A sunny winter day ends in a cool evening, and when you go to shower, the hot water runs out far sooner than it should?
In a new building from a contractor, problems with the solar system are a fairly common construction defect. Poor planning of the collector area means some of the solar collectors simply do not do their job.
The standard allows a solar collector to be shaded for up to 10% of its area, so at least 90% must be exposed to the sun. In this building, for example, the collectors on the right side are clearly and completely blocked by the stairwell shaft to their south.
Where and how the collectors were positioned violates Standard 579 (Part 5, section 4.2.2, on solar systems), which references Part 4 of the standard: "the collectors shall be positioned so that no frontal or side shade whatsoever is cast on them" and "the maximum shading area on a solar collector shall be less than 10%."
In many buildings, a home inspection engineer finds even larger portions of the collectors hidden, in which case the contractor must relocate them or compensate the residents financially. Solar-system problems in new buildings are not limited to hidden collectors either: connections in the closed solar system can also leak, causing a drop in water pressure. Either way, it is worth having a building inspection done on the apartment and the common areas.
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company