Plumbing training article -Working and installation of solar energy powered hot water systems

What is a Solar Energy powered Domestic Hot Water System? Quite simply, it is a system that complements an existing hot water system. Realistically, it will not replace a normal boiler or immersion heating system because in the UK at least, the hot water provided by solar energy alone may not always be hot enough or available in sufficient quantity for everyday needs, particularly so during the winter months.

In a normal installation, the hot water from a solar hot water system is fed into an existing conventional boiler or immersion system where it is then made hotter. The fact that the water has already been heated means that the immersion or boiler system does not have to work so hard to heat the 'solar hot water' to the required temperature and this can save a great deal of energy. During the summer months it may not be necessary for the hot water provided by the Solar system to be heated further; depending on your personal requirements, it may already be quite hot enough.

Is it cost effective? As a new installation on an existing dwelling, it's fair to say that based on the energy savings, you will not be booking your holiday to Barbados anytime soon! However, given that Solar Energy is free and that ongoing maintenance costs are very low, it is a certainty that that you will immediately cut your heating bills.

Solar energy is not just restricted to tap water; it can just as easily be applied to e.g. central heating systems, or swimming pools.

The issues surrounding installations on existing properties are fundamentally twofold; firstly there is the important matter of aesthetics as like satellite TV aerials, it is virtually impossible to make the installations look attractive. It is likely that any installation would be a bit of an eyesore and to understand just how irritating this could be, just try and imagine a street with a long row of terraced houses on either side, each with its own set of solar panels on the roof!

For those old enough to remember, the same problems of aesthetics existed when almost every house had an array of aluminium TV aerials bristling from every chimney; much as you may dislike satellite dishes they are a great improvement over what existed in those days. It's possible that like television aerials and latterly satellite dishes, over time people will just come to accept solar panels as being 'normal'.

The second issue surrounding a solar panel installation is a financial one. Whereas you will certainly immediately reduce your heating bills, there is the not so small matter of whether the savings you make will offset the investment you have made in the cost of the equipment.

A typical average modern installation costs around £5,000 including VAT at a reduced rate of 5%; this will generate energy savings of around £85 - £100 per annum. Do the maths!

For many people, the combination of the cost of installation weighed against their return on investment and coupled with the probability that the solar installation will probably be a blot on the landscape make the solar proposition less than exciting.

For other people however, there is much more to it than simply saving money; installing a Solar system will definitely reduce your carbon footprint and therefore make an ecological contribution to planet Earth. We should all be grateful to these people because they drive environmental change and without change we would all be clutching facemasks over our mouths as we walked the streets of our major cities.

So what is the future for Solar Energy? The good news is that the need for it will most certainly become increasingly more urgent and important. New home builders will soon have a legal obligation to incorporate renewable energy sources into their home designs.

Furthermore, if your solar installation had already been built into your new build house before you had bought it, that would make Solar Energy an entirely different proposition. The basic issues of installation cost and aesthetics would no longer exist because the installation would have been incorporated into the build at design stage and therefore would not have a negative impact on aesthetics; you would be moving into a property that would immediately cost you less for energy that it would otherwise have done.

The UK government has already obligated the UK to meeting eye watering renewable energy targets set by the EU. It is very likely that the government will need to introduce subsidies for solar installations on existing dwellings if the targets are to be met.

There is a whole new market out there waiting to be tapped and anyone with even a hint of entrepreneurial flair will undoubtedly be rubbing their hands with glee. Retailing, installing and servicing renewable energy installations is potentially going to as big as mobile phones and fibre-optic broadband! It has government support and falls into the rapidly emerging and powerful ecology sector.

In a market that is still virtually brand new, there is a huge opportunity to quickly become established as the local expert. If you want to participate and build your career as a professional plumber just visit our professional plumbing course section where you will find details of our superb plumbing course with the option to add the Bpec Solar Energy Powered Domestic Hot Water Systems qualification or if you prefer you can add Gas Safe training to your plumbing training course.

So in answer to the question 'what is the future for solar'? The answer is that the future is very bright indeed!