Secusol Appliance

Compact solar hot water system with the highest rated collectors available in the US and a 10 year warranty

Advantages

German Engineering – This German system is completely pre-engineered to ensure the best possible performance and system life. Most installers will ‘mix and match’ collectors and other components depending on brand allegiances, availability etc. The Secusol appliance was designed from the bottom up by a team of solar thermal engineers and all of the components are ‘matched’ to each other to provide the most efficient, smallest, and cleanest design.

10 Year System Warranty - The Secusol appliance is the only system available in the US with a 10 year warranty on the entire system. Most collector manufacturers offer a 10 year warranty on just the collectors, but no other installer warranties their entire system for 5 years, much less 10.

Highest Collector Rating in the US – This system uses the Wagner AR 20 collectors. These collectors have the highest SRCC rated output (per square foot of collector area) of literally any collector, flat plate style or evacuated tube style, available in the US.  

Drain Back Design – There are two major solar hot water system types-‘drain back’ and ‘closed loop glycol’ (CLG). Pressurized  CLG solar loop systems are  always ‘full’ and thus have an expansion tank and pressure relief valve. If you know many people with pressurized CLG systems, than you know that there are many potential problems including overheating in the summer and expansion tank failure. The Secusol appliance’s drain back design means that when the system is not running, all of the system’s fluid drains back and the solar loop and collectors are ‘empty’. So, if the storage tank temperature reaches its maximum, the pump stops and all of the fluid drains from the collectors. Also, if there is a power outage or electrical problem, the collectors are empty. The system is thus immune to damage from overheating, freezing, and power outages.  The solar loop is also unpressurized, which increases collector life.

Most drain back systems are ‘open systems’ that require that the solar loop plumbing be properly sloped or water may collect in piping’s low points and freeze. And most also require the periodic addition of water. The Secusol appliance avoids both of these limitations by using a freeze proof, food grade glycol in a ‘closed loop’ design.

All of these factors reduce maintenance and increases the Secusol appliance’s system life. Most CLG systems are warrantied for one or two years. The Secusol appliance is warrantied for 10.

Versatility – The Secusol appliance can be configured as either a ‘preheat’ system where you keep your existing hot water heater (a ‘two tank’ design), or as a ‘stand-alone’ or single tank design that provides 100% of your hot water. In both cases, solar will provide some large fraction of your total hot water needs (the ‘solar fraction’), while the back-up heater provides the rest. In a preheat or two tank design, your existing hot water heater (gas, oil, electric, or on demand) provides the back-up hot water heat. In a single tank design, the Secusol appliance’s on board electric element provides the back-up power. For a family of 4 with good solar exposure, the Secusol appliance will typically provide 70 to 90% of your annual hot water heating needs from solar alone.