Solar Hot Water - How it Works

The Ritter OEM solar panel can be divided into two sections; a copper manifold at the top and 16 glass solar collecting tubes.

The light passes through the front of the tubes and is then either directly absorbed by the 360° absorber or reflected off the unique internal silver mirror on the back of the tube into the back of the 360° absorber.

The vacuum insulation stops any heat created by the absorber being lost therefore increasing collector efficiency.

This process heats up the absorber which conducts the heat to the "heat transfer fluid" being pumped down and up the absorber tube. This heat transfer fluid will pick up heat from each evacuated tube in every panel installed on the solar array.

The heat transfer fluid is then carried down to a twin coil cylinder where it heats up the bottom coil. The second upper coil within the cylinder is connected to the boiler.

How is it controlled?
The whole system is controlled by a differential temperature control unit. The unit has three temperature sensors; Collector, Cylinder and Return. When the temperature of the collector is 8°C hotter than the bottom of the hot water cylinder the control unit will turn on the pump starting the thermal transfer process. The controller ensures the pump is only running when there is positive solar gain to be made.

The control unit also has various safety features as well as useful solar gain information.