This paper presents a study of the gravitational stability of a salty layer of a fluid subject to an adverse temperature gradient as a result of heat absorption. This is intended to model solar ponds where an artificial gradient of salt concentration in water is used to prevent convective motions induced by the absorption of solar radiation. The stability of the Boussinesq approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations is analysed for perturbations of a certain kind imposed on the stationary solution. The marginal slates for the onset of convection are obtained using a Galerkin method based on a weak formulation of the governing equations. The analysis considers solar energy absorption in the layer and assumes prescribed heat flux values as boundary conditions for the temperature equation. Results are compared with those obtained earlier by different authors for a layer of fluid, heated from below, with linear profiles of both salt concentration and temperature.