Patent ID: 11885509
Assignee: FAFCO INCORPORATED
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  G  Y | IPC F  G

Claim 14:
15. A solar thermal assisted water heating system comprising:
a thermal collector configured to collect heat from the environment and provide the heat to a fluid within the thermal collector;
a drain-back tank coupled to the thermal collector;
a first pump coupled to the drain-back tank and configured to pump the fluid from the drain-back tank to the thermal collector;
a bypass valve configured to prevent fluid pumped by the first pump from flowing through the thermal collector when the bypass valve is active;
a first heat exchanger configured to receive the fluid from the thermal collector;
a heat pump coupled to the first heat exchanger and configured to remove heat from the fluid and to heat water with the removed heat; and
a controller configured to control the first pump, the heat pump and the bypass valve,
wherein the controller is configured to activate the bypass valve when a temperature of the fluid in the drain-back tank is less than a temperature of the fluid in the thermal collector by a first threshold value.