A few months ago Quadrix Energy received a query from a potential customer, lets call him Joe, regarding the installation of a solar hot water system. Of prime concern to Joe was whether he could undertake the installation himself. Up to this point we had not considered the idea practical since there were other factors involved, for example, the requirement for possible structural work on the building, the permits required and the need to have a plumber certify the finished system.

As time went on we discovered that Joe's site presented several problems that needed to be overcome before we could consider allowing him to undertake the project himself. Bear in mind that we had not visited the site but Joe was really keen to accept both the challenge and the responsibility.

Joe convinced us that he had the building and plumbing trades covered and that he would do the best job possible. This case study is testiment to Joe's commitment.

The Problems

• The site is in Wellington which requires an optimum angle of 42 Degrees. This exceeds the maximum slope specification by seven degrees for the system, a constraint is brought about by the frame design and tank seating on the frame.
• He had a cathedral style roof with the ridge aligned North-South.
• Because he has a family of six, he needed a larger system than is normally available.
• In addition Joe wanted to connect the solar system to his high pressure system which operated at nearly the maximum pressure recommended for the Microsolar heat exchanger.

We recommended that a 40 tube system comprising two 20 tube Microsolar Tanks be installed on a specially constructed level platform to support the 800Kg combined weight of the tanks. Although we have some standard designs available for this Joe and his builder designed and built their own permitted platform.

We designed the complete plumbing system, taking into consideration the requirement of the controller and pump that would be needed to drive the system. The design connected the heat exchangers of both Microsolar tanks in series so that one would act as a preheater to the other. At about this time Joe decided to replace his existing mains pressure tank with a custom-built high pressure dual element stainless steel tank. The new tank meant that Joe would have worry-free operation for many years to come.

Installation
Several weeks passed before the new high pressure dual element tank arrived. The new tank was installed first, followed by the Microsolar frames, tanks and tubes. At this point the plumber was called in to complete the installation and although he had no previous experience with solar hot water systems and some minor mistakes were made, they were easily corrected. After several days of heating in some of the worst weather experienced this spring the system was turned on and the Microsolar system began delivering hot water to the main tank at a very respectable 65 degrees Celsius.

Footnote
Joe has kindly offered to demonstrate his system to anyone who is interested. If you would like to view this installation please contact us here and we will arrange a time for you.