Inexpensive Solar supplemental heating systems
by Boris Romanov|
Broadly speaking, almost all residential systems based on alternative energy -- such as geothermal
heating/cooling systems, solar heating systems, solar hot water systems, solar and wind electric
systems -- do not represent good investments, because these systems are still very expensive.
Even with tax credits and government incentives, one can expect to get a return on this investment
only after 10-15 years. In addition, some of these systems are still not very efficient. For example, an efficiency of almost all solar panels is around 15-20 percent, and the efficiency of almost all "flat plate" solar collectors is close to zero during cloudy or snowy days. More importantly, sometimes the technical characteristics of the solar systems, presented by their manufacturers, are incorrect. For example, Silicon Solar company states that its Solar radiant heating kits HH-1000 are designed to assist in offsetting 192 gallons of heating oil annually for a 1000 square foot house. However, as we know, one gallon of #2 fuel oil = 138,500 BTU's (British thermal unit). Therefore, one should multiply 192 gallons of heating oil by 138,5000 BTUs, which equals 26,592,000 BTUs. I think, that the HH-1000 kit cannot produce this amount of BTUs. To prove my statement I would like to provide my calculations. Each Silicon Solar HH-1000 Kit contains two SunMaxx-30 solar collectors. And according to the SRCC (Solar Rating & Certification Corporation) one SunMaxx-30 solar collector can produce a maximum of 42,400 BTUs in warm climate during clear days and 19,200 BTUs during cloudy days. We also know, that not all 365(366) days in a year are clear EVEN in warm climates, such as in Miami. Therefore, we cannot multiply 76,000 BTUs (two SunMaxx -30) by 365 days. |