We understand that customers may have concerns as to why the Solar Water heater has to be positioned a certain way on their house and or if they will get a leak after the installation is completed. These are valid concerns and here is some information about how a Solar Water Heater is installed in order to give you the highest level of performance.
It is installed South facing east
In order for the Solar Water Heater to provide you with consistent hot water during the day then it needs to be install in a Southern direction and facing east as much possible. This is to ensure that you get the maximum amount of sunlight hitting the glass of the collector during the ‘peak sun hours’. Jamaica is located in the Western Hemisphere at roughly 18 degrees on the lines on longitude. This means that the center of the sun hit a surface the most in Jamaica on the section that is closer to South. With that being said, your Solar Water Heater would receive the most sunlight when it is first placed in a Southern direction at an 18-degree angle.
It would then need to be facing as far East as possible since the sun raises in the east and sets in the west. The sun shines directly above a location at 12 noon which results in the ‘peak sun hours’ (i.e. the period of time in which the sun is at its hottest) being between 10 am – 2 pm.
Hence, the Solar Water Heater would need to be positioned South and facing East so that it gets the maximum amount of sunlight during the peak sunlight hours in order to allow you to get the maximum amount of hot water during the course of the day.