is solar heating appropriate to heat the water in the school project?

Solar heating is where the sun is used to heat water for a building. This includes large panels with an array of copper pipes and black painted steel plates positioned similarly to a solar panel on a roof.
Painting the steel plates a black matt colour mean it will conduct the suns heat as much as possible, which in turn will heat the water. The piping system is then encased in a transparent box to create a 'greenhouse' effect trapping the heat in to the panel. This sort of system can heat up water very quick providing it is being hit by beams of light. the panels efficiency can reach around 50%, but can drop to nearly 0% when there is a lot of cloud cover, and wind that can cool the panel down.
In addition to the unreliability of solar heating, maintenance is also an issue. It is a regular occurrence for the pipes to expand and retract, meaning leaks appear at joints regularly. The expansion of the water inside the pipes as it heats up creates additional pressure to the system than can also cause damage. In some cases, even soldered joints can become loose. All of this maintenance costs a lot of money as only skilled plumbers will be able to fix the joints. Furthermore, leaks can cause lots problems in a number of ways to a building and to a site. A reputable manufacture should be searched and used when considering the installation of solar heating panels.
Another problem is the space the solar thermal heating takes up. These usually have to be positioned on a roof, which is where solar panels and a green roof could be. it must be carefully thought about which system is going to be the most sustainable for the school.
Finally, due to the size of the school, the demand for water could be quite high, especially considering there is a sports hall with showers. It is unlikely solar heating could meet the demands of hot water a school may need, so it would not be the only source of hot water the school would have.
Because of these reasons, it is unlikely solar heating would be a suitable solution to heating water