The main component of the solar water heating panel is the manifold.  The manifold is comprised of a stainless steel box section that contains an insulated copper pipe with heat tube sockets braised into it. This is where the condenser, (covered in conductive paste), in the heat pump of the evacuated tube slots in and transfers the heat to the system fluid that will heat the new coil in your new hot water cylinder.

You will notice a sensor in the hot end or output of the manifold, this is used by the resol solar controller to detect the difference in temperature between the hot water cylinder and the solar water heating panel manifold and turn on the grunfoss pump on the Aztec solar water heating pumping station.  It is also used to switch off the solar water heating circuit when the temperature on the roof exceeds one hundred and forty Celsius. The end caps of the solar heating manifold are plastic to insulate the copper from the stainless steel and the rest of the solar panel frame is stainless steel to prevent corrosion.  To fit or replace a solar tube you need to cover the condenser at the top of the tube in conductive paste then slot the evacuated tube into the brazed heat tube socket.  You will place a rubber boot over the other end of the tube and then gently tighten a jubilee clip around the rubber boot using a screw driver or allen key driver.

The installation of the solar panel is done on the second day after the new hot water cylinder has been already installed.

The solar panel is secured to the roof using a diamond core drill to drill through the roof tiles, then to attach a piece of wood between the rafters inside the roof.

Then go back out onto the roof and drill through the new piece of wood with an auga bit and then bolt the solar water heating panel to the roof.

The hot and cold pipes (flow and return) and the sensor to the solar collector will also use a diamond core drill to make the holes in the roof tiles.  Once this is completed all the holes will be sealed up using a high temperature sealant.  Normal sealants will not withstand the high temperatures reached on the hot end or output of the solar water heating panel manifold.

These tanks are custom made in Scotland (Macdonald engineering) to our own requirements the standard tank is five hundred and fifty millimetres in diameter and just changes height to increase the volume to suit your property.  Although if need be we can supply smaller diameter hot water cylinders if required.

The tanks are double insulated with fifty millimetres of insulation and all of the spouts have been raised to the surface of the insulation so that it is easy to install and so the you will not have to cut away any insulation (which will lead to heat losses) to get to the connections as you normally do on a standard tank.

We have also had the ports installed vertically in line with each other so that you can run your pipes down one side of the airing cupboard then push the new solar water heating cylinder to the back of the airing cupboard and then reconnect the pipes horizontally to the new hot water cylinder, which saves on space!

If you look at the bottom of the drawing you will see the extra coil for the solar water heating panel that will be connected via our own pumping station.

Extra coils or emersion heater ports can be added to suit the customer requirements.  It is quite normal for two emersion heater ports to be included so that economy seven can be used with a booster emersion heater in areas where properties cannot be connected to the gas mains.  Pressurised cylinders can also be supplied but they are more expensive due to the thicker copper wall and have to be quoted on an individual basis.