required, depending on the system design, however, this would cost at most a few dollars a month.
25. How much roof space will I need for my solar hot-water system?
This is largely dependent on the size of the solar hot-water system being installed. Each evacuated tube collector needs about 50 square feet, and each will generate anywhere from 80 to 120 gallons of hot water per day. Commercial solar hot-water systems can be as small as two or three collectors, or as large as several hundred or more.
26. Do solar thermal systems produce hot water in the winter? What about when it’s cloudy or cold?
Solar Panels Plus manufactures and supplies solar hot-water systems that work exceptionally well in cold, cloudy and winter conditions. At times, however, especially during long periods of cloud cover, a backup system may be needed temporarily to meet demands.
27. What happens if one of the solar tubes is broken?
Our evacuated tubes are exceptionally strong. However, if one is broken, it can be easily replaced at a low cost. Replacement tubes are available through your local dealer. If you are a dealer, they can be obtained directly from Solar Panels Plus.
28. If there is a broken tube, does the system still work? Will it leak?
If there’s a broken tube, the rest of the collector will still function, although at a slightly lower performance. Since each tube is modular and separate from the system, a broken tube shouldn’t leak into the other components.
29. What kind of maintenance is required for a solar hot-water system?
A solar hot-water system requires very little maintenance, especially closed-loop systems. Closed-loop solar hot-water systems are designed to operate so almost no maintenance is required. The controls operate the pump and monitor the system’s activities on a daily basis.
30. What are the different types of PV panels?
There are currently four main types of solar PV panels:
Monocyrstalline - these are made from cells created by cutting thin slices from single crystal silicon block and are higher in efficiency, but also higher in cost per watt. They are easy to spot because they have a smooth even color, usually black.
Polycrystalline – these are made from cells created by cutting thin slices from polycrystal silicon block and are slightly lower in efficiency, but also lower in cost per watt. Polycyrstal silicon is the “chicken nugget” of silicon, made by combining many individual crystals. They are easy to spot because they have an uneven color, usually blue.
Multicrystalline – a different term for polycrystalline.
Thin film – these are made by depositing a thin layer of very finely powdered silicon (amorphous silicon) or other photovoltaic material, on a substrate. These are much lower in efficiency that crystalline cells, and somewhat cheaper per watt. They are a good choice for large ground mounted utility scale solar arrays where real estate is plentiful. Their low efficiency makes them undesirable for commercial and residential applications because they consume a large amount of roof space compared to mono or poly panels.
31. How do I decide how large my PV solar system should be?
Typically the best return on investment is when you target the average power in watts used during the month with the lowest electric bill. Most net metering programs do not let you carry forward a credit, meaning that when you produce more solar electricity than your total consumption, it is wasted. Actually it is not wasted, it is just given free to the power company who will sell it to someone else
32. How are solar panels tested and rated?
PV panels installed in the USA must be tested to UL 1703 standard and in California, also to IEC 61730. They can be tested and certified by any NRTL (nationally recognized testing laboratory) like UL, CSA, ETL, TUV etc. For consumer purposes, the main rating to consider is the watts rating, which is expressed at watts-peak (Wp) which is the amount of peak power produced under STC (standard test conditions).
33. How much power will a solar PV system produce?
You would calculate the total production of a system by determining the annual production of a single panel and multiplying it by the number of panels, then reduce this value to account for inefficiencies. A professional approach would be to use a calculator like PVWatts or RetScreen. This approach will consider the NASA data for insolation at the location, the expected weather and temperature conditions, the orientation (angle and azimuth) of the installation and other factors.
Each system will produce a different amount of power based on the system size, orientation, insolation, etc. A quick look at our solar insolation map will give you an idea of average annual sunlight conditions for your area. A quick, free telephone or email consultation with our sales team will help you be able make a good estimate of your potential. Just give us a call.
34. Can solar air conditioning systems be used for residential applications?
In a technical sense, for very large residential applications - such as apartment buildings, or very large residences (5,000+ SF), the system can be used. However, this system is designed primarily for commercial applications, as flat roof space, an area for cooling towers, fans, and absorption chillers, pumps, and piping is required. Most residences cannot support this.
35. What is the life expectancy of a solar powered A/C system?
The median life expectancy of the absorption systems is 23 years according to ASHRAE. There are few moving parts to wear out other than small, low cost pumps.
36. Who will install the solar powered A/C system?
An authorized Solar Panels Plus installer will install the solar portion and will have a Yazaki-certified licensed HVAC contractor with factory certification perform the absorption chiller commissioning.
37. Is this technology new?
It is not new, rather it is a combination of two very well established technologies. Solar thermal collectors have a 30+ year success story behind them, and the absorption chillers have been in use for over 50 years. Putting them together with the right engineering is the only thing that is new, coming about over the past 10 years or so.
38. What type of maintenance is involved with a solar powered A/C unit?
Typically the maintenance is the same or less than with a regular HVAC system. Any commercial system should have a bi-annual preventive maintenance check-up.
39. Can the solar collectors for the solar A/C be used for any heating applications?
Yes, when configured as a HVAC system the unit will provide heat in the winter.
