On Wed, 17 May 2006 03:09:31 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:

On Tue, 16 May 2006 17:18:10 +0100, Peter Parry wrote:


you also need to install an ion exchange water softener
otherwise the panel will quickly be ruined because of scale from the
hard water.


Say what? The water in the panel should be recirculated and contain rust
and scale inhibitors (as in a primary boiler circuit). The heat should be
transferred to a separate hot water cylinder of exactly the same type as is
used on non-solar systems.

Not on the system Mary was talking about - it takes cool water from the
cold DHW *feed* at the base the cylinder, runs it through the solar
panel (using a small PV powered solar pump connected via microbore
pipe), and returns it to the top of the cylinder via the DHW/vent outlet.

That's err a bloody stupid system.