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Solar hot water:

Solar heating harnesses the power of the sun to provide solar thermal energy for solar hot water. A solar heating system saves energy, reduces utility costs, and produces clean energy.
Solar hot water systems are available in different designs according to the differing requirements and esthetical preferences. Solar hot water can be created with 2 different modes of technology. The first one is through flat plate collectors and the second through glass evacuated tubes. Evacuated tubes are believed to be the more efficient technology and it is therefore the preferred technology of Solar Vision.
Solar Vision might however apply flat plate collectors when this technology is more applicable in special cases.

Solar hot water systems do require in addition to the heat collectors an insulated water storage tank. Solar hot water systems can be mounted on top of the roof, at some other high level or at the ground level.

How the technology works

During the day, the sun shines on the tubes heating either the water directly or a special fluid, which will then transfer the heat to a water tank. The water or special fluid rises into the tank because of the principle of thermosiphoning. The cold water inside the tank flows then into the heat collecting panel to get heated and this process gets repeated until all the water reaches the required temperature. This water is stored in the hot water tank for use later.  

What size do I need?

To determine what size of tank you need one should estimate an average daily consumption per person of 50 liters: