If you'd like to add the above graphic to your site, simply copy the code below, and paste it on your site where you'd like the graphic to appear.
<a href="http://www.freehotwater.com/"><img
src="http://www.freehotwater.com/images/button80x15.jpg" width="80" height="15" border="1" alt="Free Hot Water"></a>
Display the Free Hot Water Blog on Your Site!
If you'd like to add the Entire Free Hot Water Blog to your site, simply copy the code below, and paste it on your site where you'd like the blog to appear.
As a manufacturer and distributor, we certainly want our solar installer and distributor partners to succeed. One of the most effective ways to sell anything these days is with video. Video is of course more visual than text, as like the saying goes, a picture is worth a 1000 words. With video, it’s worth at least 10,000.
Each video is able to be embedded on your own web site. Simply go to the end of each video and cut and copy the HTML code into a page of your web site.
The first two videos are brief demonstration videos of our Free Hot Water racking systems for our solar collectors. This is a great way for installers to show customers how simple it is to construct the racking on the roof of either a commercial installation or a residential one. For our distributors, these videos are a great way to demonstrate to customers how easy it is to install solar thermal solutions with either commercial and residential racking systems.
Videos #1: Residential Solar Hot Water Racking Demo
Video #2: Commercial Solar Hot Water Racking Demo
Video #3: A Feel Good Video about Solar Thermal and Solar PV
FreeHot Water is a member of SEIA, the Solar Energy Industry Association, which has created several videos to promote how solar is growing through America. Below is the West Coast segment, which mentions and shows several solar hot water systems. The video doesn’t mention any particular brand or company. It’s just a good video to show customers that solar is already at work in America.
How to implement these codes on your Web site:
At the end of each video, you’ll see three boxes.
The bottom box has a code that corresponds to the video. You’ll see “object style…”
Simply copy and paste that code into your own Web site or blog. If you don’t know HTML formatting or have an easy to use Web site platform like Word Press, you may need to have someone position the videos correctly, but they should feed automatically from YouTube.
You should add some kind of brief introduction to each video, as I did. “Here’s an assembly video of Free Hot Water’s residential racking system. As you can see, assembly is simple and fast.” Etc.
Feel free to use these videos and spread the word about solar and Free Hot Water’s simple solar thermal solutions. If you’d like to see more details about our solar products, including instruction manuals and specifications, sign up to become a Free Hot Water partner-installer.
It’s been a great October. Free Hot Water had a great show at Solar Power International, and we’re so excited to learn that the Solar thermal market and pool heating market is growing in 2010.
Want numbers? Sure: According to SEIA’s 2010 U.S. Solar Market Insight, the total number of solar water heating installations in the first half of 2010 was 22,567, which is on pace to exceed the 2009 level by 9%!
Spectacular for a recession, but to put that number in perspective, 22,500 is only a quarter of the 170,000+ systems per year that the industry was completing back in the early 1980s during the first solar hot water boom.
As for solar pool heating, the U.S. saw 16,821 systems installed in the first half of 2010. At this pace, the SEIA report says that there should be 34,000 solar pool heating systems installed by the end of 2010, up 3% over the 33,000 installed in 2009. Not bad either.
Of course, Free Hot Water would love to see your solar hot water business keep growing at an even faster pace. We already have competitive pricing, so doing everything we can there. But beyond giving our products away, we’d sincerely like to know: How can we help?
For example, we’re trying to make things more convenient for installers. We have a new 24/7 online ordering system, and we’ve created new pre-packaged small commercial solar systems for 1-click shopping. But maybe you’ve got other ideas and suggestions that we can work on to help.
So, please share your thoughts in the comments below, or contact us directly. If you’ve got suggestions or comments and we have the resources to help, we’ll get it done. If we can’t, we’ll try to explain why and what we can do. We sincerely want to work with you and get more solar on American roofs.
One of the myths of solar hot water systems is that you need to be living in super hot climates for them to work, especially for commercial systems that need large amounts of heated water.
The fact is that solar hot water systems work just fine in colder, northern states. Let’s take Wisconsin and Washington D.C. These two areas aren’t exactly sunbathing Beach Blanket-Bingo weather during the winter months, so people assume that solar hot water isn’t going to work there.
Well, don’t tell that to the fire fighters in Madison, Wisconsin, who are using solar for heating water used for hot showers, laundry, and for washing down their gear after fires. In fact, this Wisconsin solar fire house is part of the greenest building in America as September 2010. You can read more about the building here.
And what about Washington D.C., home to last year’s record blizzards and snowfalls? Don’t forget that President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House (and then Reagan took them off for political reasons. )
But that was years ago. Surely, no one would think about putting solar hot water on a building there today, right? Wrong. Below is a very modern (2010) example of a small apartment building in Washington with our very own Free Hot Water 7000 series panels.
