The solar thermal collection system consists of 798 flat plate solar panels organized into four rows mounted on the detached garages behind the homes.
An antifreeze solution - a mixture of water and non-toxic glycol - is pumped through the solar collectors and heated whenever the sun is out. The 798 collectors are connected via an underground, insulated pipe that carries the heated solution to the community’s Energy Centre. Once there, the heated solution passes through a heat exchanger, where the heat is transferred to the water in the short-term storage tanks. Both the flow rate through the collectors and the flow rate on the water side of the heat exchanger are variable, allowing the control system to set a desired temperature rise.
The solar collectors for DLSC were manufactured by Enerworks.
Solar Collector Cross-Section