Solar Hot Water

A greener, cheaper and more efficient means to heating your homes water.

Heating your home with solar

Solar hot water for homes

Solar energy offers homeowners a greener, cheaper and more efficient means to heating your water.

Solarsense provide two residential solar water heating solutions including solar thermal and solar PV technologies. Both offer a variety of benefits for homeowners and our experts are on hand to talk you through your options and identify the right technologies for your particular home. Arrange a free quote.

Solar thermal water heating for homes

A solar thermal system typically consists of solar collectors (evacuated tubes or flat plate collectors), a pump, and a twin coil hot water cylinder which acts as a thermal store.

Our residential solar thermal systems are manufactured in the UK and specifically designed for Northern European climates. The vacuum inside each tube provides perfect insulation from external conditions, meaning that the system produces hot water throughout the year regardless of temperature or wind chill.

A correctly sized solar thermal system will provide around 70% of annual domestic hot water demand and can assist underfloor heating and swimming pools if specified for this demand.

Solar thermal and the Renewable Heat Incentive

Solar thermal systems are eligible for the Governments residential renewable heat incentive (RHI). If you join the scheme you will benefit from quarterly cash payments for the amount of renewable heat your system produces. RHI payments were increased in September 2017, returning over 33% more on tariff payments – this increase in real terms means that the subsidy is in many cases enough to cover the cost of the installation.

Solar PV water heating for homes

If you own a solar PV system, it is probable that 50% or more of the electricity you generate will be exported to the National grid. With a lack of feed-in tariffs it’s more important than ever to “self-consume” as much of the on-site generated energy as possible.

If you have a hot water tank with an immersion installed in your home, you can use the excess energy generated by your solar panels to heat your water. Every unit of power used to heat your water in this way reduces imported energy by the same amount resulting in a significant saving in imported energy costs.

The Apollo Gem

Solarsense specify and install The Apollo GEM, an innovative solar energy management product that will use all the surplus power generated by your PV system to produce hot water for your home.

The smart technology system will work with any solar PV system and uses a standard immersion heater to produce free hot water. The system is cheap, simple to install and will not affect your feed-in tariff payments if retro-fitted.

BENEFITS AT A GLANCE

How can solar hot water benefit my home?

  • Reduced energy bills

    Sunlight is free, so once you've paid for the initial installation your hot water costs will be reduced dramatically.

  • Lower carbon footprint

    Solar hot water is a green, renewable heating system capable of reducing your emissions and saving the environment.

  • Generate income

    Receive quarterly cash payments for seven years from the government when installing solar thermal technologies.

  • Hot water throughout the year

    A correctly sized solar thermal system will provide around 70% of annual domestic hot water demand.

  • Maximise self-consumption

    Smart technologies allow you to use the excess energy generated by your solar panels to heat your water for free, saving more on your bills.

  • Low maintenance

    Solar water heating systems come with a ten-year warranty as standard and require little maintenance over the lifetime of a system.

Everything you need to make an informed decision

How does solar thermal work?
Sunlight falling on each tube is collected as heat by the copper plate. The tubes can be rotated to put the plate at the best angle to catch the sun. Inside each tube, mounted on the plate is a copper tube which screws into the manifold. The copper tube contains alcohol which conducts heat from the copper to the water in the manifold above. The solar thermal system heats the water in the cylinder via one heating coil. This means it can easily be used in conjunction with a traditional boiler or immersion heater, for occasions when the solar thermal is not producing hot water, e.g. during the night.
How efficient is solar thermal?
Our solar thermal evacuated tube heat collectors are manufactured in the UK and specifically designed for Northern European climates. The vacuum inside each tube provides perfect insulation from external conditions, meaning that the system produces hot water throughout the year regardless of temperature or wind chill. A correctly sized solar thermal system will provide around 70% of annual domestic hot water demand and can assist underfloor heating and swimming pools if specified for this demand. Solarsense have been working with world leading vacuum tube manufacturers Thermomax (now part of Kingspan Renewables) since the mid-1990’s.
What additional energy savings can I expect when installing an Apollo Gem?
This will depend on the size of your PV system and the amount of hot water you use. For a 4-person home with a 4KW PV system you can expect savings of around £240 per year.
Will I still get my export tariff payments after installing an Apollo Gem?
Yes. Currently FITs export payments are paid for 50% of all units generated regardless of how many units are actually exported. This means you can use all your generated energy and still receive all the export payments!

Everything you need to make an informed decision

Experts in renewable energy

Recent projects

Homeowner

Industry leading solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, energy storage and heat pump technologies have been combined alongside an existing solar thermal system to create a low carbon house that provides the homeowner with more control over their energy consumption.

GENERATING OVER

8,965kWh

of clean energy per year

Residential clean energy systems

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We retrofit clean energy systems to existing houses and design renewable energy solutions for new-build homes. Fill out the form on our contact us page and one of our team will get in touch as soon as possible to discuss your project.

Solar panel grant for farmers and landowners

A DEFRA grant of up to 25% of the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment is available through Round 2 of the Improving Farm Productivity Grant.

The grant is open for initial applications now but closes at 11:59pm on 21 March 2024. Please click the button below for more information or get in touch to speak with one of energy experts.