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Everyone uses hot water differently. We need to know how much water you are likely to use, largely depending on how many people live at home, and whether you like to use lots of hot water or not. Other details like whether you like showers first thing in the morning or late in the evening may allow us to provide particular controls that would give you the best hot water service using the sun's free energy, and therefore the most cost effective solution.
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There are several options available. Please click here>>
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You may be able to - please ask your installer whether your existing cylinder is suitable. We recommend Azzuro Solar Cylinders because these are specially designed to maximise the solar energy available to you, and so minimise the amount of top-up electricity required for your household. Don't worry - we may be able to first install our retrofit systems (our Sunpower series) for you, and when you are ready to change your cylinder, we can install our specialist Azzuro Solar Cylinder at that time.
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Solar cylinders are specifically designed to ensure that as much energy as possible is captured from the sun, for a given system design. Solar cylinders are sized to hold more water than non-solar cylinders.
Warm water in the cylinder naturally rises to the top of the cylinders. This is where it is drawn off when you turn the tap on. Cooler water tends to be at the lower part of the cylinder.
For open loop systems, the water in the colder part of the cylinder, at and near the bottom, is drawn through the solar collectors to get warmed by the sun. We prefer this water to be as cool as practical when it circulates through the solar collectors, so that we capture as much of the sun's energy as possible.
For closed loop systems, the heat exchange coil, which carries heated fluid back from the collectors, is located at the lower part of the cylinder, so that the sun warmed fluid can give up as much of its captured heat energy as possible, by giving it up to the coolest water in the cylinder.
It is preferable for the electric element of solar cylinders to be located near the middle of the tank, so that when the element kicks in, only the water above the element is boosted to higher temperatures.
In order to provide you with the same volume of stored hot water as a non-solar cylinder at any time, we work out the amount of water above the element which your family would need. This means that the tank we use needs to be larger than normal.
For example, if you normally have a 180 litre tank at home for 4 people, we will recommend a solar cylinder of 300 litres capacity for you.
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We will supply your architect with all the information needed to incorporate an Azzuro Solar Hot Water System to your home. Please contact us or ask your Azzuro Solar approved installer and we will be happy to help.
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Most of our systems take a day or so to install, but some systems take longer depending on ease of access, and cylinder configurations.
All our systems are in-stock and we will contact you to arrange a time that best suits you. Our experience is that local authority building consents, which are required for all installations, tend to be the thing that determines how soon Azzuro Solar is able to commence installation.
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There is a huge amount of energy available from the sun when it is shining. This may not be when you want the most hot water. So whatever energy you don't use will need to be stored. Our experience is that on hot sunny days, a properly sized system will be able to capture and store plenty of energy.
If this energy is not used, the system gets hotter the next day and so on. This is a key reason why we need to know the number of people normally living at home, so that we can estimate how much hot water is likely to be drawn every day. The system works best if hot water is drawn every day.
In practice, we select a collector area that will give the best combination of safety, solar energy capture, hot water usage, and solar hot water system protection.
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Below are two diagrams that show what are "closed" and "open" loop pumped systems.
In an open loop system, the water that is pumped through the collectors is the same water that is stored in the cylinder. This water is drawn from the bottom of the cylinder and then pumped through the collectors, where it heats up and returns to the cylinder. This cycle occurs continuously when the pump is on, gradually heating the water in the cylinder.
In a closed loop system, the water (or sometimes glycol) that is pumped through the solar collectors is held in a closed circuit. When this water or glycol fluid has been heated by the collectors, it flows through the cylinder inside its own coil, and gives up the heat through the walls of the coil. The water or glycol fluid then circulates back through the collectors. This cycle occurs continuously when the pump is on, gradually heating the water in the cylinder. Because the water or glycol fluid is held in a closed circuit, additional controls are required to regulate pressure within the circuit. Our system uses a special Solar Station (with internal pump) and an expansion vessel for this duty.
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