Solar Panel system leak - please help!

mistymitts

Many years ago we had a vacuum tube solar panel installed on our roof. A couple of years later we had a new boiler fitted - a combination one.

Now a pump belonging to the solar panel system is faulty and needs replacing. It is situated in the boiler cupboard, and is leaking smelly dirty liquid everywhere (apparently it is some sort of antifreeze solution).

We can no longer trace the company that fitted the solar panel, so can't get them in to fix it. Apparently it is a specialist job, so an ordinary plumber is not interested, British Gas won't touch it, and our insurers say they don't cover us for that!

Now to top it all, when I've been researching on the internet to try to resolve this, it appears that this type of solar panel isn't suitable for use with our current boiler. That's the first we heard of that.

So, now we don't know whether we're supposed to be getting it repaired, cut off/uninstalled or whatever, or who we can get in to sort the problem.

Any ideas or suggestions very gratefully recieved, thank you.

SmartRRRR

Although I don't know about fixing faulty solar panel systems, I am suprised that a plumber would fit a combination boiler with such a system already installed.

The solar priciple is to heat water in the panels and pump it through a secondary storage cylinder, just like a normal boiler does.

The Combi principle is to remove the storage cylinder and heat water directly.

How on earth the two systems can be combined beats me What are the solar panels connected to, do you still have a water tank and/or cylinder?

Also, just because the original company is no longer trading, it doesn't mean that another company couldn't help. Have you approached any for assistance?

It doesn't look like we have many members with solar panel installations in MSE. Good luck with your search for a repair.

kisk

Some combi systems can use solar but you still need a hot water cylinder to store the heat from the solar collector. Did they remove your hot water cylinder when they put in the combi boiler?

I would look at the following link to find suitable installers in your area. In the meantime you could drain down the system and save the antifreeze mix if possible. The pumps installed in solar systems are generally the same used in normal heating systems.

http://www.clear-skies.org/households/AccreditedInstallers.aspx

kisk

mistymitts

Thank you Kisk and SmartRRRR. I think we were 'had' when the boiler was put in! We found someone to come and sort it. All the antifreeze had leaked out, but he's shut down the pump. If we change boilers in future to one that uses a storage tank, we can apparently just have a new pump put in, and it connected to the new tank (yes the old one was removed), and we can use the solar panel again then.

roger56

This site is somewhat technical but if you are interested it may help you understand how solar panels work and are fitted, it also has links to a number of suppliers so may give you some leads:

http://www.anotherurl.com/therm/Default.htm

It also has a page giving a useful working diagram of a solar heating panel installation:
http://www.anotherurl.com/therm/solar.htm

Hope it's of some help to you.

Edited - another thought!:

Incidently, you say you have a combi boiler fitted. I'm no expert, but it may be that the water supply to your combi boiler is first passed via a coil in the hot water tank
By doing this, that water is pre-heated by solar energy and hence will use less gas (ie less paid for gas!!) to get it to the hot water temperature. Such a system with a combi boiler probably only needs a single coil tank, ie that one coil pre-heats the water to the combi boiler. The main area of the tank would contain the antifreeze / water mix that circulates around the panel only. An expansion vessel would be required for safety. (This is a somewhat different layout to that in the link above).

Anyway, hopefully someone will who has experience of such things will come along and confirm what I've said or correct me.

espresso

roger56 wrote: »

Edited - another thought!:

Incidently, you say you have a combi boiler fitted. I'm no expert, but it may be that the water supply to your combi boiler is first passed via a coil in the hot water tank.........

What hot water tank!

mistymitts wrote:

(yes the old one was removed)

roger56

espresso wrote: »

What hot water tank!

...OK...the one they may fit in the future!.....:beer:


[If we change boilers in future to one that uses a storage tank, we can apparently just have a new pump put in, and it connected to the new tank (yes the old one was removed), and we can use the solar panel again then.]