Solar hot water is becoming more and more popular as more people want to save money on energy bills while also helping the environment.
But as we enter the winter seasons, is solar hot water actually worth it from a financial perspective?
The answer to this question varies heavily depending on where you’re located.
If you’re from one of the southern states in Australia there will be more cloudy days throughout winter which will have a significant impact on the amount of electricity that your solar system will produce.
For people that live in arctic regions efficient solar hot water can be achieved, although specialised solar panels must be used in order to allow the collection of indirect solar energy.
In extremely cold and snowy climates however there is an additional battle to be fought in order to stop solar hot water panels being covered in snow which will physically obstruct the sunlight from reaching the panels themselves.
Although that’s a very extreme example it does illustrate that the ease of heating your water using solar power will be heavily influenced on where you’re physically located.
According to currentresults.com people in Melbourne have an average of 185 days (or around 50% of the year) which are sunny or partly sunny.
Brisbane however has 261 days (71% of the year) of sunshine or partial sun each year. It’s a massive difference which makes it far easier to create hot water with solar power during winter time.
In addition to geographic location it’s obviously important to ensure that the solar panels are facing the correct direction to ensure maximum output all year round.
Since the movement of the sun changes throughout the year, this will also have an impact on the systems ability to generate hot water simply based around how well sunlight is able to hit the panels at the right angle.
This isn’t a problem for you to worry about though, since your solar hot water specialist will be able to make the necessary calculations to ensure maximum efficiency at any point during the year.
The good news for Queenslanders is that even during winter time we have an abundance of clear skies and bright sunny days so solar hot water systems can do their job without too much difficulty.
Once you’ve decided to make the switch over to solar hot water then it’s a simple matter of calculating the size of the solar system you will need in order to power your hot water unit.
To do this our solar hot water specialists will get an understanding of how much hot water capacity you require on a day-to-day basis which
Will in dictate the requirements of the solar hot water system being installed.
Once those key metrics have been established it’s simply a matter of installing the system and enjoying the benefits of solar powered hot water during winter
Let the experts at SolaPlumb conduct a free on-site energy assessment at your home or business and provide you with the perfect solar solution – whether it is solar hot water, solar power (PV) or solar pool heating.
Call us today on (07) 5317 6216 we are here 24/7 for you.
