Buying Solar Panels . Buy Solar Panels . Solar Tubes . Solar Heating Panels Systems . Solar . Solar for Homes . Solar Panels UK Climate
Solar panels installers or evacuated tubes installations in the UK.
There are three industry recognised forms of solar water heating panel (solar Thermal collector).
Glazed flat plate: This type of technology is the most common for it applies to all flat solar collectors that have a glass of plastic front cover; Glazed Flat plates range from the Premium Line range with a 30 year+ life span, down to units constructed from plastic some of which degrade in as little as a few years.
Evacuated Solar Tubes: These take advantage of the thermos flask principle of keeping heat in, but not all evacuated tubes work in the same way when it comes to heat collection, a tube with a 360 deg C collector surface is known as a Sidney Tube (as it was developed by a joint venture between Sidney and Shanghai Universities. Other types of evacuated tube include single skin (test tube like) tubes with fins inside which you point at where you expect the sun to be at its strongest.
Unglazed Flat Panels: This type of technology is best described as a plastic box with rubber pipes, painted black. This technology is still offered by some low end solar suppliers. No attempt is made to maximise the heat collection properties or reduce heat loss. Life expectancy of this type of collector is normally a few years.
Solar panels for heating
In a nutshell, hot water solar panels heat up hot water within your hot water tank, to supply you with constant supply of hot water during the day light hours. In most cases this will allow you to not use your boiler for most of the year, and use it less in the winter. These solar panels are divided into 2 types:
Evacuated Solar Tubes - The latest solar technology advance. This heats the ACTUAL water in a 'direct' manner, giving the best performance of all solar technologies.
Flat Solar Panels - Traditional style of solar panel. This heats up anti-freeze mixture and is curculated through heat exchangers in a coil in you tank. We showcase water heating evacuated tubes, because you can use your existing hot water cylinder tank in most cases and are the best performing of all solar technologies: - Solar tubes are the most 'efficient' but flat olar panels are more 'aesthetically' pleasing on the eye, when in place on the roof.
- Solar hot water is less problematic after installation and with little or no maintenance needed.
- Some people prefer the asethetics of flat panels.
- In most cases solar tubes and solar panels can provide for a family of 4-5 persons. The tubes heat up the water, and returns it to your hot water tank. Simple!
- It is a more simplistic system to install which means more people can DIY it...DIY Solar Kits >>
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Did you know...
1. The UK receives upto 60% solar energy that the equator receives meaning that most homes can successfully use solar panel technology to supplement there energy use.
2. HIPS (Home Imformation Packs) being show solar panels, actually adds value to you property, making them financially viable for the first time.
3. Solar panels and especially evacuated tubes even work well in winter months and even on cloudy days
PV electric solar panels
There are also PV solar panels which generate electricity and your surplus energy is sold back to your energy company for which you are credited.
Photovoltaic Solar Panels - PV solar panels produce electricity from daylight through a process called PV. "Photo" refers to light and "voltaic" to electricity. Although a more expensive solar technology, this solar allows for longer term benefits for your domestic home: Working with basic energy saving measures, this type of solar panel will be a smart move over the coming years, with HIPS assessments, allowing PV solar panels to be a real financial investment opportunity.
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Did you know...
1. Germany has the great amount of PV solar installation in the world. As you may be aware they have a similar climate to the UK.
2. PV installed in Japan in the 1960's is still going strong today.
3. Once installed with PV solar panels you will have two meter readings, one for 'imported' electricity, and the other will measure 'exported' electricity.
Our ethics
We don't use hard sell salesmen to sell our products, because we know our products are the highest quality. This approach allows us to sell our products at more affordable price's than our competitors. We will not hard sell to you, so please contact us, if you need us.
Why solar panels?
Solar panels for the 'energy crunch' news
North Sea gas is running out and Russia is proving an unreliable source.
The UK over the next 3 years will have to come to terms with 75% of our energy coming from Russia, as the North Sea output declines rapidly. The 2009 Ukraine and Russia despute has highlighted the problems the UK faces being at the end of the supply chain. The UK is vunerable. Scary enough, but whats in store over the next decade?
The UK energy industry is currently in turmoil with many of our power stations due for de-commissioning with no new stations due for another 10 years, but more importantly, output from the world's oil fields are declining at 9%. "Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable.
We now warn that the global peak of oil production will arrive unexpectedly early, resulting in not just a global energy crisis, but potentially the withholding of exports by oil producers causing energy famine".
Learn more at UK energy news >>
Solar panels for investment
With bank rates falling to 1.0% if you have saved money, you will almost certainly get a better return on investment in energy efficiency and solar products, especially solar water heating.
