Stainless Steel Solar Hot Water Tanks
Solar thermal storage is where Swhift started, and it is the reason the company has been reachable at solartanks.com for years. Stainless does not need a sacrificial anode and does not fail at a glass lining chip.
What Solar Hot Water Tanks are for
A solar hot water tank stores the heat a collector array gathers so it is still there when someone opens a tap hours later. The tank spends its whole life cycling hot, which is exactly the duty that shortens the life of a glass-lined steel tank.
Building the tank in stainless removes the two usual failure modes — there is no glass lining to chip and no anode rod to replace on a schedule. Our tanks are self-supporting and built in 304 as standard, with 316 available; we specifically recommend 316 for hot water service.
Heat exchange coils can be built into the tank so collector fluid and stored water never mix. We fabricate the coils ourselves, in either a single or a multiple-coil arrangement depending on how many loops the system runs.
Typical applications
- Solar thermal domestic hot water
- Solar-assisted space heating storage
- Heat pump and boiler buffer storage
- Off-grid and remote hot water systems
Get a price on this tank
Stock size or custom — send what you have and we will quote it. Consultations are free.
Construction
How we build it
Every specification below is what Swhift actually publishes for this product line.
- Self-supporting
- 304 stainless steel standard; 316 available as an option
- FDA-approved materials — 100% tasteless and odorless
- Available as a rectangular tank or a cylindrical pressure tank
- Made in the U.S.A.
Options
What you can change
Stock or custom sizing is available across the range. These are the options most often specified.
- Heat exchange coils built to your requirement
- Insulated jackets available
- Rectangular format to fit an existing mechanical room
- Multiple ports for collector, backup heat and domestic loops
- Mill, Soft Swirl or High Luster finish
Solar Hot Water Tanks we have built
Photographs from our shop and from installations. Every image on this site is our own work — there is no stock photography anywhere on it.
Specifications & order forms
Solar Hot Water Tanks: common questions
Why stainless instead of a glass-lined steel tank?
A glass-lined tank protects the steel with a coating and a sacrificial anode rod. Chip the lining or let the anode go and corrosion starts. A stainless tank has no lining to fail and no anode to replace, which matters in a system that is meant to sit on a roof loop for decades.
Should I specify 304 or 316 for solar?
We recommend 316 for hot water. Our warranty covers T-304 up to 1.5 ppm chlorine and T-316 up to 8 ppm, and hot water is harder on the material than cold. Send us your water report if you have one.
Can the tank be pressurized to house supply pressure?
Yes, if it is built as a pressure tank. Tell us the working pressure on the quote request and we will build and test it as a pressure vessel rather than as vented storage.
Can you fit the tank into a low basement?
That is a common reason to go rectangular. Give us the ceiling height and the smallest opening on the delivery route, along with the storage volume you need, and we will dimension a tank that gets in.
Related products
Rectangular Non-Pressure Tanks
Self-supporting rectangular storage tanks from 55 to 3,231 gallons, sized to fit the space you actually have.
ViewStainless Steel Pressure Tanks
Vertical and horizontal pressure vessels in stock diameters from 9-5/8 in. to 60 in., or built to your drawing.
ViewWater Chiller Tanks
Chilled water vessels built for continuous cold service, with coils and insulation where the duty needs them.
View
Start a project
Ready to quote your solar hot water tanks?
Send dimensions, a completed layout sheet, or a description of the job. If a stock size fits, we will point you at it rather than quoting a custom build.
Consultations are free. Every project is managed by a single production manager, so you talk to the person who knows your job.