Hills Solar will be launching some new and exciting systems onto the SA market in the upcoming months. We are currently testing a very efficient, simple, and extremely cost effective direct thermo-siphon evacuated tube solar water heating system. Keep checking our website for updates.  If you are interested in any of our solar products for your home, business or a client, please pop by our offices.

SR868C8 Controller (In use since about December 2010)

If your solar controller and electrical element are on separate circuits, you may want to just switch off the geyser circuit so that the element never switches on.   To see if they are on separate circuits, turn the GEYSER switch off on your electrical distribution board.  If the controller also turns off you know that the controller and element are on the same and you need to rather set the backup temperatures very low or else set all the timers to the same ON and OFF times to prevent the element from coming on.  To adjust these settings donwload the instructions at this link – SR868C8 Quick Setup Guide

If you go away on holiday, be sure to set the ‘Holiday Mode’ on your SR868C8 controller by pressing ‘Holiday’ for about 2 seconds until the little island and palm tree appears.

Geyserwise Controller (In use from about April to December 2010)

On the Geyserwise controller, use the following procedure to ensure the element seldom or never switches on: 

1. Press the SET button once and a temperature setting will appear.  This is the temperature that applies if you have timer settings between 00:01 and 06:00.
2. Use the V button to reduce this setting to the minimum of 30⁰C.  Should you find that you do not have sufficient hot water you may need to vary this setting, using as low a temperature as possible to ensure you have enough hot water but using as little electricity as possible.
3. Press the SET button again and another temperature setting will appear, repeat the above procedure. This one is for 06:01 to 12:00
4. Repeat this procedure twice more  (12:01 to 18:00 and 18:01 to 24:00).  There are 4 temperature settings on the Geyserwise which are for different periods of the day.  You may wish to leave the 18:01 to 24:00 setting on a comfortable temperature of about 55⁰C in case of cloudy days.

If you wish to change the timer settings, from the default display, press SET 8 times.  Mon to Fri will flash and 1 ON will flash. Adjust the hour setting using V or ?. Press SET and adjust the minute setting. Press SET again and Mon-Fri 1 OFF will flash.  Adjust.  Repeat for all four Mon-Fri settings and then for the four Sat-Sun timer settings.

If you find that your system is still reaching the maximum tank temperature during the day (75 or 80⁰C), you might want to try leaving it on ‘Holiday Mode’.  Push the SET and POWER buttons together.  This will circulate the water through the collector at night in order to reduce the tank temperature so that it starts off at a lower temperature the next morning and is less likely to reach stagnation temperature.  The screen will go blank except for a small OFF indication.  It is particularly important if you go away on holiday to leave the controller on ‘Holiday Mode’ by pressing the SET and POWER buttons simultaneously.  The screen will go blank except for a small OFF message.

Full Gauge Microsol II Plus Controller (Up to about March 2010)

The newer Full Gauge controller has a switch on the side that allows you to easily turn off the electrical element.   On the Full Gauge controllers without the override switch, use the following procedure to ensure the element seldom or never switches on: 

1. Press and hold the SET button for about 3 seconds until SEL appears.
2. The display will then change to F13 (DO NOT change the F13 setting).
3. Press the ^ button once and F16 will appear.
4. Press SET once and a temperature will appear.  This is the temperature to which the electrical element will take the water if it switches on.
5. Press and hold the v button and reduce the temperature.  10⁰C is the minimum setting but you may need to vary this in order to ensure you still have enough hot water.
6. Press SET again in order to save the new setting.

An Easy Test to See if Your Solar Water Heating is Working Correctly

It is important to check periodically that your solar water heater is working properly.  If the solar heating is working correctly, there should never be more than about a 20 degree C difference between the temperature in the geyser (the default temperture on your controller display), and the collector (unless temporarily caused by a power failure or water supply problem or maximum temperature having been reached in the geyser).  This is because when the temperture differential reaches 20 degrees (15 degrees on some models), the pump is turned on to circulate water through the solar collector in order to get the heat into the geyser.  The pump continues circulate the water through the collector as long as the temperature differential is more than 4 degrees C.  This means that the differential should never be more than about 22 degrees C.  i.e. If your geyser temperature is 50 degrees C, the collector should not be higher than about 72 degrees C.  A high differential of say 30 to 100 degrees would indicate a possible circulation problem like a stuck valve.  In order to check the collector temperature on the different controllers, do the following:

1. SR868C8 Controller – press + a couple of times until T1 appears on the top right of the display.  T1 will also flash on the system diagram on the left.  This displays the collector temperature.  Press ESC and it will go back to the default screen.
2. Geyserwise Max – Press the v and ^ buttons simultaneously.  Ther will now only be one figure on the dispaly, this is the collector temperature.  Press the same 2 buttons to go back to the default screen.
3. Microsol II Plus – Press the v button 2 or 3 times until t1 appears.  After a second a temperature will appear which is the collector temperature.  After a few seconds it will automatically revert to the default (T2) temperature.

