- Home
- Solar hot water
Solar geysers, heat pumps and hot water
Heating water is usually the biggest single load on the account, and the cheapest one to fix. We have installed more than 270 solar water heating systems since 2013.
- Since 2013
- 5 700+ panels installed
- Certificate of Compliance
Why water heating is the place to start
In most homes and many guesthouses, the geyser is the largest item on the electricity account. It is also the easiest to fix, because a geyser is a storage tank: it does not care what time the energy arrived.
Homes
Often a better first step than a full PV system.
Guesthouses and lodges
Morning showers for every room, without the morning spike.
Hotels, hospitals and hostels
Centralised hot water with generation, storage and distribution as one system.
Plants
Industrial heat pumps for process heat and bulk hot water.
That makes it rare in energy work: a fix that is both cheap and effective.
Solar collectors or a heat pump?
| Solar collectors | Heat pump | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Sunlight heats the water directly | Moves heat from the air using a little electricity |
| At night | Uses stored hot water | Runs on demand |
| Weather | Output drops on overcast days | Works in most conditions, less efficient when very cold |
| Best for | Homes and sites with a good roof and daytime sun | Hotels, hospitals and plants with steady round-the-clock demand |
Neither is better everywhere. The right choice follows your demand pattern, your roof and whether hot water is needed at set times or all day.
Centralised hot water and process heat
At scale, hot water stops being a household question and becomes a plant question. We design and install centralised hot water for hotels, hospitals, hostels and multi-unit buildings, and industrial heat pumps for process heat and bulk hot water.
These projects are sized on measured demand. A hotel with a 06:00 to 09:00 peak and a hospital with steady demand around the clock need very different designs, even at the same daily volume.
Pairing with solar PV
If you have solar panels or plan to, look at water heating at the same time. A geyser stores heat far more cheaply than a lithium battery stores electricity, so sending surplus daytime power into hot water is one of the most cost-effective things you can do with it. It can also shrink the battery you actually need.
From one bill to a running system
No guessed numbers. The price comes after somebody has stood on your roof.
- 01
Send a bill
Answer three questions here, or WhatsApp a photo of a recent electricity account. That one page tells us more than a site photo ever will.
- 02
Site visit and energy audit
We check the roof or ground, the distribution board, cable routes, shading and what must stay on when the supply drops.
- 03
Proposal, cash and finance priced
System size, expected generation and payback, with a cash price and an ADSFinance option side by side.
- 04
Install and Certificate of Compliance
Installed, tested and commissioned by our team, then handed over with a Certificate of Compliance.
- 05
Monitoring and annual service
Remote monitoring from day one and a maintenance visit every year, so a fault does not hide for months.
Is a heat pump better than a solar geyser?
Neither is better everywhere. Solar collectors heat water directly from sunlight and suit homes with a good roof. A heat pump runs on demand at any hour and suits hotels, hospitals and plants with steady demand.
How much of my bill is water heating?
In most homes and many guesthouses it is the largest single item on the account. That is why it is often the cheapest saving available, and sometimes a better first step than a PV system.
Can my solar panels heat the water instead?
Yes, and it is a good use of surplus daytime power. Diverting surplus into the geyser can also reduce the battery size you need.
Do you do hot water for hotels and hospitals?
Yes. We design and install centralised hot water for hotels, hospitals, hostels, multi-unit buildings and plants, as well as industrial heat pumps for process heat.
Get a free quote for solar hot water
It opens as a WhatsApp message to Mari Louise with a reference number, so the first call is about your site instead of the basics.
Rather talk? Call the office on 017 004 0001 or WhatsApp 072 326 0268.
Fix the biggest load on the bill first
Tell us what you have now and how many people use hot water. We will tell you what fits.