How can you supply and install a solar hot water heating system for such a brilliant price?

In simple terms, how does the solar collector panel heat my water?

What warranty comes with my solar water heating system?

How long will my installation take?

What will happen in winter when my pipes freeze?

Will the Solartwin solar water heating system be OK for my property?

I have a Combination Boiler / high pressure water system, is the system suitable for me? 

I live in a hard water area, will calcium build up effect the performance of the system? Need I control water hardness? 

How many Solar collector panels do I need? 

Who uses solar to heat their water?

Is the sun OK in UK or Ireland?

You say the system gives you hotter water than traditional solar systems, how?

What about other uses of solar, apart from washing and bathing?

How does the Solartwin system compare to other systems on the market?

How big is the panel?

What are the system components made of?

How big is Solartwin’s output?

Will a solar water heating system help me do my bit towards cutting global warming?

How much will is cost for a standard system and installation?

Minimising disruption, Solartwin usually takes about a day to fit.

Low running costs! 

	No mains electric bills, thanks to Solartwin’s 100% solar pump. Solartwin=heat+electricity.
	Solartwin often needs less top-up heating than traditional solar, thanks to more hot and less tepid water.

The Solartwin design brief maximises reliability, simplicity, environmental benefits and hot water delivery while minimizing capital and running costs.

Solartwin's solar water heating panel is a slim, double glazed, highly insulated box. It traps heat and daylight energy from the sun. As a result, it gets hot inside. Your water passes through flexible channels inside and gets hot. The solar PV panel pump then delivers this hot water, through a pipe, to your exciting hot water cylinder, so you can wash and bathe in it when you need to. Solartwin saves energy, money and the environment when you open your hot tap. That's it.

A five-year performance warranty comes with Solartwin. Comprising very few parts and made in UK under ISO 9002 quality management, Solartwin is intrinsically reliable. It uses no antifreeze chemicals and frees you from safety concerns about highly pressurized piping, mains voltages and large smashable glass panels or tubes. Robust yet flexible pipes made from silicone rubber give bacteriological safety, as do high water temperatures. Electric power cuts do not make Solartwin need re- pressurisation by an engineer.

 Going on holiday? Solartwin is self-regulating, so you don’t need to invite neighbours in for baths. You can even turn off the main stopcock if you want. Moving house? Simply un-install and re-install: your warranty is portable!

Heavens Solar Technology includes as standard our insurance backed guarantee, so if you do find that after your installation a problem arises but due to a substantial lottery win we cease to trade, you will not be left with a unexpected repair bill.  The full value of the work is covered.

Traditional solar needs 3 full skills in the fitting team: roof working, advanced plumbing and mains electrics. But with Solartwin Heavens Solar Technology installers can get a standard system fitted in under a day. With few components, Solartwin halves the workload and disruption of traditional solar. We bolt the lightweight Solartwin panel to the roof. Pass 2 flexible micro-bore pipes and a cable indoors. Much of the rest happens in the attic, keeping your home tidy. Two micro-bore pipes “tee" into existing pipes. We don’t usually plumb in a space-consuming and costly new cylinder, nor vent pipes, nor a pressure vessel. And no mains wiring at all.

Yes, if you can face the panel mainly un-shaded, roughly towards the sun. South, southwest or southeast roofs are ideal. Even east or west roofs usually offer 75-85% of peak performance.

Easily, if you have a traditional low pressure vented hot water system. This means a hot water cylinder, with its cold tank above, usually in the attic. Thermal stores are an easy fit, too. 

Yes, if, height-wise, there’ll be under 5 metres height (up or down) between the water level in the cold tank and the panel’s midline. OK in most homes.

Yes, if your hot water cylinder holds over 80 litres although for a grant the existing cylinder must be over 110 litres. Most are about 120 l.

Listed buildings, conservation area properties, national parks etc, may need consent: planners normally view Solartwin as a roof window. 

Lime scale effects all of our household appliances, washing machine, dish washer, kettle etc. wherever water is heated the calcium deposits are left behind furring up the arteries of our home and reducing the life of our household appliances. The solar collector panel has a life expectancy of 25 years so it is important that we prevent the flexible water channels furring up with lime scale.

If hardness ever exceeds 240 ppm CaCO3 (very hard water) use either an ion-exchange (salt-regenerated) water softener or an “indirect” Solartwin.