There are various types of hot water cylinders being used in the South African market.  Following are some of the types of cylinders and their characteristics:

Vitreous enamel – These are the most commmonly used hot water cylinders in South Africa due to low manufacturing cost.  The inner tank is lined with a glass enamel in order to separate the steel tank from the water.  As the hot water cylinders expand and contract with heating and cooling, this enamel lining is not sufficiently elastic to absorb this movement.  Hairline cracks develop in the lining and the water comes into contact with the steel and corrosion begins to occur.  For this reason these tanks are fitted with one or two soft metal sacrificial anodes.   These operate in the same manner as the sacrifical anode on an outboard motor, corroding preferentially and thereby saving the steel tank.  These anodes are meant to be replaced every 1 to 3 years, depending on the water charactersitics.  Once the anode is corroded away, corrosion begins to accelerate in other parts of the tank, particulalry the joints.  We have come accross plumbers with many years in the industry who were not even aware of the anode and the need to periodically replace it.  The picture shows an anode inside a tank that has almost completely corroded away.

Stainless Steel – Obviously more expensive than enamelled tanks, stainless steel is also prone to corrode, but at a much slower rate.  These tanks are therefore also fitted with sacrifical anodes which have to be periodically checked and replaced to ensure the lonevity of the tank.

Copper – Just as copper pipes have been used for decades as water pipes due to the ability of copper to withstand corrosion, so copper hot water cylinders have a very low rate of corrosion (except with low pH levels).  This means that typically, copper hot water cylinders last for many years.  Due to the high price of copper, these tanks are generally very expensive and due to the high temperature and pressure of solar geysers, thicker copper has to be used resulting in prohibitively high cost of tanks.

Fibre Glass – Hot water cylinders with both an inner and outer tank of glass fibre are fairly popular.  Over an extended period of expansion and contraction, the tanks can split and companies making these tanks have tried altering the design to avoid splitting.

PEX – Although Hills Solar often do retrofit solar systems to different types of tanks, generally they use the PEX lined Solartherm tanks when they install a full system.  PEX is a cross-linked polyethylene that is used to line the inside of the tanks.  This PEX is quite elastic and so can withstand considerable expansion and contraction without cracking.  The water inside the tank is permanently separated from the steel, minimising the chance of corrosion.  Made by WE Geysers in Krugersdorp since 1997, these hot water cylinders are able to withstand the temperatures of solar heated water as well as the diverse water characteristics of South African water.  WE Geysers give a 10 year, maintenance free  guarantee on their geysers which are made to ISO-9001/2008 standards and are SABS approved.  Hills Solar supply these geysers with their ESKOM rebated 150, 200 and 300 liter systems.  They are avilable in horizontal and vertical models.

Training takes place at our offices in Durbanville.  A map will be provided on confirmation.

The program is as follows:

08.30 to 09.00               Introduction to solar and overview of different types of solar systems

09.00 to 10.30               Identification and function of the Hills Solar Esteem system components (including SR868C8 controller functions)

                                    Self evaluation assessment test 1

10.30 to 10.45               Tea break

10.45 to 11.30               Solar siting principles

                                    Self evaluation assessment test 2

11.30 to 13.00               Installation procedures

                                    Self evaluation assessment test 3

13.00 to 13.30               Lunch

13.30 to 14.00               Maintenance & trouble shooting

                                    Self evaluation assessment test 4

14.00 to 14.30               Sales training, ESKOM program, system specifying guidelines

Please confirm quickly if you would like to attend as space is limited.  We can also run the courses at a venue of your choosing if you have 5 or more people requiring training.  Call 021 987 6071 or email info@hillssolar.co.za

Kind regards

The Hills Solar Team

Both programs require pre-authorisation from ESKOM but the generous rebate makes the process well worthwhile. The Standard Rebate Offer also requires M&V (monitoring and verification) after installation to assess the amount of the rebate.  This is done through one of the universities. Ideal possible applications are office and commercial buildings with large central boilers, hotels, institutions and many other applications. The SABS approved Hills Solar evacuated tube collectors are ideal for these applications.

A summary of the program follows:

Non-Standard Rebate Offer

• 450 to 7000 liter systems
• Existing rebated systems installed in parallel.
• Only applies to ablutions, e.g. factory change rooms or sport club change rooms, not to process functions.