Free Hot Water "Six-Pack" on Washington D.C. Apartment Building
Here’s the truth: Solar hot water/thermal systems work great in cold climates. It’s the same concept as when you leave your car in a sunny parking lot in January with the windows closed. The sun’s free energy bakes the air inside of the car. The same concept holds true for our solar hot water systems, only a solar collector works even better because of its design and the design of the installation.
Now, there is another truth, and that is that solar thermal systems do not work as well as those in warmer climates. That is, solar hot water works, but a D.C. installation is going to need more solar collectors to produce the same amount of annual hot water as an Arizona installation with the same hot water needs.
The other thing to be aware of is that regardless of the outside temperature or solar hot water production, modern solar systems are always connected to a conventional water heating system for back up. So, whether or not the sun is out or it’s raining on a particular day. you’ll never be without hot water,
So, if anyone in a cold climate tells you that solar hot water won’t work with their apartment building or fire house or hotel–or whatever–send them over to Free Hot Water. We’ll set them straight.
You run a Laundromat or other type of laundry service that uses lots and lots (and lots) of hot water every day to wash clothes, uniforms, restaurant and hotel linens, etc.
You’re noticing that utility rates are starting to creep up, eating into your profits, and  now you’re wondering how much it would cost to offset your bill with free hot water generated by solar collectors.
First of all, there is no “one-size-fits all” solar hot water system for Laundromats or any other commercial business. Homes are more predictable, but commercial solar hot water systems require specific information to design the most cost effective systems.
Here are just a few things that Free Hot Water’s solar thermal engineers will have to know in order to design a solar hot water system for a Laundromat or laundry service. Some of this information can be obtained by us through your utility.
Laundry Assessment Information Needed (Partial List)
Type of utility. Are you gas? Electric? Oil? Steam? This information will be used for many reasons, including engineering and for estimating your utility savings over time.
Hot water usage. Based on a number factors, we’ll need to obtain an estimate, how much gas or oil is used for hot water and how much is used for other functions, such as heating the building and for your facility’s dryers. .
Monthly utility bills. It’s important to know patterns of usage during the different months and seasons. Solar hot water systems will produce more hot water during the summer, obviously. Systems must be designed to not overproduce during those months, while not under producing for the cooler seasons. As a result, the goal is to offset as much as 80% of your annual hot water needs.
Types of washers. We’ll have to know about your washers. Do you have large industrial washers? Small residential? Front loaders or top loaders? How many of each do you have? How many gallons are used per load for each type of washer?
Type of roof. We’ll have to know about your roof. Is it in good condition? How much area is available to install solar collectors? Also, is it a flat roof or slanted?
Roof orientation. If the roof is oriented in a particular direction, at what direction? The best solar potential is achieved when the solar collectors face south. However, there are ways to compensate for any direction, especially when you have a flat rooftop. The angle or pitch of a roof is anther factor.
Current storage tank area. We’ll need to know about your storage tank area. How far away is it from the roof? Is it on the roof? Wherever it is, is there room for another tank? Can we use your existing tank to incorporate solar hot water, or must it be replaced.
There are other details and data that need to be gathered in order to design an efficient and cost effective solar hot water system. The good news is that we can help you gather all of this information and give you a free solar hot water assessment.
If you have a Laundromat or other washing service, you have nothing to lose by contacting us for a free estimate. At best, we’ll show you your potential hot water savings by going solar. At worst, you’ll have a professional estimate and you’ll be able to benchmark yourself for another time when you’re ready to go solar.
This is the seventh in a series of posts written by Free Hot Water’s co-founder and senior mechanical engineer, Gal Moyal. We’ll be posting this series every Wednesday, so please make it a date. Some of the information may be very technical, but if you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us. We sincerely want to help. If you would like to have a more hands-on experience, explore our certified Free Hot Water training courses. –Solar Fred.
Calculating the Expansion Tank Size [Vet]
Through out the course of its life span, a closed loop solar hot water system will get exposed to wide temperature changes. To prevent the system from exceeding the pressure range allowed by the designer, there’s a need to “park” the fluid volume expansion.
To calculate the size of the expansion tank you will have to make the following calculations:
If you’re an installer who wants more more information or a home or business owner interested in solar hot water, please email us at info@freehotwter.com, and one of our experts will walk you through the process.
Wisc. police dog sniffs out solar savings (Photo: Flickr/Beige Alert)
Well, it’s been quite a week for solar thermal and solar hot water/solar thermal news.
