Ecosolar ESR21-R3, Installation Manual

Page 1: ...Solar Hot Water System Installation Guide...

Page 2: ...ot Water Heating Installation Guide Energy Conscious Design Limited EcoSolar 15B Saturn Place Albany Auckland Postal PO Box 81049 Whenuapai Auckland New Zealand Phone 09 442 0996 Fax 09 442 0997 E inf...

Page 3: ...systems 14 Pumped systems 14 Thermosyphon systems 15 System types 16 Mains pressure system 16 Low pressure system 17 Connection to an existing hot water cylinder with no solar system connections 17 C...

Page 4: ...e glycol 42 System design and over heating 42 Heat dumping 42 Drainback 44 Reliability 47 Existing hot water cylinder heating Source 47 Legionella 49 Safety 50 Periodic Maintenance 50 Glazing maintena...

Page 5: ...taller should discuss the requirements with the end user to ensure an appropriate system is installed The EcoSolar check sheets should be completed guidance sought and complied with where required and...

Page 6: ...this is key to the performance of the system and delivering acceptable energy savings System operation and control there are several levels of system operation and control the selection of these is de...

Page 7: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 3 Figure 1 Thermosyphon system Figure 2 Indirect pumped drainback system...

Page 8: ...ould require a larger system with a 300 litre hot water cylinder and multiple collectors The sizing of solar water heating systems for conventional housing is fairly well known however sizing of comme...

Page 9: ...ntrol and one in the upper half of the cylinder for boosting the water temperature The use of the electric elements the boiler or other heat source should be minimised and ideally should only be switc...

Page 10: ...emperatures and turn the electric elements or boiler on if required Wetback Combined solar and wetback heated installations are becoming increasingly common The solar system heats the cylinder in the...

Page 11: ...lowing boosting systems 1 an instantaneous gas water heater as shown in Figure 5 below If the water being heated by the solar system is up to temperature the bypass valve in the hot water supply diver...

Page 12: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 8 Figure 6 EcoSolar drainback solar preheat system c w boiler heated booster cylinder...

Page 13: ...ystem failure or excessive heat being supplied by the solar collector the hot water cylinder could explode causing serious injury death and or damage There have been many such cases and the results ca...

Page 14: ...mal radiation from the sun in the same way its temperature is lowered at night by the cold night sky A night sky can especially on a cold clear night freeze the water within the solar collector even i...

Page 15: ...The EcoSolar solar controllers have functions to start the pump and allow warm water to enter the collector when low temperatures are recorded by its sensor in the collector thereby reducing the risk...

Page 16: ...ers are installed Figure 7 Mechanical frost valves Frost valves rely upon the warm water in the cylinder heating the collectors this therefore results in cooling of the hot water cylinder and thus inc...

Page 17: ...nders being installed The low and medium pressure cylinders often offer a reduction in water usage which is becoming increasingly important Mains pressure There are now more and more options available...

Page 18: ...ng hot water cylinder are only suitable for smaller households Retrofit systems will be covered in more detail in a future article Horizontal versus vertical cylinders Vertical cylinders are invariabl...

Page 19: ...warm water rising from the solar collector into the hot water cylinder Thermosyphon systems can either have the cylinder close coupled to the collectors or have a remote mounted cylinder The systems...

Page 20: ...If the system installed is a drainback system there will be an overflow from the system If the hot water cylinder is valve vented the existing relief valves should be checked for correct operation and...

Page 21: ...ion of a four way inlet which allows the cold water supply and warm water returns from the collector to be installed in to the existing cold water connection Alternatively spare lower connections can...

Page 22: ...the retrofitting of a solar system on to an existing hot water cylinder as shown in Figure 8 and 8 A direct system as highlighted previously is where the water passing through the collectors is drawn...

Page 23: ...cious Design Limited 19 Figure 8 above shows an open loop solar hot water installation retrofitted on to a cylinder with only bottom entry fittings no bottom dispersion plate This installation uses th...

Page 24: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 20 Figure 9 Mains pressure open loop solar hot water installation using side entry connections and retrofit 4 way connection...

Page 25: ...and corrosion inhibitor however these system are becoming less favourable as the deficiencies of Propylene glycol are becoming understood An indirect Glycol based system is shown in Figure 10 below T...

Page 26: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 22 Figure10 Closed loop glycol based system with single pump and heat exchanger in the DHW cylinder...

Page 27: ...be the most flexible and reliable system and are becoming more commonly installed in NZ As well as the conventional drainback system as shown in Figure 11 below options are available to retrofit a dra...

Page 28: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 24 Figure 11 Closed loop drainback system with single pump and heat exchanger in the DHW cylinder...

Page 29: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 25 Figure 12 Retrofit indirect drainback system with twin pumps...

Page 30: ...h increases mixing within the cylinder which reduces the efficiency of the system See Figure below Remote Mounted Cylinder These systems have the collectors on the roof and the cylinder located above...

Page 31: ...pports shall also be installed immediately either side of pumps valves and changes in direction All hot water pipework is to be insulated using Armstrong Armaflex or similar Pipework shall be flushed...

Page 32: ...f Care shall be taken to ensure the integrity of the roof is not compromised These shall be in compliance with G12 AS2 Relief Valve The relief valve or relief path shall be sized for the total power o...

Page 33: ...herefore the vegetation may have to be pruned to prevent shadows Inclination The ideal inclination of the solar collector is at an angle equal to the latitude of the site Deviations greater than 20O w...

