EcoSolar Energy Conscious Design Limited
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Figure 19 EcoSolar UVR61R3 controller
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Ecosolar “OneShot”, this backup heating controller is installed with the above controllers. The
user is able to manually turn on the backup heating and the controller will automatically turn the
heating off once the water is up to temperature. The user can choose if the heating should only be
turned on once, i.e. it will turn off once the water is up to temperature and will not turn on again if
the water temperature drops, or to have the backup heating on continually. This cost effective
backup heating controller will save considerable energy as, in the past if a solar system was unable to
provide sufficient hot water the backup heating was manually turned on but often the user forgot to
turn it back off again, resulting in considerable energy usage. This controller automates this function
by automatically turning the backup heating off once the water is up to temperature.
There are also more sophisticated controllers that can satisfy even more demanding situations such
as the UVR1611 which is IP addressable and able to display graphics, schematics, realtime and data
logged data over a local area network (LAN) or the internet and can be accessed remotely over the
internet.
Thermosyphon systems
Thermosyphon systems by their very nature require less control than pumped systems. If there is
sufficient solar gain to heat the water contained in the solar collector, the water will rise into the
cylinder to be replaced by colder water from the cylinder. Thermosyphon systems should incorporate
a control system that is able to inform the user of the cylinder temperature, both at the top and
bottom of the cylinder and allow the backup heating, such as the electric element, to be easily
managed.
