Frost

[suzi Q]

I've been checking the weather report lately for Calis and its been quite chilly, can you tell me, do you ever get frost.
I was wondering because all those water pipes on top of our apartment don't have any insulation. silly question but I was just curious[]

[stoop]

I have heard of pipes freezing on the roof of properties with solar panels - hence I think it's now preferable to have the tank placed in the loft if possible - along with the pipework.

[Scunner]

Assuming there isn't a bedroom there, which there often is.

[Rimms]

Calis got down to freezing point three years ago and had frost, I know because it cracked our solar panels and killed off the Bouganvilla plant in our garden. When we bought our house the tank was in the loft but we were advised to move it onto the roof because we were told that some had over-heated and burst in the heat of the summer, and of course all the water then cascades through your property.

I am not sure if our solar heating is like the central heating at home where the water in the system is sealed from any contact with drinking water and so can be chemically treated to avoid freezing and corrosion etc. I guess it must be and that you can add anti freeze to the water in the solar system ?

[lance]

Hi my panels burst 3 years ago you can put some sort of antifreeze in ,i didn't do mine why i dont know.
               Lance

quote:Originally posted by Rimms

Calis got down to freezing point three years ago and had frost, I know because it cracked our solar panels and killed off the Bouganvilla plant in our garden. When we bought our house the tank was in the loft but we were advised to move it onto the roof because we were told that some had over-heated and burst in the heat of the summer, and of course all the water then cascades through your property.

I am not sure if our solar heating is like the central heating at home where the water in the system is sealed from any contact with drinking water and so can be chemically treated to avoid freezing and corrosion etc. I guess it must be and that you can add anti freeze to the water in the solar system ?

[bewva]

You can add anti freeze to your solar panels, Ours was done last year & hopefully again this year

[Sandrats]

Part of the maintenance programme we get from Nicholas is the addition of anti-freeze to the solar system, must confess I always wondered if they did it because it was required, or it was just a way of sqeezing a couple of bob out of us, now I know.

[Alan Keating]

All solar panel manufacturer's say that an anti-freeze solution should be included as Standard, irrespective of its location. If more information is required, I can provide.  

[suzi Q]

Alan So are you saying that there is some kind of fluid in solar panels which runs over the electrodes converting the sunlight into DC current.
If this is acid based it must have a lower freezing point than water.
( by the way this is my husband asking all these technical questions).

[kenkay]

No Suzi. Alan is saying that there is antifreeze fluid running over the heat exchange surfaces that turn sunlight into hot water. Not DC current. Solar electric panels are a totally different issue and are dry cells requiring no antifreeze.
Ken