Inspection of Solar Hot water heaters ???

[hbispv]

Inspection of Solar Hot water heaters ???

We all see them. They are beyond the realm of a standard inspection but I have not been able to find any information regarding inspection such systems. I’m often asked does the solar part of the system work??? I need to have better answers in this department. Any recommendations?

Thanks

[jon_ran]

One type (solar panels) operate off the theory of thermo siphoning. As the water in the panel heats up, it rises (just like a hot air balloon does). This rising creates a slight negative pressure behind it and a slight positive pressure in front of it. In a closed system, as this should be, the pressure differences caused by the continually heating water creates a slow circulation of the water in the holding tank through the panel which heats the water in the holding tank.

Another type would be a holding tank, painted flat black, exposed to the sun light. This does nothing fancy but does heat the water.

Of course, neither work on very cloudy days or at night. In freezing temps, they should be protected from freezing somehow.

As far as the inspection - look for leaks and the presence of a TPR on the holding tank, nothing more. Recommend that they contact a company that specializes in this equipment for specific details and operation. Disclaim that solar heating equipment is not part of the home inspection (that should already be in your SOP)

[RickSab]

Here's some help with the basics. Go to the solar thermal pages and it has a good overview. Very basic.

http://www.thesolarguide.com/

[hausdok]

Originally posted by jon_ran

As far as the inspection - look for leaks and the presence of a TPR on the holding tank, nothing more. Recommend that they contact a company that specializes in this equipment for specific details and operation. Disclaim that solar heating equipment is not part of the home inspection (that should already be in your SOP)

Hi Jon,

With respect, I disagree; we need to grow our base of knowledge in this profession to encompass new technologies. When this stuff we do was formalized back in the 70's, the solar stuff was still trying to take off, and the folks trying to make it work were for the most part considered to be just a little "off" by most folks in construction. I seem to recall hearing my father use the word "hippy weirdos" a lot back then whenever anyone mentioned a homeowner building a house where they were planning to use solar or wind to power, heat, or heat water in the home.

That was the era when that first SOP was written and those disclaimers have pretty much stuck for the past 3 decades. However, while solar technology has progressed, we inspectors have not. We (the profession) largely still stubbornly refuse to expand our scope of knowledge to included inspection of solar systems, radiant heating systems, and the like. If we can thoroughly inspect hot air, electric, and hydronic heating systems, we can thoroughly inspect hydronic systems; it's just a matter of educating ourselves about them.

We inspectors need to break out of this mindset. Our clients expect us to be the experts about houses. They want us to be able to not only spot deficiencies in their systems but to also educate them about their homes and they don't want to have to hire half a dozen other "experts" after we get done with our inspection. And why should they have to; because we as a profession still refuse to recognize the reality that alternative systems are no longer the province of "hippy weirdos?"

Along with a couple of dozen other trade journals, I subscribe to Plumbing & Mechanical magazine (Everybody should - it's free) and over the past 5-6 years I've watched as the plumbing industry has slowly and methodically embraced new technologies such as solar hot water and heating systems, radiant systems, etc. Any of us who attended the Watts Radiant training at Warm U in Missouri last year can tell you that the radiant systems we saw being turned out there were anything but a new age flash-in-the-pan fad. These systems are now mainstream and we inspectors need to start working on integrating them into our repertoire and stop running away from them.

There was a very good article about solar appliances by John Siegenthaler, P.E. in this months PMMag. Siegenthaler has a monthly column in PMMag that is primarily about hydronic systems - conventional and radiant - and virtually every other month he explains some new concept in a way that even Bubba Asscrack can understand.

On May 1st at 1:00 PM ET, Siegenthaler is hosting a webinar - Active Solar Heating: New Opportunities for Hydronic Professionals ($79) that should be a good chance for inspectors to get some good basic training about solar systems. You can learn more about this webinar here.

I think if you take it, if for no other reason than to peek a little bit outside the typical home inspector's SOP-limited box, you'll come away from it a better inspector. Maybe, if other inspectors in your area are also limiting themselves, you might even find yourself become the "go to" guy in your area for home inspections where solar systems are installed.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[jon_ran]

I don't expect them to hire half a dozen experts when I am done. I actually have not inspected a home with any solar system installed. I have the basic knowledge on how they work, but without hands on experience I would be opening myself up to liability if I included that in the inspection. There are just so many differences (pumps, actuators, controllers, etc.) that I could not, in the limited time during the inspection, verify are in proper working condition, adjustment, etc.

I agree that we should all be providing the customer with the best product possible but this is not a general system installed on homes, at least not in my area. Every home has a furnace or boiler and water heater of some kind, most have air conditioners, many have wells and septics. While knowledge of a solar heating system would be good to have, it is just not a practical system in my area. There are some old solar collectors used for heating the home, but all that I have seen are so old that the "screen" is so darkened and yellowed from the sun that they are of little, if any, benefit.