Solar question

[diverminh]

Hello,

I am thinking about installing solar panels and have done a lot of reading on TFP. I have a question about how the panel works. When water is not pumped to the panels (say early morning when it's cold), do the panels drain because of the vacuum release valve? Then when water is diverted back to the solar panel, I should expect some bubble out of my return. Is this correct?

Or does water stay in the panels at all time?

Any recommendation on brand? I am leaning towards Solar Sun Pacific (who sells panels through eBay).

Thanks
Minh

 

[pooldv]

The solar 3way valve has a pin hole and combined with the VRV allows the water to drain from the panels. Yes, air will blow from the returns when solar starts up.

 

[Isaac-1]

Sorry about taking so long to reply, but my internet has been out since yesterday evening. (I hope it is back to stay now, but not betting on it)

If it were me I would go with a brand name made in america panel, those ebay panels have no specs at all, they don't even say what material the panels are made from, EPDM, thermoplastic, etc , my guess is they are bargain basement made in china panels with little or no warranty.

Ike
ps (I wanted to get that out in case my internet goes back out), now for more details, you can generally tell the cheaper quality panels by their shape, usually 2 ft wide by 20 ft long. designed to lay out on the ground for seasonal pools. Most (but not all) of the better panels be shorter, and wider most often 4x12 or 4x10, and will flow bottom to top and corner to corner when mounted slightly skewed on a sloped roof, this works much better to allow drainage an important factor for drainage if you live somewhere that the panels may potentially freeze (given your location I assume you get overnight freezing weather occasionally). For a lot of good information with some good animations take a look at http://www.h2otsun.com/ much of their information applies to any brand of panel, but of course their is a slant towards their products, which are good by all accounts, but a bit on the pricey side. Personally I opted for Techno-Solis panels when I last updated my roof top solar heat a couple of years ago, also sold as a private label product by solardirect under the Vortex label..

p.p.s. You might check out http://www.gullsolar.com/ they are in San Jose, otherwise I can't say much about them, other than I would avoid the round panels they offer and would consider the Gull poly pro