The use of the sun's energy to heat water is a simple and effective way to save energy and money.

The thermal panels have a simple principle of operation. When there is sufficient light, from the sun, water is pumped through a solar collector and heat extracted from the sun into the water. This hot water is pumped through a heat exchanger located in your hot water tank. This hot water heats the water in your tank to 80 degrees centigrade and the water in your tank can  then be used for , via a mixer/regulator to produce 60C, around the house.

In the summer the hot water tank will reach 80C within half a day and can reduce your hot water bill by 50-70%!. In independent tests in Holland this system received one of the highest ratings in its category by producing 1112 kWHrs of energy in one year. This is the equivalent of using a 2kW electric immersion heater for 3Hrs every day of the year!

KJM renewables has , in conjunction with Imagination Solar, developed a system that uses a low flow system. This system only uses approximately 40 litres of water an hour around the system. This is much lower than our competitors who use high flow systems based on central heating designs.

However, we believe that the low flow has the following advantages:-

a) Water in the system on a sunny day will be heated up to 30 C approximately compared with 3C  in our competitors. This means that a small amount of hot water is ready immediately rather than a large amount of tepid water.
b) Heat transfer is more efficient the greater the temperature difference between the two parts allowing faster heating.
c) The low flow allows the use of a 3W pump, instead of 50 Watts, keeping the costs as low as possible
d) The low pump consumption allows the use of a solar panel to power the pump and thereby reduce the running costs to virtually nil!

This system qualifies for all Clear Skies Grants