What are the benefits?

Grant aid from SEAI

Grant of €1,200 from SEAI to help with your solar thermal installation costs.

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Reduced water heating costs

If you have a solar hot water system on your house, your water heating bills will be reduced by 70%.

Think about this - If you have €10,000 in a savings account, it is probably earning you €240 per year in interest, which is also subject to DIRT tax. Installing a solar system will save you 3 times this amount in fuel savings (and the fuel savings can't be taxed)!.

10 year parts and labour warranty

If the system is installed by an accredited solar installer like us, you will get this extended warranty free of charge. Theres nothing like peace of mind!

Investment

To install a solar system, is a wise investment in your home. Here are some figures:

• A €6,000 investment in a solar system for your home of 4 or 5 people, should get a grant of €1,200 from SEAI.

• This brings the cost down to €4,800. This will give annual savings of €800 per year for your house.

• This equates to a payback of 6.9 years and an annual return on investment (R.O.I) of 14%.

• Also, remember the savings are tax free and fuel bills will rise by 10% per year. If fuel bills rise by 10%, the payback becomes 10% faster!

The latest vacuum tube technology

We keep up to date with the latest solar advances, and therefore only use the latest vacuum tube technology, manufactured using the latest manufacturing techniques - making sure you get the latest and best technology for your investment.These panels are 20% more efficient when compared to flat plate panels. Even SEAI state that tube panels will far outperform flat panels.

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How do solar panels work?

Solar panels operate on the principal, that black surfaces attract heat from the sun. Just like the roof of a black car on a sunny day. The heat is generated in the solar panel, and must be transferred to the hot water cylinder, where it can be used. It is transferred from the panel, to the cylinder with the use of a small pump and insulated pipework.

The pumps we use are low noise and low energy consumption. The pipe comes already insulated from the factory. When the heat reaches the hot water cylinder, we send it through a heat exchanger inside the cylinder. This causes the water inside to heat up, without costing you any money.

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2 types of solar panels:

Evacuated tube solar panels

Evacuated tube solar panels offer higher efficiencies as they have little or no heat loss. Evacuated tubes have benefits over flat plate panels that are desirable for the Irish climate. There is a never ending debate over which is better, which works best, which last longer, which looks better and so on. Simply put, evacuated tube solar panels out preform flat panels in cloudy or cooler climates. That's the bit most people forget to add onto that statement. It's important to understand it too. Flat plate panels have high thermal losses (they lose heat to the outside air). Evacuated tubes are like thermos flasks and don't lose any heat. Also, because the tube is round, it always has the maximum possible area facing the sun. Evacuated tube panels are, on average 20% more efficient than flat plate panels in Ireland. Here is the proof.

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Flat Plate panels

Flat plate panels on the other hand, expose their full face area for a short period of time when the sun is directly overhead. This is because they are, as their name suggests, flat. So when the sun is overhead, they work well, but by 4pm in the afternoon when the sun is facing the side of the flat surface, it produce less energy. When comparing panels, make sure not to only compare "peak output" and to compare the output over the entire day. The two types of solar panels may take in the exact same amount of energy, but the flat panel will lose some of it's energy to the air, before it is able to transfer it to the water. On a sunny day, this doesn't matter, as the panel will lose heat, but it will be replaced immediately by the sun. On an average Irish day, it really does matter as the air temperature might be 10c so the panel at 70 c will lose lots of heat to the outside air.

The south polar base station heats it water by solar panels, as flat plates don't work well in cooler, less sunny climates. We installed solar panels for Siemens Diagnostics in Swords. These guys did their homework and decided on Kingspan Thermomax solar panels. NASA installed evacuated tubes a few years ago. The Pentagon, UCD, Siemens and St. James Hospital to name but a few, all have evacuated tubes installed on their premises. Those clients do their research and purchase the panels that will give them the best performance, without compromise. We actually installed the system for Siemens Ireland in 2011.

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