Gary Moller's experience with rusting, corroding, fading solar water heating panels

This Sola60 panel (above) on our house looks impressive doesn't it? This is saving our family money on water heating and it is great for the environment. We are responsible citizens in this clean and green land. That was what we thought.

We noticed a steady drop off of peak water temperatures over a one year period, so I decided to investigate.

Here is another view:

There is extensive corrosion of the collector's absorber surfaces of this year old panel and what appears to be bleaching so that the surface looks grey-blue.

Here are the replacement panels that were supplied to us under warranty:

They are very smart looking. Now, here they are after a year:



These panels are bleached and have extensive corrosion (looks like sprinkled talcum powder) of the collector surface. And they now look kind of grey-blue which is not the best colour for absorbing solar heat.

Thankfully, they were replaced under warranty.

Here are the replacement ones seven months after being installed. Look carefully:

They are corroding again and we currently (30/11/2206) have a request with Sola60 to remove the system entirely from our roof because the warranty has not long to run and plenty of failed attempts have been had at resolving the problem. They were removed 24 January 2007.

Is there a problem?

The first clue that something may be amiss comes from the Branz report of Research Commissions:

"BRANZ Ltd identified that one of the biggest uncertainties in the cost/benefit analysis of solar water heating systems is the lack of reliable field data for system performances. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most existing systems fall significantly short of the calculated values used during the system design."

Could this shortfall be due to corrosion of the collectors?

How big is the problem? This is the question that I set out to answer by spending a few weeks trying to locate solar water heating systems in Central and South Wellington. This was not an easy exercise. I found several (Ours included).

Our family is reinstaling a new solar water heating system

Despite our previous negative experiences with solar water heating, our family is about to install a new solar water heating system on our house. More about this soon.

Far from being negative about the future of solar water heating in New Zealand, I am all for solar water heating. I believe that every NZ house with a sunny disposition should be employing solar energy capture systems like solar water heaters to reduce expenditure on household energy while improving quality of living.

Having said this, there is nothing to be gained and much to be lost if householders install poor quality systems that do not go the distance. Even a quality system will not perform or last if the workmanship of the installation is poor. There are good systems and quality installers out there; It is just a matter of doing your research carefully and selecting the best system for your requirements.

Please peruse this website using the search functions to in the right hand column to find your way. I strongly recommend that you take time to read the BRANZ reports that are on this website and read the responses on this website.

It is clear that pressuring the industry to bring down prices has been counter-productive. Low cost items simply may not be of a quality sufficient to withstand half a dozen years of being battered, soaked, frozen and roasted in the typical NZ roof setting - let alone durable enough to keep working for 20 years!

Energy conservation in the home is a multi-factorial exercise, since it is total energy consumption that is the key to reducing a family's energy costs - and saving the planet - of course!

As part of our family's programme to reduce our carbon footprint, we have amped up the insulation of our house by filling the internal cavities of the walls of our old house with foam insulation. For more information about this energy conservation measure, go here. However; in recommending this energy conservation measure, our family does not recommend this firm. They were very good on the sales pitch, but very poor on the after sales handling of us. Why do so many NZ companies keep letting themselves down on their customer service?