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

Claim 0:
1. A solar thermal assisted water heating system comprising:
a thermal collector comprising a plurality of fluid channels configured to collect heat from a surface of a photovoltaic module;
a drain-back tank coupled to the thermal collector;
a first pump coupled to the drain-back tank and configured to pump fluid from the drain-back tank to the thermal collector;
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;
a bypass valve configured to prevent the fluid pumped by the first pump from flowing through the thermal collector when the bypass valve is active; and
a controller configured to activate the bypass valve when a temperature difference between the thermal collector and the drain-back tank is below a first threshold value.