A friend of mine here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada was kind enough to let me photograph the Enerworks solar thermal system he installed for his home. If you're not familiar with how an Enerworks system works see the details and diagrams on the main solar hot water page here.

The Enerworks solar thermal collectors on the roof

Two Enerworks flat plate collectors on the roof and showing the pipes going down to the tanks.
Two 8'x4' collectors on the roof. Note the pipes at bottom.
Side view of two Enerworks flat plate collectors on the roof.
Side view.
Top view of two Enerworks flat plate collectors on the roof.
Top view showing roughly where the pipes are inside.

The solar thermal system plumbing in the basement

Solar thermally heated hot water tank and natural gas tank and Enerworks energy pack.
The two water tanks and plumbing in the basement.
Solar thermally heated hot water tank and natural gas tank and Enerworks energy pack.
The same but with the cover taken off the energy pack.
The Enerworks solar thermal system's energy pack and surrounding plumbing.
The Enerworks energy pack and surrounding plumbing.
The Enerworks heat exchanger in the energy pack.
The heat exchanger.
The water at the top of the solar tank in a solar thermal system.
The water at the top of the tank.
The valves for isolating the solar heating system so that work can be done on it.
The valves for isolating the solar heating system so that work can be done on it.

A few other solar thermal system parts

The solar tank temperature sensor.
The solar tank temperature sensor.
A flow meter on the pipe for the city water in this solar thermal system.
A flow meter on the pipe for the city water.

Videos of this Enerworks solar thermal installation

Part 1 - Tour of this Enerworks solar thermal system

As well as a tour this details the steps involved in heating the water using solar and what happens when a tap is opened to draw water from the system.

Part 2 - Details on some of the parts

This video goes into details about:

  • the controller,
  • temperature sensors,
  • expansion tanks,
  • flow meter,
  • bypass valve assembly and
  • stagnation control including the Enerworks vent, covering the panels with a tarp, using a heat dump radiator, vacation bypass valve and vacation overheat feature.

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