Unfortunately if a solar hot water system is not installed correctly you may not discover thee is a fault for a long time. The biggest disappointment can be the discovery that despite your best intentions to reduce energy bills and save money nothing was saved because the installation was not done properly. I came across one solar water installation that had never produced a drop of free hot water since it was installed 35 years ago!Here are six hot tips for you.

Be careful about buying a huge solar water system for a small household unless you require large volumes of hot water regularly Solarlight. The bigger government rebates on offer with larger solar water systems can be tempting because you might imagine you will be able to store more hot water as backup at times when the weather is foul and hot water cannot be produced by the solar collectors.
After 3 days of foul weather, even in a temperate climate, the water temperature within the storage cylinder will only be luke warm unless you boost the water temperature with gas or electricity. You will need to do this regardless of how conservative you have been with hot water usage. So unless you plan to be using large volumes of hot water you could end up heating volumes of water unnecessarily. That is a waste of your money and energy.
Over sized solar systems also have a disadvantage in summer because if there is not enough hot water being used it will cause the system to reach the upper operating temperature limit early in the day which could cause excessive amounts of water to discharge from the pressure and temperature relief valve or cold water expansion valve which is a waste of precious water.
Increasing the number of solar collectors might be required in some situations to compensate for excessive shading or because the collectors need to be facing east or west.
It is most important to have the solar collectors positioned and pitched correctly so the full potential of the collectors’ efficiency can be optimised. Consult with your installer before installing the solar collectors and be sure that you and the installer are in agreement where the solar collectors will be positioned before the installation begins.If the system is being installed during summer consider that in winter when the sun is lower shadows from nearby buildings or trees will be longer and possibly cast a shadow on the collectors and therefore reduce their efficiency.