 Standard Rebate Offer

• For large systems above 8000 liters.
• Scheme for developers and commercial installations where ESKOM purchases the actual energy savings in kWh
• Retrospective payments paid annually in arrears.
• Run over 3 years
• Pays 40% of modelled (projected) savings up front and then actual savings per annum for 3 years after 40% savings have been achieved.
• ESKOM will pay a maximum of 90% of project capital cost.
• Subject to initial modelling and then M&V (measurement and verification).
• M&V equipment must be paid for by developer/owner and ESKOM pay extra c/kWh.
• M&V done by agent appointed by ESKOM, usually a university.
• Only pays for hot water used, not generated so the modelling needs to be accurate in order to not over-specify.
• Only covers the energy saved by Solar Water Heaters, not by heat pumps.
• 2 kinds of projects
• Green field – New project with no history. Modelled and M&V after installation.
• Brown field –
• Old project, hot water energy usage needs to be measured first and then M&V after installation.
• System supplier should establish do own measurement of hot water usage in liters and kWh usage beforehand to enable modelling.
• Prior M&V to take about 2 months until client and ESKOM satisfied a baseline has been established.
• Prior M&V to measure existing hot water consumption and kWh usage of electrical water heating.
• Cost of M&V works out to about R35,000 to R40,000 for entire duration of the project.  This paid by the client.
• Savings paid to the property owner at 70 cents per kWh.

Every household’s hot water usage varies but a good rule of thumb for the average suburban house when sizing a solar water system is 50 liters of water per day per person, plus an extra 50 liters storage.  Our guidelines for a 150 liter system is for 1 or 2 people in a small, one bathroom house;  a 200 liter system for 3 to 4 people in a normal, 2 bathroom household and our 300 liter system for 4 to 6 people in a normal to large house.  We of course can also do combinations of these.

If your existing geyser is the correct size as per the above guidelines, it may be worthwhile considering having a Hills Solar retrofit to your geyser.  This will save you money by not having to install a new geyser and is also very efficient.

The second factor is the make of the geyser as not all retrofits would qualify for the ESKOM rebate.  Hills Solar have registered 2 systems for retrofitting to Kwikot Dual geysers, a 150 liter which qualifies for an ESKOM rebate of R3,504, and a 200 liter which qualifies for a rebate of R5,332.

With every retrofit we do, we also install the following components to ensure optimal performance of the solar water heater:

1. We replace the sacrificial anode of the geyser.  This is a soft metal anode that corrodes preferentially in the Kwikot geysers and retards corrosion of the tank.  It is meant to be replaced  every one to three years depending on the water quality but in practice this almost never occurs.  By replacing the anode, the life expectancy of the tank can be extended.  We have found this to be very successful.
2. We install a geyser blanket over the geyser to increase the insulation and reduce heat loss.  The SABS have a higher specification of insulation for solar water geysers than standard electric geysers.
3. We replace the electrical element which is normally a 3 or 4 kW element with a 2 kW element.  This is in line with the ESKOM rebate requirements.

The whole system is controlled by our SR868C8 solar controller.  This automatically controls the solar part of the system and also allows you to have total control over when and at what temperature your element turns on if  there is not enough solar energy available.

Why not give us a call at 080 GO SOLAR or leave your contact details on the form on this page and we will call to arrange an appointment. We are offering a 10% discount on all retro-fit systems this spring season. Check out the Current Specials page for more.

By contrast, the high pressure systems such as the Hills Solar Esteem solar water heaters from Tritonova, show an electricity savings return of about 4 times that of the low pressure systems.  The high pressure rebate program will continue as is for the foreseeable future.

ESKOM conduct random audits on installations and reported that about 26% of systems audited failed the inspection criteria and about 45% required minor corrections.  Up until now, all the audits on our Hills Solar Esteem systems have passed with flying colours.  While we do not rule out the possibility of ever making mistakes in our installations, we place a premium on ensuring our installations comply with SANS requirements and are safely installed for optimum performance.  You can download the ESKOM workshop presentation here – Eskom Workshop Presentation August 2011

For our 12 volt DC systems we use the Laing pump. Laing_DC_pumps_Ecocirc_vario_D5_english[1] Both the Grundfos and Laing pumps have a brass housing and use a spherical motor.  Unlike the conventional canned-rotor motors, spherical pumps do not use a rotating bearing shaft.  The stator transfers the magnetic field to the rotor in the water conducting part of the pump.  This is hermetically separated from the stator with a stainless steel separator.

Another reason why you should should choose the SABS approved Hills Esteem Solar Water Heaters from Go Solar.

“Somebody needs to tell the truth! We have been very vocal about the dangers of fracking in South Africa and particularly in the Karoo. Our drive against fracking has may branches and this music video is one of them. It will become part of our strategy as we campaign against fracking in South Africa in general and particularly the Karoo” said Jonathan Deal, chairman of TKAG.

The music video shows a hooded man walking across a beautiful Karoo landscape (the one we all know and love), which gradually changes into a barren and deserted landscape due to the effects of fracking. The Afrikaans lyrics explain the risks involved and flows well with the animation. The images are accompanied by a hip-hop music track, with vocals by Jitsvinger.

