Solar Training Website

The solar water heater installation guide is now available, with useful information for plumbers and apprentices. 

This book has been written by two TAFE educators with several years of experience in solar water heater installations.

Co-authors

Andrew Blair

Andrew Blair installed his first solar hot water collectors in 1972. In 1980 he opened a business “Outlook Alternatives”, in Wangaratta in north-eastern Victoria, a business that designed and installed solar hot water systems, wood-fired central heating systems and solar electricity systems. The business still operates although Andrew sold it in 1992.

Andrew is a teacher in the TAFE Division of Swinburne University of Technology at Hawthorn in Melbourne. He holds a Diploma of Agriculture, a Science degree and Diploma of Education, and has trained in Plumbing and Fitting and Machining. In his work he has introduced a significant practical component to the Certificate and Diploma in Renewable Energy course at Swinburne.

Trevor Berrill

Trevor Berrill has worked in the renewable energy field for the past 30 years. He is an award winning, private consultant in renewable energy (RE) and has worked in RE research (solar thermal and wind), design and installation of PV, Wind, Solar Water Heating systems and Energy Efficiency Buildings and education and training through TAFE and Universities.

Trevor is trained in mechanical and electrical engineering and energy auditing at Qld. University of Technology and has a Masters of Environmental Education degree from Griffith University.

Acknowledgements

Funding for this training resource has been provided by the Australian Greenhouse Office within the Department of Environment and Water Resources.

Product details, photos and diagrams have been kindly provided by solar water heater manufacturers including Rheem, Dux, Rinnai, Quantum, Stiebel Eltron, Solco, Solahart, Edwards, Hills Solar, Ecosmart, Chromagen and Conergy.

Full book

The full installation book will be available for downloading from here (pdf of whole book). Warning - the file size is 10.67 MB, so broadband is recommended.

Separate sections can be downloaded from here:

Introduction and contents (396kB)

Chapter 1 - Solar water heating overview (518kB)

Chapter 2 - Solar radiation & mounting of collectors (1.3MB)

Chapter 3 - Solar system components, configurations & operating principles (3.1MB)

Chapter 4 - Boost heating (610kB)

Chapter 5 - System control & protection (1.3MB)

Chapter 6 - System design & installation (1.05MB)

Chapter 7 - Maintenance & troubleshooting (46kB)

Chapter 8 - Combined central heating & solar hot water (83kB)

Chapter 9 - Extra information (glossary, RECs, Standards, OH&S) (475kB)

Annex - Detailed information (system costs, solar energy, frost protection) (1.6MB)

Chapter details

Solar water heater overview

            Common types

            Economic benefits

            Environmental benefits

Solar radiation and mounting of collectors

            Best collector orientation and inclination

            Shading

System types and operating principles

            Principles of water heating

            Collector types

            Storage tanks

            Close coupled systems

            Pump-circulated (split) systems

            Thermosiphon remote storage systems

            Heat pump systems

Boost heating

            The need for boost heating

            Uncontrolled heat sources

System control and protection

            Valves

            Over-temperature protection

            Circulating pump

            Frost protection

            Corrosion protection

System design and installation

            Pre-installation

            The installation

            Retrofitting to existing hot water systems

            Mounting of tanks

            Installation of gravity feed system in roof space

Other components

            Multiple unit installations

Maintenance and troubleshooting

            Preventative maintenance

            Trouble shooting – problems

Combined central heating and solar hot water

Extra information

            Glossary of terms

            Government solar hot water incentives

            Australian Standards and other references

            Installation check list

            Significant water temperatures

            Legionnaires disease temperature table

            Occupational Health and Safety considerations

            Australian solar hot water manufacturers & distributors

            Credits – photos, diagrams, tables

            Special tools

Annex 1            Extra detail on solar water heater benefits

Annex 1.1         Appendix – life cycle costing

Annex 1.2         Solar energy in more detail

Annex 2            Further details on frost protection

Annex 2.1         Frost protection