Solar energy is utilised for three major applications:
The most cost effective one being Solar Pool Heating
The most popular one however is Solar Water Heating for domestic house usage
And the one that became more popular recently is the PV Solar to generate electricity.
Solar Pool Heating is using UV Stable polypropylene panels to heat up pool water directly.
A typical solar array will take a roof space similar to the pool surface.
The installation is consisting of high-pressure PVC pipes.
The distance between the pool and the panels can be even a hundred meters or more.
A well designed solar pool system will double the swimming season.
Many schools were sponsored by Solar Group recently to enable students to swim during term 4 as well as the traditional term 1.
For more details go to Heliocol.co.nz
Solar Water Heating for domestic usage are using high efficiency panels to heat the water up to 60’C in the tank.
A well designed solar system should comply with NZS2712:2007 and save more than 70% of the hot water costs.
Despite the government grant being pulled off, the installations number for solar water heating did not drop as homeowners demand energy efficient homes.
For more detail go to solargroup.co.nz
The most common and economical PV Solar installations are grid connected installations.
In a nutshell the client installs PV panels on the roof with an inverter to generate electricity.
The power company installs a 2nd power meter and records both power-in and power-out.
At present, there are no legislations to force power companies to buy the generated power for the same price as the supplied power.
Power companies also do not pay for a negative balance.
For that reason a typical array is much smaller than the average power generated.
Also note that during a power cut, you are also in the dark.
Solar Group Ltd is the largest Solar Water Heating supplier and installer in the New Zealand market.
Established in 1986, it has the biggest existing Solar Water Systems client base.
Roy Netzer is a mechanical engineer passionate about solar.
For more information, email info@slg.co.nz