Harnessing the Sun's Energy

Most homes in the UK rely on energy from fossil fuels for heating and hot water. But more and more people are now looking to reduce their carbon footprint and install a more environmentally friendly, renewable energy solution like Solar Thermal Panels, which is one of the popular alternatives.

Eco-Friendly Solar Panels

Solar Thermal Panels are arguably one of the most environmentally friendly, sustainable and renewable energy sources available.

The panels themselves actually contain water in tubes which absorb the heat from the sun. As the water in the panels heats up, it is pumped through a coil in your hot water cylinder, which in turn heats the water in the cylinder itself & thus providing you with domestic hot water.

It is identical to the way that hot water is circulated through a coil in your hot water cylinder from conventional heating sources like gas or oil.

Solar Thermal Panel Types

There are basically two types - evacuated tube collectors and flat plate panels. Evacuated tube collectors have vacuum glass tubes through which water is pumped. The vacuum helps to minimise heat loss.

The flat plate panels have an absorber plate in an insulated metal box to minimise heat loss, with water being pumped through a number of thin tubes. The absorber plate heats the water as it is pumped through.

Compatibility

Whilst solar thermal panels are compatible with most other hot water systems, they may not be suitable for all types of combi-boiler systems. A compatibility check with the combi-boiler manufacturer is recommended prior to fitting thermal panels.

Government Renewable Heat Incentives

The UK Government wishes to encourage the adoption of environmentally-friendly & renewable alternatives to the traditional heating facilities using fossil fuels like gas and oil.

To provide an incentive to do so, they have introduced the Renewable Heat Incentive - RHI - which pays approved home and business owners a fee for every 1Kw of energy they generate using a qualifying eco-friendly system like Solar Panels.

For more information, please visit our special RHI page.