Know The History Of Solar Water Heating System Since 1891
Solar water heating system has become quite popular and has been used by many people over the years. Not only solar water heating system has a lot of environmental benefits, but it is also quite affordable. But the solar water heater we use now has evolved a lot over the years. It has taken a lot to reach this simplified version of a solar water heater that we use nowadays. the very first one was made in 1891.
Clarence Kemp was the first one to patent it at that time. The first ones became popular in California and by 1920s at least 30% of the population had installed a solar water heater at their home. But the biggest disadvantage of this solar water heater was that it was a metal tank which used the sunlight to heat the water. This meant the water kept in the metal tank had to be under the sun without any lids and unprotected from the germs and dirt. This hot water was not that suitable for drinking purpose or used for cooking. Many people tried to come up with other versions that would make the heating process easy, but the main problem remained the same.
In 1909, William. J bailey made a version of the solar water heater of Kemp. He separated the solar water heater in two different parts. One was the heating element that was kept exposed under the sun and the other one was an insulated storage unit. This storage unit had to inside the house so that people could have hot water day and night. The heating part consisted of pipes attached to a metal sheet in a glass-covered box and it was painter black. The water that needed to be heated was passed through this narrow pipes. To bring more efficiency to the water heater Bailey reduced the volume of water that could be exposed to the sun which heated up the faster.
But from the 1920s to 1940s the market of solar water heater started to dry up during World War II. People started to rely on fossil fuels and started to use a gas water heater. But after that from the 1960s, several countries like Japan, Australia started to come up with a varied version of solar water heating system as they were going through a lack of natural sources after the war. So, solar water heater became their way of getting hot water on a daily basis.
Continuing up to now, solar water heating system has gone through a lot of evolutions and right now it is really affordable and easy to use it.
