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In Britain each square metre of a south-facing roof, receives around 1000 kWh of solar radiation during a year. This means that the roofs of many of our homes receive more energy from the sun in a year than we need to provide for both the space heating and hot water!
By using solar collectors it is possible to capture some of this solar radiation and reduce our consumption of fossil fuels like gas, coal and oil. The sun is used to provide hot water for houses in many countries. In Britain it is possible to use the sun to provide most of an average families hot water requirements from about May to September and to obtain some 'preheating' of the cold water supply during the other months. In principle it is possible to scale up the size of a solar water heater to provide central heating, but in general this is not cost effective.
However, a solar water heater can be used in a preheating arrangement if the produced hot water is not used elsewhere. Hot water is normally produced by heating the cold mains water to the required temperature with a gas or oil fired boiler or an immersion heater. By slightly modifying the conventional heating system, solar collectors may be introduced.
Harnessing this power is not difficult, it has even been bought down to a DIY level by many companies, and many other companies are looking at incorporating it into new and self build designs.
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