As renewable technology becomes more mainstream, interest in domestic technologies that leverage renewables continues to rise. For this cause, many options are now available to people who want to reduce carbon emissions and save on their electricity costs.

If your preference of power source happens to be the sun, you should already know that there are two systems currently available: solar panels and solar water heaters. Although both of them operate by gripping sunlight, and therefore required to be put on your rooftop, facing south. The similarities between them end there. They are, in truth, two vastly distinct products.

Two Products: Power and Heat

The first big difference between solar cells and solar hot water systems is how they work. Solar panels take advantage of the photovoltaic effect by capturing light particles (photons), removing electrons and driving them through a wire: electricity is the movement of electrons itself.

This is achieved by using photovoltaic panels made up of semiconductor elements, such as silicon, which have a negative and a positive layer, producing a magnetic field.

Solar panels are then used to generate some or all of the energy that the house requires. Smaller solar systems can lead to significant savings in energy bills, while larger ones will produce sufficient power to let you become independent of the grid.

On the other side, solar water heaters do not generate any kind of electricity. They use illumination differently, transforming it into heat instead of energy. Solar thermal collectors are composed of a series of tubing containing a solution that converts solar energy into thermal energy, which is then converted and deposited in a storage tank. It can then be used for space heating or water heating. Low-temperature reservoirs can be used instead to heat swimming pools.

Usually, the concentrated solar system can supply 90 percent of your warm water in the summer, when space heating is not required, and 40-60 percent in the winter. In addition, it increases the life of your heater by 60%. Put another way, you may use solar thermal for heating and thermal hot water panels to get totally green. Since this system does not produce energy, you will still have to use a little bit of electricity to drive the motor.

If you aim to go 100% renewable, the energy will be generated by your solar panels, also you can simply link to the grid.

One Advantage: Green Energy

Although the two systems function differently and have distinct goals, they have the same objective: to use clean, low-cost energy instead of conventional, “uglier” energy sources. Both systems would make it easier to save money and benefit the climate. Once installed, little maintenance is required, and free energy and hot water are provided.

This basically sums up the difference between these two systems. Most consumers seem to be using these two terms interchangeably. However, this is not the case as it turns out, both operate differently but with one main goal.

 

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