Solar Hot Water Heating Systems generally include Solar Collectors, Hot Water Storage Tanks, Piping, Controllers, and Circulator Pumps. They come in two standard system designs: Active Systems, which include Controllers and Circulators, and Passive Systems, which include no Controllers or Circulators and rely on natural means such as pressure and gravity to move water throughout the system.
The SunMaxx Solar Hot Water Heater line includes many products, including Evacuated Solar Collectors, Flat Plate Solar Collectors, Storage Tanks, Controllers, Circulators, and more.
Featured Products
SunMaxx Thermosyphon Solar Hot Water Kits. These tremendous kits are an all inclusive passive solar hot water system that require no pumps, controllers or power to operate. Thermosyphon Solar Kits can be used for domestic hot water as well as small radiant heating applications.
SunMaxx U-Pipe Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors. These unique solar collectors are smaller, and more versatile than our Heat Pipe Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors, and, because of their extremely low cost, the SunMaxx-20U and the SunMaxx-30U produce more BTU per dollar invested than any other Evacuated Tube Solar Collector. And, their ability to be installed vertically, or flat, makes them a tremendous asset in commercial projects, or installations on tight, limited space roofs.
Solar Hot Water Heaters Products - General Information
Solar hot water heaters have been around for centuries providing millions of people with hot water for various applications. With the improvement of technologies in this industry, solar hot water has become one of the most reliable heating sources found today. With zero emissions and almost no maintenance, these systems are capable of producing enough energy to heat your household and domestic water.
The SunMaxx tubes are also capable of being used in larger solar energy systems such as commercial hot water heating applications. Several customers have used an array of SunMaxx collectors for residential complex hot water heating with an auxiliary boiler system. Flexibility has never been a problem with any of the SunMaxx products whether you are located in central New York or sunny California, we have a product that fill fit your needs.
Evacuated Solar Collectors from SunMaxx Solar come in two standard sizes; a 20 tube collector and a 25 tube collector. Each collector features parallel rows of transparent glass tubes, each containing an outer and inner glass wall, a heat pipe with fin, and a coating designed to trap the sunlight within the tube for maximum efficiency in the system.
Perfect for Northern, colder, cloudier climates, Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are far more efficient for Solar Hot Water Heating in the Northern United States than standard Flat Plate Collectors. SunMaxx Evacuated Solar Collectors can be used for a number of standard uses, including Domestic and Commercial uses.
Flat Plate Solar Collectors have been a Solar Hot Water Heating Industry standard for several decades. First gaining popularity in the 1970’s, Flat Plate Collectors are widely used around the world, and across a wide portion of the United States.
SunMaxx Flat Plate Solar are among the very best in the industry, and in many climates, they operate at the highest efficiency, are among the most cost-effective, and are very easy to install, service, and maintain.
Flat Plate Collectors are less costly than Evacuated Solar Collectors, but also less efficient than Evacuated Tubes. Because an evacuated is able to gather sunlight from a full 360 degree collector, the Flat Plate, with its single flat surface, is far less adept at using low level light, and/or overcast
Perfect for warmer, southern climates where there is no freezing possible, SunMaxx Thermosyphon Solar Hot Water Heater Systems deliver exceptional performance at a price that cannot be beat.
These systems combine SunMaxx Evacuated Solar Collectors with a specially designed, gravity fed, 80 gallon Solar Hot Water Storage tank. The tank is mounted outside, directly above the solar collector, much as the manifold on a standard Evacuated Tube Solar Collector.
Because the storage tank is external, and at the whim of the elements, these systems are great for directly heating your potable water, however, it is impossible to use a glycol mixture as a heat transfer fluid with a Thermosyphon System. However, if you are looking for the most cost-effective Solar Hot Water Heater for warm climates to directly heat your potable water, the SunMaxx Thermosyphon Systems are perfect for you.
Drainback Solar Hot Water Systems are closed loop systems, which means that they use potable water directly in the collector loop. The water is forced through the collectors via a pump, and gravity is used to pull the water from the collector loop and into the storage tank or heat exchanger.
There are significant advantages of these systems, including the lack of valves to fail. Additionally, when the pumps are off, the collectors are empty, and therefore there is no chance of freezing your water in the collector loop, and an auto-shutoff if the water within the storage tank becomes too hot.
Pre-Packaged Drainback Systems from SunMaxx will be coming shortly.
If you already have an existing Hot Water Storage Tank that you would rather not get rid of, and would not like to spend the additional money on a second, solar designed Storage Tank, SunMaxx will soon be offering Heat Exchanger Solar Hot Water Systems.
Whereas Systems with SunMaxx Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks come with our standard storage tanks, which include 2 internal heat exchangers, Heat Exchanger Solar Hot Water Systems do not include a storage tank, but rather an individual heat exchanger, which can then be plumbed in line with your existing storage tank to thermally heat the potable water with the heat transfer fluid you are using in your collector loop.
Pre-Packaged Heat Exchanger Solar Hot Water Systems from SunMaxx will be coming shortly.
The Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks from SunMaxx are intended to provide all of the features that are needed to ensure complete installation of a “One-Tank” Solar Hot Water Heating System. In fact, with the components of these tanks, it is unnecessary to invest in an additional tank, boiler, or back up heater, unless you would choose to do so for special reasons.
These tanks come in two standard sizes: 40 gallon and 80 gallon models, are made from stainless steel, are double walled, and designed to be thin in order to save space in cramped heater/boiler rooms.
Each tank comes with two internal heat exchangers (one at the top and one at the bottom) to provide continuous and even heating of your water for a perfect temperature throughout the entire day or night.
Every Active Solar Hot Water System needs to have a high-quality Circulating System. Generally, a Solar Hot Water Circulator includes a delivery pump and a controller which is used to control the water/transfer fluid flow throughout the system.
Solar Hot Water Circulators from SunMaxx combine high-power, reliable delivery pumps from Taco, and a variable temperature control sensor. The sensor reads the temperature at the collector intake and the storage tank input, and determines if the system needs to operate in order to raise the temperature of the water in the storage tank so that it is ready for use for domestic uses.
The controller on the SunMaxx Solar Hot Water Circulators can also be used to operate the backup electric heater in the storage tank, or an external backup heating element of your choice.