“We hope this video will help us spread the message about the potential risks involved with the use of fracking. If fracking is allowed to be implemented without careful research and planning, it is the entire country that will be directly or indirectly affected,” said Deal.

When asked about the reason for an Afrikaans music video, Mr. Deal said “We are talking to the youth because they are the ones who will be most affected by the potential social, economic and ecological damage caused through this mining technique. The young community in the Karoo do not read newspapers and we believe this music video will educate and equip them with a tool to spead the word.”

Jitsvinger (Quintin Goliath) is an Afrikaaps (Afrikaans with local Cape Town dialect) MC and an award winning performer who combines poetry, self-composed music and theatre in his work. He started his assent into the music arena in the mid-90s eventually releasing his self-written debut album Skeletsleutel in 2006. He is currently working on various theatre and music projects, and his follow-up album. He was unavailable for comment.

For more information about this topic, please visit TKAG s blog.

Warren Ambler -     Go-Solar

Below are the lyrics to video:

FRACKATTACK!!

By JITSVINGER

EERSTE VERS:
HET JY GEHOOR VANNIE NUWE GEVAAR
WAT ELECTRIC VERSKAF SUPPLY MAAR VERNIETIG
SODRA DIT MET DIE WATER CONNECT BROE’?
OLIE COMPANIES PLOEG ‘n DISASTER
BEKEND AS “FRACKING”

‘n HYDRAULIC GEDRIL KRAAK ROTSE
4 KILOMETERS ONDERGROND
INNIE KAROO ISSIE NATUURLIKE GAS GROOT
SOWEL ASSIE SKELM MANIERE VANNIE VULTURES

WATCH OUT!

MOEDERNATUUR HET BESKIKBAAR GESTEL
WAT BEDOEL IS VIR MENS EN DIE AARDE SAAM
HOE KAN JY SO IETS VOLMAAK CORRUPT VIR GELD?
FRACKING VAT DIE HELE PLAN TO HELL

DINK ‘n BIETJIE

CHORUS (X1):
FRACKING!
KAMMA OM WERK TE VERSKAF
HECTIC!
VAT DAAI FLOP TECHNIQUE, VERKAS
FRACKING!
WAT VANNIE MENSE VANNIE LAND?
DIE HABITAT IS KLAAR INTACT
CHECK UIT DIE CULTURE

TWEEDE VERS:
DIT MAAK DIE ECOSYSTEM TOXIC
MULTI-MILLIONS GE-PROFIT
MET SCAMS VAN JOBS GEE
HAIBO! FIGHT DIE SILENCE
HAIKHONA! VIR DAAI POISON
WAT VERSPREI WORD DEUR DIE KRANE, JOE!

ONS BETER YTSTIEK EN EN OPSKUD
VOOR’IE KINDERS BYRIE HUIS SIEK EN VROT SIT
VAN’IE BENZENE, FORMALDEHYDE EN DIESMEER
WEGGESTIEK INNIE WATER SUPPLY DEUR’IE POMPE

DOM IS DAAI METHOD WAT VI ONS GAAN TREF
‘n ALTERNATIVE IS WAT ONS MOET AAN WERK
ORGANIZE TIPS, MAXIMISE EN TRY DIT
VIR SURVIVAL, STIEKYT MET JOU RIGHT TO FIGHT

EK Se!

CHORUS (X2)

English translation

Have you heard of the new danger that supplies electricity but will destroy as soon as it connects with water, brother?

Oil companies plough a disaster known as fracking: a hydraulic drilling fractures rocks 4 kilos underground
in the karoo the natural gas is plentiful, along with the sly tricks of the vultures.

Watch out!
Mother nature provided what was intended for man and earth together. How can you corrupt something so pure for money?
Fracking takes this whole plan to hell.

Think about it.

Fracking! Apparently to create jobs
Hectic! Take that failed technique and hit the road
What about the people of our country?

The habitat is already in tact, check out the culture

It makes the whole ecosystem toxic
Multi-millions profited with scams of job creation
Haibo! Fight the silence
Haikona for that poison that spreads through the taps

We better stand up and shake our heads before our children are sick at home from benzyne, formaldehyde and more, hidden in the water supply by the pumps :
That method is stupid that’s going to hit us. We must look for an alternativen organisen tipsn maximise and try that for survival, stand up and use you’re right to fight!

The views expressed in this music video and article do not necessarily represent the view of Go-Solar.

This larger cooling/heating variation results in greater expansion of the water in the tank and therefore release of more water by the expansion valve than in a standard high pressure, electric geyser.  This can result in irritating and unnecessary phone calls or call outs from concerned clients.   We would like to direct you to our latest technical page on our website for some simple tips to avoid these call outs.