Of course, we first have to mention that our very own Free Hot Water 7000 Series panel has been approved by the SRCC for 0G-1oo applications. We’re very proud of our 7000 Series and it’s potential to make save apartment buildings and hotels a lot of money on their hot water costs. Please see the details and specifications here in our press release.
In other news, Rhone Resch, the President of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), delivered the “U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review 2009″ report. Check out the full report here. In terms of solar hot water and solar thermal, 2009 was a rough year for the solar hot water pool installations due to the economy. However, it’s expected that things will improve in 2010 with the economic recovery. The report also mentions California’s goal of installing 200,000 solar water heating systems with its new incentive. If you’d like to take advantage of that incentive, by all means, please contact us for a quote or use our solar thermal cost estimator.
Police in Wisconsin catch solar hot water…for their prison. It’s criminal that more government buildings aren’t taking advantage of solar hot water savings and stimulus funds. But not for La Crosse County law enforcement. They applied for stimulus funds and were granted enough to install 32 solar hot water collectors on their Law Enforcement Center, which includes the County’s prison. The prison cafeteria, laundry, kitchen, and showers will all be able to take advantage of the solar hot water system, saving County tax payers many thousands of dollars over the next two decades. The payback will be within 10 years, says a county official. Read more.
That’s the most important solar hot water news of the week. If you want to make solar hot water news for your business or local government, please contact us for a free estimate. Thanks.
This is the second in a series of posts written by Free Hot Water’s co-founder and senior mechanical engineer, Gal Moyal. We’ll be posting this series every Wednesday, so please make it a date. Some of the information in future posts may be very technical, but if you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us. We sincerely want to help. If you would like to have a more hands-on experience, explore our certified Free Hot Water training courses. –Solar Fred.
FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTORS:
The principal component of a flat plate solar collector is the absorber plate, which consists of an assembly of a copper sheet and copper tubing.
The top surface of the absorber plate is coated with either a dark colored material or with a selective absorbent coating that is designed to extract as much as 15% more heat for the same active area. The solar radiation that strikes this surface is converted to thermal energy that’s used to heat the fluid flowing through the tubes.
To ensure extended service life, Free Hot Water collector parts are housed inside an anodized Aluminum case that’s capable of withstanding many years of exposure to the elements. The components inside and the back of this enclosure are insulated in order to minimize potential heat loss.
Anatomy of a Solar Flat Plate Collector (click for larger photo)
The upper surface of the collector is covered with tempered glass with low iron oxide content. The glass is designed to withstand high thermal stress (heat from the sun!) as well as impact from hailstones.
Free Hot Water’s Flat Plate Solar Collectors are high performance thermal collectors certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) as OG-100, appropriate for large installations such as apartment buildings, hospitals,restaurants, retirement homes, and other businesses.
That’s it for this Wednesday. Return next Wednesday, when Gal will continue Solar Thermal 101 with a description of Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors. If you have any questions and want to skip ahead, please contact us.
This is the first in a series of posts written by Free Hot Water’s co-founder and senior mechanical engineer, Gal Moyal. We’ll be posting this series every Wednesday, so please make it a date. Some of the information in future posts may be very technical, but if you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us. We sincerely want to help. If you would like to have a more hands-on experience, explore our certified Free Hot Water training courses. –Solar Fred.
The Main Components of a Solar Hot Water System
Solar collector panel. Mounted on your roof, the collector captures the heat from the sun and transfers it to the liquid circulating through the panel. Sometimes this liquid is water, but it can also be a special type of fluid that eventually transfers the heat to your home’s storage tank through a heat exchanger. See below.
Storage Tank. The heater storage tank is your home’s current boiler/ hot water heater. The heated water captured by the solar collector panel is stored in the tank for later use.
Heat exchanger. The heat exchanger transfers the heat energy captured by the solar collector panel to the potable water that is stored in the heater tank. In our system, the heat exchanger is external to the solar storage tank.
Expansion Tank. The expansion tank ensures that the system’s pressure does not exceed the pressure limits set by the system designer.
Control system. The control system consists of a controller and the circulating pump. The controller compares the temperature difference between the heat exchanger exit point and the solar collector’s exit point. When the collector panel’s temperature is higher than the heat exchanger’s temperature, the controller turns on the pump and circulates the liquid through the system until the temperature is equalized, and then turns the pump off.
Solar Hot Water Active System Design (click to enlarge)
If you’d like to see an animated illustration of the above image, see this page. That’s it for this week. Don’t forget to return next Wednesday for Gal’s next Solar Thermal 101 post. Gal will be writing about the anatomy of Solar Flat Plate Collectors.
Receive the FHW Monthly Newsletter 
