Do you know to the compare the performance difference between flat plate solar collectors and vacuum tube solar collectors?
Making comparison on two technologies, you need to compare the aperture of th
e solar collector systems you are being recommended. The aperture is the size of the part that collects heat from the sun. For a flat plate solar collector, the system aperture is the width, times the height of the heat plate – do not include the frame as this collects no heat. For a vacuum tube solar collectors (Heat pipe solar collector) system with no reflector, the system aperture is the diameter of inside tube, times the length of the tube, times the number of tubes. There are two tube diameters available – 58mm (47mm inside) and 47mm (37mm inside). So for a 20 tube system with 1.8m long by 58mm diameter tubes, the system aperture is: 1.8m x 47mm x 20tubes = 1.69 M2.
For a vacuum tube soalr collector system with a reflector, the system aperture is the width times the height of the reflector. At Sunlower we manufacture our own aluminium framed collector with vacuum tubes and a reflector (optional). The reflector material we use has an long lifetime, and is self cleaning.
