Project Overview:
Rising oil prices made the owner of Grassy-Lea Farms take a look at an alternate way to heat over 2000 liters (550 gallons) of water in order to reduce his oil heating bill for his oil-fired water heater. He was concerned about winter performance of the Akotec solar thermal collectors. After visiting 2, Akotec solar thermal collector owners on one of the coldest days of the year in near blizzard conditions, and seeing solar tank temperatures of 79°C or 174°F, he was convinced.
System Components & Performance
Solar Thermal System
- Collectors: 16 × Akotec, 20 Tube Heat Pipe Collector
- Peak Output: 109,789 BTU (th)/h (32.2 kW) *
- Pump Station: 1 × 1” FloCon Max with external heat exchanger
- Solar Tanks: 4 × A.O. Smith 450 Liter (119 USG) storage tanks
- Lineset: Pre-insulated Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing
* Peak Output taken from the Enerworks Akotec Solar Keymark certificate.
Collectors’ thermal performance rating also available from the Enerworks Akotec SRCC (Solar Rating & Certification Corporation) certificate.