Solar Panels Introduction
Solar energy is one of the cleanest and maintenance free of all the renewable energy products on offer. It provides carbon neutral heating, being environmentally friendly and it’s a proven product for the Irish climatic condition.
Based on the weather data for over 50 years, we can predict with a strong degree of certainty the yield that is achieved in any given location in Ireland. Most established solar manufacturers will supply panels that have a working life of 25 to 30 years in the Irish Climate. As our climate is not going above 27 to 29 degrees in summer and dropping below -6 to -10 degrees in winter, the component parts have a long life and do not ware if properly serviced every two years.
The sun radiates enormous amounts of energy to the earth. To capture this energy a solar collector positioned at an angle of 35° facing due south is the best option for Ireland. The components within the collector do the rest: a material that absorbs energy from sunlight like Sun Strip strong anti reflective glass and a well insulated housing. Within the collector there are small 8mm copper pipes: these are used to transfer the heat to the hot water cylinder. For the best results, all pipe work must be insulated to a very high standard and the controller set up so as to get the maximum amount of heat transferred when available.
The hot water cylinder is also important as the ability of the solar coil to exchange within the tank improves the efficiency of the overall system. If a small coil was used then not all of the energy collected will be transferred to the hot water tank.
Proper sizing of the pipe work and flow rates will ensure a high yielding system that can give a good return on the investment.
Next Gen Heat has the service of doing a Feasibility Study for any situation where the cost of the solar project will be given and the return on the investment. To date we have installed over 400 systems varying in size from 5 sq m to 75 sq m where the energy is used to heat both space and hot water.