The sun's energy can be used for more than just creating electricity!  Solar radiant energy has been used throughout the ages, most often in the heating of water and in house heating (for far longer than it has for electricity generation!)  In the past, roughly 75% of the Solar Industry was comprised of Solar Thermal (Hot Water) systems. 

SolarTek Energy of Nashville can design, install, and service any variety of solar thermal systems. Whether you are just trying to make sure no one ever has to take a cold shower, or you are heating all of your domestic hot water, heating your entire home, and maybe even heating your hot tub, we will make sure you have the right components for the job.

Hot Water Heating

Heating your domestic hot water with the sun makes so much sense!

• It is a time-honored proven method.
• It is a year round application, as your family needs hot water every day. A water heater can account for about 30% of their utility costs alone!
• It is cost effective with a fairly quick Return On Investment (ROI).

Solar Hot Water systems usually consists of a holding tank, a solar collector and a means to circulate the water.  Systems can be either direct or indirect/closed-loop. Direct means that the potable water flows through the collector and is heated.  Indirect (or closed-loop) consists of a water/fluid mixture that is heated in the collector, then flows through a heat exchanger in the holding tank, heating the potable water within the tank.  The holding tank merely stores the water that has been / is being heated.

The solar “flat-plate” collector is the place where the sun’s radiant energy heats the water (usually up to 200°!).  Usually located on the roof of a house, the solar collector is constructed of a thin rectangular box with a series of pipes running through it.  The pipes are painted black for maximum heat absorption of the sun’s rays.  The water runs through the hot pipes and viola!: Hot Water.  You may have even seen one on a house here or there and not even known it because they look a lot like large skylights.

A low power pump is used to move the water through the system. At SolarTek Energy we can design and install the best option to suit your particular needs.  Our most popular system is referred to as a drain-back system. This design requires the least amount of maintenance, and is in fact, virtually maintenance-free.   The fluid in the collectors “drain-back” every night into the holding tank eliminating any possibility of the panels freezing in cold weather.

Another option in thermal solar collectors is “evacuated tube panels”.  These panels are made up of a series of vacuum tubes that harness the energy from the sun and convert it to very high temperatures. Capable of producing high temperatures even under cloudy skies, these collectors can be used in many commercial applications as well as residential, though they do require a little more maintenance than their “flat plate collector” counterparts.

Building/Space Heating

Solar energy can be used to heat a building (more than happens naturally in a normal structure) either by special building design (passive solar heating) or the use of solar collectors.

Passive solar heating is where a building is designed and oriented to 'capture' the sun's energy and heat. This is achieved by the use of special materials in floors and walls that store the suns heat.  Simply, a bank of windows facing the direction of the sun (south facing in the northern hemisphere and north facing in the southern hemisphere) can minimize your heating needs.

Put your Solar Hot Water to other uses!

A solar hot water collector can be used either to heat the air in your ducting that’s flowing into the house, or to heat a fluid which passes through “radiant floor” piping throughout the building.  A water-to-air heat exchanger can be installed directly into your HVAC/central air to heat a home with solar hot water.  (It is important to note that a complex calculation is needed to ensure that the BTU’s needed to effectively heat a home or building are being generated by the proper number and size of solar collectors.)