The Sunward System is quite simple.
The Sunward Solar Hot Water System is designed to: Collect the sun's energy Sunward Solar Collectors have one primary purpose - to capture solar radiation. As sunlight travels through the glazed glass it heats the tubing. Inside the copper tubing is a heat transfer fluid called Glycol. This non-toxic food-grade anti-freeze absorbs the heat from the sun. The fluid is then pumped to a Heat Exchanger where the heat is transferred to your water supply.
Transport the sun's energy into your home Once the sun's energy has heated the Glycol fluid in the Solar Collector, the fluid is pumped to the Heat Exchanger. The Glycol travels from the Solar Collector to the Heat Exchanger through our exclusive Sunward Micro-Tubing. This 3/8" copper tubing is flexible, so it can be easily routed from the Collector to the Heat Exchanger without the need to cut solid pipe and solder joints at every turn. The Micro-Tubing is pre-insulated at our factory, which greatly reduces the amount of labor you'll have to perform during installation.
Transfer the sun's heat to your water The Heat Exchanger takes the heat that's been absrobed by the Glycol and transfers it to your water supply. Inside the Heat Exchanger is more than 130 feet of 1/4" copper tubing which is coiled inside a 4" diameter cylinder. Solar heated Glycol flows though this mass of copper which is surrounded by potable water. This water absorbs the heat radiating from the copper tubing and becomes hot water. The hot water then travels into the Sunward Storage Tank, where it's stored until needed.
Supplement your existing water supply with solar-heated water The Sunward Solar Storage Tank holds the water that's been heated in the Heat Exchanger. Hot water from the Heat Exchanger is fed into the top of the 80-gallon Sunward Storage Tank. This pre-heated hot water is available on demand, and during sunny periods you'll enjoy 100% solar heated water. When the sun is less intense your water may only get partially pre-heated, but your existing water heating device will kick in to finish the job. The good news is that even if there is only enough sunlight to heat your water a few degrees, your existing system will use that much less energy. The glass-lined Sunward Storage Tank is well insulated, so your supply of solar heated water will retain much of its heat well after the sun goes down.
The Sunward System is designed to work in any climate. The system does not heat the water you use for washing and bathing directly. Instead, a fluid called Glycol (a non-toxic, food-grade anti-freeze) is circulated through the Sunward System. The Glycol captures the sun’s heat and transports that heat to the 'Heat Exchanger' unit where it is transferred to water and stored. The Heat Exchanger unit allows the transfer of heat from the Glycol to your water supply without the two mixing. The entire Sunward System has only one moving part — a magnetic-drive pump, to circulate the Glycol. Unique to Sunward, this pump is powered by small Photovoltaic (PV) solar panel, so the system requires no external power source |