New solar water installation

[Ivan Gwastad]

Hi

Martin from solarwind put me onto this site.  Top man!  Can you suggest a shopping list for a DIY solar water installation (skilled DIY plumber/electrician) please?

I already have a twin coil tank (sadly only 170 litres (not my mistake)) with solar heat exchanger installed following complete plumbing refit, so saved that job.  Now need to complete the system for 2 adults and 2 children, plenty of SW roof space (higher than tank), temperature top up by 55Kbtu gravity fed solid fuel rayburn (REALLY don't like lighting it in the summer).  Low water useage family as we have a well that is aquatically challenged in the summer.

Only questionable part is the 12 m run from panel to tank.  Would you do that in copper with insulation or do you have a better product?

Cheers

Another Ivan

[Ivan]

Hi Ivan G,

I wouldn't be too disappointed with your 170litre tank. It is a common misconception that you should have super-duper sized tanks for solar. Yes, I agree with that for flat plates that are limited in their temperature ability, but for vacuum tubes, smaller tank sizes means hotter water, so it is better to size cylinder to your needs and then panel to cylinder on the basis of 6.5-8.5 litres per tube.

You will need altogether:

20 tube solar panel
mounting kit for panel (either for flat roof or for pitched roof)
cylinder twin coil (which you already have)
pump/isolation valves
anti-syphoning valve
armaflex High Temperature pipe insulation (normally around 10-15m is typical)
solar controller (various types available)
pressure system kit for pressurising the solar loop.

Have a chat with Martin about these things - he should be able to give you a good price on them.

Yes, we recommend 15mm copper with the high temperature armaflex HT insulation. There is an alternative product - which is flexible stainless steel inside a figure-of-eight insulation, but this is much much more expensive, and only economical for very short runs where access is a problem. Whatever you do, do not use plastic pipe!
Ivan