Solar Heating for Homeowners
Workshop 01
(scroll down for detailed description)

Friday, May 21
8:30am to 12:30pm

Registration Price: $125 on or before April 1, $135 after April 1, $145 on-site
You DO NOT have to register for the conference to register for a workshop. On the Conference Fees page in the registration system, choose "Workshops, Tours, Special Events Only."
Presented by: Mark Thornbloom, Kelelo Engineering
Description: If solar water heating is just a garden hose on the lawn, then why do they want so much money to put it on my roof?  How much to heat my house?  Solar water and space heating is one of the more cost-effective RE technologies, and today’s installations are as easy to use as a major appliance.  Yet both are often overlooked by homeowners and even installers. This workshop will help attendees make an informed decision, focusing on water and space heating including site selection, technology selection, incentives, and certification with a discussion of solar cooling.
Materials to be provided to attendees include hard copies of the presentations, including contact details for further information (FindSolar, SEIA, FSEC, NCSU, SEI etc).
Who should attend? Homeowners and end-users interested in purchasing and/or installing a solar water heating or space heating system.
Dealers and Installers interested in SRCC’s OG300 workshop but unfamiliar with the basics of solar water heating.

4 AIA CEU's - Health & Welfare and Sustainability - available for this session

Additional Workshop Details:

PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
This workshop is to provide homeowners and end-users as well as dealers and installers with a basic introduction to solar heating. The material is presented as much as possible without bias to a particular manufacturer, but will include material from various manufacturers as examples. Attendees will not be able to go out and install their own system at the end, but they will have a fundamental understanding of this heating technology including terms used in the industry and generic application of system types.

CONTENT OF THE WORKSHOP
This will be a repeat of the previous years’ well-attended workshops on the same subject. Content will be drawn largely from FSEC workshops and industry literature. Power Point presentations and short video clips will be used to convey the information, with every effort made to keep the content unbiased toward any manufacturer, but with product literature available from many manufacturers and product samples available to inspect. Content will be presented by Mark Thornbloom possibly with an SRCC representative discussing certification.

The course will give a quick review of solar thermal system types with advantages and disadvantages of each, what it is and what it is not, site survey, and sizing; introduction to solar resource, including solar access and sun path diagrams; discussion of various kinds of solar thermal systems, their descriptors and why they are necessary, including examples and photos. While the main thrust will be on water heating, it will also include a discussion of space heating and solar thermal cooling. Introduction to BOS components (valves, piping, pumps, tanks) including basic critical issues such as freeze protection, roof penetrations, safety requirements, certification. Listing of various other resources available, including FindSolar, FSEC, SRCC etc, as well as industry contact information focusing on SEIA members. If time allows, we will cover some basics of design, operation and maintenance, although attendees interested in compliance with SRCC’s OG300 are encouraged to also attend the OG300 workshop.

PRESENTERS’ CURRENT POSITIONS AND EXPERTISE
Mark Thornbloom is principal of Kelelo Engineering and formerly with Viessmann Mfg, Schuco Mfg, and FSEC. He is Solar Thermal Division Vice-Chair and sits on the ASES, SEIA, and SRCC Boards, and has presented this Workshop for four of the last five years at the National Conference.