The sun provides an uncontrolled and inexhaustible supply of free energy that can not be simply switched ON or OFF. Proper system design is therefore paramount to both saving you money and ensuring long term equipment reliability and durability.
What are your hot water requirements? Chances are your needs will differ from your neighbour.
An improperly sized solar water heating system will either not keep up with your hot water demand costing you money in top up heating, or constantly overheat during the summer months, which means you paid too much for the equipment on the outset.
We have a very good understanding of our solar products real life performance characteristics. When we design a system for you, we will consider all the factors and after careful analysis and computer performance modelling will recommend the optimum equipment combination to suit your requirements. With attention to detail it is cost effective to achieve hot water heating energy savings of between 75% and 85% using solar energy alone.
Unlike some other products which suffer from a considerable loss in heating efficiency when the outside air temperature drops below 15 °C, the high quality vacuum of our Solar Fin Vacuum Tubes will ensure the system can still heat water when exposed to bone chilling winds and ambient air temperatures as low as - 35 °C.
This is due to the vacuum that surrounds the 'Solar Fin' collector. A vacuum provides a very efficient form of thermal insulation that reduces heat loss to the bare minimum. This means the solar fin can convert 96% of the available solar radiation into usable heat energy, irrespective of the ambient air temperature, therefore capable of heating more water than a conventional system.
This thermal image shown below was taken during the winter. The bright coloured areas indicate heat loss by radiation to the atmosphere.
The image on the left is of a flat panel collector, the bright colours indicate that a lot of heat is radiating out through the glass cover. It is effectively an outside radiator.
This image on the right is of our 100mm Solar Fin Vacuum Tube Solar Thermal Collector. The lack of colour indicates that there is no heat loss from the vacuum tubes, and only a small amount of heat is lost from the header box at the top of the collector.
This clearly makes vacuum tubes most suitable for year round home and water heating applications. Needless to say, it is during the winter that we want to heat water to heat our homes, not the outside air !
The vacuum is so efficient that the collector will continue to function at temperatures of -35 °C, without the need for anti-freeze !
With German Engineered Solar Fin vacuum tube technology we are now able to provide under floor heating for concrete slab foundations. It is imperative that the concrete slab and foundations of your property are designed by us to suit Solar Under Floor Heating.
If you are building new, please contact us during the planning stages. We will supply and install your complete under floor heating system.
Conventional 'non glazed' polypropylene collector swimming pool heating only works when the ambient air temperature is above 18 °C and there is plenty of sunshine. In New Zealand this covers four to five summer months.
By substituting 'non glazed' polypropylene collectors with 'Solar Fin' vacuum tubes we can effectively extended the water heating season. The vacuum tubes are unaffected by the ambient air temperature and are capable of heating water for the entire 12 months.
If you have an indoor swimming pool we can maintain the water temperature for most of the year or alternatively use the vacuum tubes to provide the necessary hot water for your central or under floor heating during the winter.
Using solar as a pre heater before a gas califont is gaining popularity as gas prices increase. Our solar systems are easily combined with on demand gas califonts or gas heated hot water cylinders.
We combine solar water heating with wetbacks all the time. In our opinion it is a perfect combination in that you can be completely self-reliant.
If you have a specific requirement, or perhaps you want to heat a medium other than water or air, why not give us a call. Our design engineers have the experience to work out a solution and provide the best recommendation.
Our system are also capable of boiling water or generating steam.
When shopping for a solar water heating system consider the following:
Does the supplies tailor design a system to suit your consumption requirements ?
Does the supplier provide a performance guarantee ?
Does the solar thermal collector carry a 5 year vacuum tube performance guarantee ?
Will it look and perform just as good 20 years from today ?
Will it provide you with the maximum possible energy savings ?
Is the coating on the solar collector protected from atmosphere ?
Will it freeze in winter and do I need antifreeze ?
(If there is antifreeze in the system this will need to be replaced bi-annually.)
Is the collector compatible with local water conditions ?
Is it manufacture from materials that will not fade or corrode ?
Is the system protected from overheating when on vacation ?
Will the system provide effective water heating during the winter ?
Is the solar collector frost protected by design ?
