What are the site requirements for installation of a solar water heating system?
The basic requirement for functioning of a solar system is availability of unobstructed sunlight for the whole day. Typically, domestic solar water heating systems are installed on the roof of the house. The collectors of the system have to face the sun and hence should be oriented due south for maximum interception of sunlight. Thus there should be no obstruction to sunlight in the south, west and east directions in that order of preference (an arc of about 120 , 60 both sides of the southern direction should ideally be shadow free). As a thumb rule, the requirement of shadow free area is around 3 sq. m for each 1 x 2 m collector used. As far as possible, the area should be flat, away from rain water drains and as far as possible, close to the bathrooms where hot water is to be supplied. Cold water should be available at the height of around 2.5 m from the base of the system.
