SOLAR HEATING
Make heat from the sun. Go small or big. Residential or Commercial. Water Heating or Radiant Heat
Not All Solar Is the Same
While most people think of solar panels that generate electricity, we specialize in solar thermal systems—a highly efficient way to harness the sun’s energy for heating water and heating indoor spaces.
Solar heating systems are not tied to the electrical grid or dependent on utility connections. Instead, they use a simple, liquid-based system to collect and deliver solar heat for domestic hot water and space heating.
Liquid Solar has been the regional dealer for SunEarth hardware since 2006. SunEarth is the largest U.S. manufacturer of solar heating panels, proudly built in Fontana, California. SunEarth is an employee-owned company. We also use European-made Stiebel Eltron tanks which are extremely long lasting and well insulated.
Why Solar Heating?
Solar heating systems are one of the most overlooked but effective tools in the renewable energy toolkit. They are quiet, efficient, and built to last. And unlike solar electric (PV) systems, they directly convert sunlight into usable heat for hot water and space heating—without needing to pass through the electrical grid.
At Liquid Solar, we’ve been designing and installing solar heating systems across Montana since 2006. In that time, we’ve seen first-hand how well they work in cold climates and how much they can reduce reliance on gas or electric water heating (and space/radiant heating)
Whether in a single-family home or a large-scale apartment complex, solar heating systems can provide hot water year-round—with very low operational costs and minimal maintenance.
SOLAR HEATING and A2W HEAT PUMPS
Solar heating systems pair exceptionally well with air-to-water (A2W) heat pumps—especially in cold climates where energy efficiency matters most.
Because A2W systems already include a glycol-filled buffer tank, adding solar heating is straightforward: no extra tank is needed.
Once installed, the solar panels feed heat directly into the buffer tank, allowing the heat pump to run less often and consume less electricity. Over time, this significantly improves system efficiency and reduces operational costs.
This integration works best for heating-focused heat pump systems but can also support domestic hot water pre-heating when paired with a specific tank we can provide.
SOLAR HEATING FAQs
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Solar Heating Panels
Thermal Storage Tank
Circulation pump and piping
Solar Control
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Solar panels collect heat
Solar control turns pump ON when solar panel warmer than tank bottom.
Pump moves heat transfer fluid through copper piping from panels to tank
Thermal storage tank or buffer tank stores heat
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Installed Solar Heating Costs
Tie-in to A2W systems: $3k to >10k
Residential hot water systems: $6k to $12k.
Commercial hot water systems: $10k to >30k
*D-I-Y installs are not that hard, half the price and we can help as needed!
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To be fair, there were lot of systems installed in the late 90’s and early 2000’s that did not work well and gave the technology a bad name.
But, properly designed and installed these system last >30 years. Liquid Solar has installed over 250 systems.
What It Looks Like in the Real World
Every system is a little different. In our gallery below, you’ll see examples of:
Rooftop flat-plate collector arrays
Radiant heat integrations
Custom mechanical rooms
Combined solar and heat pump designs
Installations for affordable housing complex, homes, space heating for shops/garages, and multi-unit buildings
These aren’t just test cases. Many of them have been running for 10 to 20 years, quietly saving energy and lowering utility costs for their owners. Owners of our solar heating systems find comfort in knowing up to 70% of the their annual hot water demand is heating by the sun, and not by
This 1950s Bozeman house had a "deep energy retrofit" consisting of new windows, and an exterior "wrap" of rock wool insulation that reduced the energy usage of the home by 50%. Then the gas service was disconnected (permanently!) and we replaced the gas boiler with an Arctic heat pump, tied in solar heating and the customer added Solar PV. For four years they have had a more comfortable, efficient house and an almost-zero energy bill!
16 wall-mounted SunEarth flat panels for pre-heat of 4,000 gallons of Waste Vegetable Oil processing. System is tied to live data logger and owner is extremely happy with performance of the system. This is an extremely windy site east of Livingston MT, that was installed in 2022.
Three Sun Earth 4x8 flat panel collectors supplying a buffer tank to offset radiant and water heating costs. West Yellowstone MT, 2010.
Post-mounted solar heating in West Yellowstone, MT. Supplies energy for radiant floor and hot water. An air to water heat pump added in 2025 to nearly eliminate reduce propane usage.
An older Bozeman residence in historic NE neighborhood with one of our first Arctic heat pumps for space and hot water heating (2020). The Alt Source tank (right) has abuilt-in electric backup elements for outdoor temps below -15F and a hot water pre-heat coil.
Installing Sun Earth 4x10 flat panel solar heating collectors in landscape orientation (wall mount). This is a residential hot water pre-heat system.
A small residential hot water system with landscape-oriented Sun Earth 4x10 panel (wall or "awning" mount).
Extremely windy site with SW and SE solar heating arrays for shop/apartment. Tied to 300 gallons of thermal storage for radiant heat and hot water. East of Livingston, MT (2009)
Great Falls MT affordable housing complex with 7 apartment buildings, and approximately 250 tenants that get reduced energy bills because the complex owner committed to renewable energy systems to heat hot water (solar heating and air-water heat pumps). (2019).
Three flush-mounted Sun Earth 4x10s tied to buffer tank for heating of domestic hot water and radiant heat. Bozeman, MT 2017.
Bozeman affordable housing complex (south of Kenyon Noble) with 7 buildings and 16 five-panel solar heating systems to offset 70% of annual hot water load for approximately 250 tenants. Since installation in 2016, these system have produced 8 million gallons of domestic hot water(!!)
Bozeman Main Coop (2015). Three Sun Earth 4x10 flat panels installed on membrane-covered flat roof. Domestic hot water pre-heat system. Bozeman Coop (2016)
A single 4x10 solar heating panel mounted flush to roof (vertical/portrait orientation) that shows a cleanl integratration with a solar electric (PV) array on left.
A small residential hot water system with a 4x8 panel on a low angle roof. Panel is mounted at 60 degree slope with the very well designed Sun Earth Landscape rack. A 2014 install and still working great.
A large solar heating array in Bozeman for commercial water heating application in 2016. Flush mounted to roof.
Educational outreach for Habitat for Humanity solar hot water project in Belgrade MT; 2006.
Soldering final fittings on 2009 project in Bozeman. System tied to heat pump buffer tanks for space heating.
Prepping hardware for a commercial install
Simple solar water heating project on new construction in Bozeman. 2010.
Mechanical components of solar water heating system in Red Lodge, MT. Solar tank, solar controls and solar pump station shown.
Pump station for solar water heating system.
Arby's in Bozeman has a significant hot water load and we installed this wall mounted solar hot water array to reduce their energy footprint in 2010.
Where else but Butte Montana?! We assisted the homeowner install a solar heating system with two wall-mounted panels for space and water heating.
Roof-mounted Solar Heating in foreground and Solar PV in background. Good example of roof-mounted panels in landscape orientation using the Sun Earth Landscape rack. Completed 2014. Still working perfectly.
Two smaller (4x6) flat plate solar heating collectors for hot water pre-heat. The small 30-watt solar pv panel powers a DC solar pump to ensure that the system runs if powers goes down (since project location is subject to not-uncommon power outages). 2009 install.
A large Big Sky, MT home with Arctic heat pump system showing the buffer tank and related piping, and controls. This system provides ducted forced air heating and cooling.
Our first large solar heating system (2007) on old Brokaw Ranch near Big Timber MT. Eight ground mounted evacuated tube collectors fed to a 300 gallon storage tank for space heating and hot water production. Although these evacuated panels are very efficient, we found they did not hold up well to Montana hail storms and stopped using them on anything but well protected wall-mounted locations.