Page 34: ...as shown by a compass X for locations in NZ are shown below Latitude Cape Reinga 17 34 Kaitia 17 5 35 Whangerei 18 36 Auckland 18 5 37 Hamilton 19 38 Taupo 19 5 39 Palmerston North 20 40 Wellington a...

Page 35: ...esign is required in high extreme wind zone areas such as above a height of 8m above ground level Corrugated Iron sheet roofing Attach collector to roof inclination There are several methods of instal...

Page 36: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 32 Figure 14 Fixing method to corrugated iron and long run pan or deep trough roofing...

Page 37: ...the channel marked out on the roof The collector is then unbolted from the angle brackets The channels are laid horizontally across the roof in the required location The straps are bolted on the chann...

Page 38: ...EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited 34 Figure 15 Fixing method to tiled roofing...

Page 39: ...or inclination from roof pitch The concept for increasing the collector pitch off of a pitched roof is shown below The pitch required shall be stated when ordering the fixing kits from EcoSolar Figure...

Page 40: ...lation requires specific design for the design of the collector mounting frame however the concept is similar to that shown in Figure 16 above Figure 17 presents a potential system Please contact us f...

Page 41: ...ure is below its maximum temperature The system will often have a backup heating system such as an electric immersion heater To maximise savings these backup heating systems should be left off during...

Page 42: ...monitor an EcoSolar solar radiation sensor This controller can control up to 3 solar systems allowing the solar collectors to heat up to 3 hot water cylinders swimming or spa pools Multiple arrays of...

Page 43: ...again resulting in considerable energy usage This controller automates this function by automatically turning the backup heating off once the water is up to temperature There are also more sophistica...

Page 44: ...m and top of the cylinder respectively Temperature sensor installation Temperature sensors should be installed such that they monitor the water temperature and are not influenced too greatly by their...

Page 45: ...ers generally have a maximum design temperature that should not be exceeded Many of the hot water cylinders sold in New Zealand are lined steel cylinders these generally have a lower maximum design te...

Page 46: ...ve collector area will provide too much heat in to the system and lead to overheating unless correctly managed Many installations will experience intermittent hot water draw off such as baches or comm...

Page 47: ...generation EcoSolar controller is able to automatically control a solar system to prioritise heat to several heating demands and then dump excess heat so to avoid system overheating Figure 22 Closed l...

Page 48: ...that could be exposed to low or high temperatures should be fully free draining Whilst the pump is turned off there is no water in the collectors there is then no risk of freezing in cold weather and...

Page 49: ...aximum of about two thirds full of water Provided the system is installed properly the system should operate as follows When there is a heat demand and there is heat to gain from the collector the pum...

Page 50: ...demand for the client at a cost similar to those for conventional systems and without the maintenance issues associated with propylene glycol The heatstore cylinder is a low pressure copper cylinder w...

Page 51: ...se involved in that particular installation but it will have a significant impact upon how the industry is perceived and whether such systems are seen as an appropriate solution to the rising cost of...

Page 52: ...g on the least amount of time and provide the greatest savings Figure 26 One Shot Backup heating controller allows manual control of the backup heating The heating is manually turned on and will be au...

Page 53: ...me time each week this way the management will hopefully become habitual If the cylinder has two immersion heaters the lower one should be initiated to maximise the amount of water heated Please note...

Page 54: ...nnually Check solar panels for shading Measure and test Propylene Glycol antifreeze acidity level and colour closed loop glycol systems Check solar system pressure closed loop glycol systems Check wat...

Page 55: ...elatively easy task aluminium extrusions clip on to secure the glazing in place with a U shaped EPDM seal Lever off and unclip the four outer perimeter extrusions using an approximately 75mm wide leve...

Page 56: ...lector antifreeze function within the Men Menu shall be programmed and initiated where only water is circulated through the solar collector Where antifreeze is within an indirect circuit no electronic...

Page 57: ...he front plate Recheck all terminations for correct location and good practice termination Plug in and switch the controller on The controller will go through its checking process and then display the...

Page 58: ...the down arrow the temperature will blink now press the left and right arrows to change the temperature now press the up arrow to select the temperature The max temperature is always greater than max...

Page 59: ...nks now use the left and right hand arrows to change the temperature and press the up arrow to select the required temperature 9 Now press the right hand arrow max 2 is displayed on the screen This te...

Page 60: ...C for most cases change if required using the down arrow then right hand arrows then select using up arrow Now press the right hand arrow this temperature is also to protect the pump it is the tempera...

Page 61: ...ress the boost switch the green neon on the One Shot will turn on 4 The over ride button should only be used if there is significant water consumption 5 If all the water has not been heated to 60 OC f...

Page 62: ...he cylinder T3 over a short period of time they will determine the temperature below which additional hot water is required this temperature will vary from household to household and depend upon hot w...

Page 63: ...wn 5 If the water temperature is below the predetermined set point press the boost switch the green neon on the One Shot will turn on 6 The over ride button should only be used if there is significant...

Page 64: ...instead installed facing East and West The controller has an internal daily timer which is able to control 3 outputs this function is often used to automate the backup heating The controller will dete...

Page 65: ...cylinder is being heated regularly to greater than 60O C there is a risk of Legionella establishing itself in the hot water cylinder In order to minimize this risk the water should be heated to 60O C...