 At 100 - 239 (maximum) ppm CaCO3, you can use Fernox Super concentrate Lime scale preventer. Your first little bag of crystals on a string is free. Simply hang it in the cold tank. Replace it twice a year. A free 6-monthly postcard reminds you. Fernox SLP is food grade. It costs about £10 from DIY shops. Or you can use an ion-exchange water softener or an “indirect” system.

Under 100 ppm, and with “indirect” Solartwins, use no hardness control.

Want to do something significantly positive for the environment? Or do you use costly fuels, or live “off grid”? Homeowners, self-builders, pool owners, farmers, businesses and housing   associations (e.g. Berwickshire, Perthshire, South Yorkshire, Habinteg) use Solartwin.

Yes! (Spain can use smaller panels.) specifically designed for Scotland, Solartwin also performs superbly in hot countries. It typically gives 30-70% of a home’s hot water a year and works in response to variable sunlight levels. Meteorologists say the June sun offers 6 times more energy than December’s. All solar needs top-up heat (e.g. gas, wood, oil, electric), mostly in winter.

Variable speed pumping is more accurate than traditional on-off control. Solartwin measures and adjusts to daylight as dull as 10-20%, so water stays longer in the panel, heating up better.

Twin-optimised zoned panel coatings maximise heat gain up to around 70C, while usually giving boil-protection when you are away. Harvesting 95% (+/- 3%) of ordinary daylight plus non-visible infrared, our Twin optimised zoned coatings don’t need hot days nor bright days to catch energy effectively.

No heat exchangers. Indirect solar heats water via a heat exchanger at the bottom of a costly new cylinder. But heat exchangers impose system inefficiencies: they rely on cooling in order to operate. Some partially evacuated tube systems have second heat exchangers on the roof.

Top down heat. Solartwin delivers heated water direct to the top your existing cylinder maximizing temperature by floating (stratifying) it, unmixed, on cooler water below. So when you open your tap, Solartwin hot water arrives, first. And it gets hot earlier in the day.

Solar central heating. It’s cold in winter and at night because of the lack of sunlight. Unless you want radiators at full blast on sunny summer days, solar washing & bathing offers at least 2-3 times better value.

One Solartwin delivers around 5 times more energy than the same sum spent on a solar electric (photovoltaic) array.

It usually looks big on the ground and smaller on the roof! The main Solartwin water heating panel measures 2.5m x 1.3m x 75mm deep. (8’ 6” x 4’ 6” x 3”) high. Fitted, it normally projects less than 100mm above the roof, so it is often treated as “permitted development” by UK planners. (Under 79mm projection is usually possible.) Its “footprint” with frame is 3.25 sq m. The “aperture” to the sun is 2.8 sq m. Lightweight, weighing 31 kg (empty) or 33 kg (full) it rarely requires UK building control.

 The main metal is mainly hydroelectrically made aluminium, with a lower environmental impact than aluminium made using fossil fuel. For durability, external screws / bolts are stainless steel. The absorber coatings are semi selective. Double glazing is UV-stable polycarbonate. Double, rather than single glazing optimises winter performance. Insulation is zero-ODP pentane-blown rigid foam.

And the pump? 

The 21-volt (peak) photovoltaic panel powers a self-regulating, variable speed, long life brushless DC motor. This drives Solartwin’s positive displacement pump. Valves in it stop “reverse thermosyphon” at night, and a bypass valve protects against “frozen by day” conditions.

Flexible pipes. Solartwin’s freeze-tolerant, corrosion-resistant pipes are made of silicone rubber. Its extreme temperature tolerance range is: -60C to +200C! This silicone is also used, for hygiene reasons, for milk pipes in dairies. Its material conforms to the requirements of UK-WRAS for hot water and European Extraction Testing Regs 90/129/EC (BGVV XXI) for food contact, and USA FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 for food contact. 

Solartwin typically heats a normal 120-litre cylinder to 50-60C on a sunny March or Sept. day (60-80C in summer). Independently tested, Solartwin delivered 1000 kWh (3.6 GJ) of energy as hot water a year in UK. It saves far more bought-in energy. Peak output is 1.6 kW, similar to an immersion heater.

Solartwin can cut your yearly carbon dioxide emissions by a quarter of a tonne if your water heating fuel is mains gas. If other fossil fuels, or electricity are saved then yearly saving can be up to a tonne or more!

2.8 square meter (normal aperture) system & 5-year warranty. Our trained, considerate installers usually do everything in a day.  The cost is quoted, based on a survey.

Protection against defects and faulty workmanship for up to ten years

Protection is transferable to the new owners when you sell your home

The full value of the work is insured

Only contractors that have been screened by FairTrades can issue a HomePro IBG