Selling your house? - Investing on a solar panels installation will increase your property value, by *£10,000 approx and save on your energy bills. *Energy Saving Trust
Solar panels for tommorow
Despite the numerous warnings about mankinds destructive impact on our world, despair has set in that our governments have failed to act. This is the same world our children and grand children are going to have to live in. So what are we as a collective species going to do about it. The green revolution starts at home, pioneer!
Solar panels for the environment
In the history of the planet, humanity's time on earth has been short but powerful. Taking responsibility for our own personal impact is why many people install solar panels.
Learn more at Friends of the Earth >>
Quality matters with solar panels
Buying solar panels can be a daunting task. With lots of different solar panels technologies and solar companies selling varying levels of quality, which can mean the difference between your solar system lasting 5 or 30 years.
Quality is the key factor in selecting an evacuated tube collector some of our trade customers have told us about competitive products are rusty when they arrive, tubes without vacuums, tubes of differing colours from the same box and boxes full of broken glass due to poor packaging and transportation.
The test EAN results for one of our competitors evacuated tube collectors showed performance was equivalent to an unglazed flat plate collector, and due to corrosion the test centre had to saw the collector in half after the two month test in order to get it back in the packaging for return to the supplier.
With 43 years combined solar industry experience, Heat my Home Ltd, only showcase the best performing and highest quality solar panels with 'no quibble guarantee of quality' for your peace of mind.
Finding a reputable solar panel company
As with any industry, you get good and bad companies. The solar industry, unfortunatley has more than its fair share of bad solar companies. With the solar business still in it's infancy, we are now starting to see certain companies, who are trying to exploit this, and take advantage of the up and coming energy crisis.
With 'double glazing' style hard selling, and inferior products beeing sold at premium prices, Avoid such companies with our comprehensive guide, to help you through the minefield that is the solar industry:
1. Solar companies that insist a sales person (or so called surveyer) has to come and see you personally, without answering any questions on the phone. Ask technical questions on the phone.
2. Solar companies that insist your hot water tank needs replacing, even though it is in good working order. This is bumping up the profit margin, at your expense.
3. Solar salesmen/surveyor starts to offer you large discounts from the original price. Common sense dictates that the original price must have been over inflated to begin with.
4. 'Big discounts', 'reward packages', 'get your installation for free' type incentives. The big juicy maggot on an very expensive hook.
5. Do not sign any contract there and then, especially not in your home.
6. The 'quick payback', 'frightening energy stories', are the sign of a lying salesmen. There is no quick payback with any renewable energy product.
7. Extremely low warranties, usually a sign of an inferior product. Free service or maintenance offers are usually as worthless as 1 note, as rogue companies never honour these.
8. Junk mail advertising. The favoured marketing of a rogue solar company. Not very eco is it.
9. 'Middle men' or 'get a quote/quoter' middlemen websites usually work hand in hand with such solar companies.
10. Beware low quality systems such as plastic and rubber panels. Poor quality at premium prices.
With 43 years combined experience in the solar industry, we have sourced and cherry picked the best of the best components and systems, based on performance and quality. Our 'no quibble' guarantee of quality and our non-intrusive, non-hard sell approach to selling solar panels, means we are trusted by customers up and the whole UK.
100 years of solar panels technology
Solar panels and solar energy has been used my mankind since the dawn of humanity. The sun and solar energy has provided life itself on our planet earth. Solar panel technology can be traced back to heating water as far back to before Roman times.
The history of PV solar panels dates back to 1839, when French physicist Antoine César Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect involving an cell that was made up of two metal electrodes. The first production solar cell was created in 1907, with the refinement of the technology taking place upto 1941.
The PV (electric) solar panels work very easily by exciting the atoms in a wafer thin layer of silicon. This then produces electrons, which when diverted, can produce an electric current down wires and eventually to be used by your household appliances.
The other solar panels technology is solar hot water panels commonly known as solar thermal, flat plate solar panels or evacuated tubes or solar tubes, which simply involve insulating a space, were water runs through. The heat in the solar panels increase to a point were the water traveling through gets heated too. A simple and very effective technology.
Over the last 50 years, solar panels have gradually been refined and tweaked, to a point now, were we can get great performance out of these technologies, even in the UK and northern hemisphere.
100 years of solar panel technology has brought us to the latest developments in PV (Photovoltaic) solar panels and 'direct' evacuated solar tubes.
The best solar panels technology for your particular household depends on many factors including; roof space, budget and existing plumbing set up:
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1. For a longer term solution with a large area of roof space, then PV solar panels are a great choice.
2. Roof space limited and budget limited, then evacuated tubes solar panels are a great choice.
Solar panels are brilliant at capturing solar energy and turning it into useful domestic energy
