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- Fax: 01932 78 48 49
- E-mail: info@solarpower.co.uk
Rayotec solar was established in the solar energy market in 1987 and has been specialising in domestic as well as commercial solar installations.
This page show how a typical solar hot water system works and explains the component parts.
The Rayotec Solar CPC INOX vacuum solar collector is one of the most cost effective solar solutions offered, renowned for its enduring reliability, exceptional build quality and consistent performance.
The Rayotec solar CPC INOX evacuated collector is made of three separate components.
Each Rayotec solar vacuum tube consists of an internal tube and an external tube fused at the top to make one single tube. The air inside the tube is removed to create the vacuum thus providing thermal insulation. The inside of the tube is coated with Aluminium Nitrate which absorbs light and converts it into heat.
Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) mirrors are placed behind the vacuum tubes and ensure that they catch all the light that hits the solar hot water panel and concentrate it onto the vacuum tube. The geometry of the mirrors ensures that light travelling from all directions is directed to the absorber, which greatly improves solar energy yields in less favourable light conditions, such as sunrise and sunset.
Each glass tube contains a stainless steel U tube collection pipe and metal heat absorbing plate. The U tubes are all connected to an insulated manifold that allows heat transfer fluid to flow through the system and ensures that all the tubes maintain a uniform hydraulic resistance. The heat transfer fluid flows along a twin coil cylinder where it exchanges heat with the second coil in the cylinder, which feeds into the boiler.
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The solar heating unit makes three temperature measurements one at the solar panel, one at the bottom of the cylinder and one at the top of the cylinder. If the temperature at the solar panel is about 8 degrees Celsius hotter than the bottom of the solar cylinder then the solar pump will activate. This drives the heat transfer liquid through the bottom coil of a solar twin coil cylinder thus preheating the domestic hot water. The third temperature measurement after the cylinder assists in gathering useful information on the heat gained from solar energy.