A solar water heating system provides up to 75% of your annual hot water needs. It can be effective anywhere in New Zealand, even in less sunny areas. Over time, it can pay for itself through lower power bills. By using solar water heating, you’ll also help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Relying on the sun alone using simple solar panels, especially with our New Zealand climate, however, doesn’t give us the guarantee of hot water all year round. Renowned for its range of lifestyle appliance solutions, Rinnai has launched the new Rinnai Solar Water Heating range, which lends nature a hand by adding a gas or electric boost
when skies are grey, offering an environmentally friendly option that doesn’t compromise your lifestyle or budget.

Factors such as how much sun your house receives, the angle of your house, the frequency of frost, and water quality, need to be identified to ensure solar energy is right for you. “Solar is not right for everyone, but if it’s right for you, it’s a move you will not regret, says Dave Waters, Sales and Marketing Manager of Rinnai Gas Appliances in New Zealand. “We recommend the Infinity gas boost to more…

The basics of solar power.

Solar power is probably the cleanest, most viable form of renewable energy available and it can be used in several forms to help power your house. Many gardens now use solar lights or solar garden water features. The availability and wide use of solar power in gardens shows exactly how versatile it is as a source of energy. The technology and the systems are becoming smaller, more compact and better looking than when they were first created and used. Early examples of solar power systems can be seen in California where, in the 1980s, enough solar power panels were installed to power over 10 million homes.

How do photovoltaic tiles work?

Simply put photovoltaic tiles and other forms of solar energy work by converting some of the energy in sunlight into a clean form of electricity that can be used in our houses. The PV cells consist of a positive and a negative slice of silicon placed under a thin slice of glass. As the protons of the sunlight beat down onto the PV cell they knock the neutrons off the silicon. The negatively charged free neutrons are attracted to the silicon more…