Solar Thermostatic Controller

A solar thermostatic controller is different from a standard household thermostat controller in that two sensors are used rather than one to activate a pump and collect solar heat. This controller is more commonly known as a differential thermostat. The bar graph indicator is used to monitor the temperatures on both collector and storage probes.

The controller works by activating a pump based on the difference in temperature between collector and stored heat. The differential adjustment has been integrated into one differential potentiometer adjustment. If we set the differential too high we’ll collect less heat. if we set the differential too low the power consumed by the pump may be greater than the heat collected by the pump. Soooo...the ideal setting will be somewhere the allowable range. A counterclockwise setting will maximize heat collection and a clockwise setting will maximize energy conservation. The PCB artwork for this controller as well as others was made possible by Richard Heiliger. They have been developed for stability and durability over a wide range of differential settings. More information about other differential controllers with or without actual temperature monitors is available. To explore these additional options click on the illustrations below.

On the left is a temperature monitoring station that has nothing to so with regulating a pump. It's only used to collect real time thermal data from as many as six temperature probes. The video will explain how it works.

MTD Solar Collector     KIT 
Differential Controller  KIT
Differential Thermostat KIT
Solar Heating Controller with monitors
Trickle Down Solar Heating
MTD Solar Heating
MTD Solar Home 
MTD Data