What are the basic
components of a solar
thermal system?
Solar water heaters and solar space
heaters are made up of solar collectors,
and all systems except pool
heaters have some kind of storage.
In pool systems, the swimming pool
itself is the storage, and the pool’s
filtration pump circulates the pool
water through the collectors.
Active systems also have circulating
pumps and controls; passive systems
work without this added
equipment.
Three types of solar collectors are
used for residential applications:
flat-plate, integral collector-storage
(ICS), and evacuated-tube collectors.