new solar collectors

jerry scharf

I had kind of put my solar heat plans on hold, then my brother told me about this. I wanted to get your ideas on what you think

http://www.apricus-solar.com/

It sure sounds great on a web page, but I wanted some experienced opinions. I really like the idea that a broken tube just needs to be replaced at the earliest convenience, but nothing leaks. I'm thinking I may also need some insulation under the collector to protect the asphalt shingles from the tubes in a high heat situation.

I have a 3 in 12 roof it's going on, so the slope isn't ideal. I have choices of faces looking at 120 or 210 degrees. I live in nothern California, but not quite the fog cover of San Francisco. My thinking was a pumpback setup and a storage tank with HXs for hot water preheat and hydronic loops.

thanks,
jerry

Constantin

Thanks for the link!

As a homeowner who is currently grappling with a gut job, I briefly considered solar for hot water pre-heat, then other priorities popped up. What I like about this system is it's inherent simplicity and the alleged price-competitiveness with flat plate collectors (though no hard numbers seem to be easy to come by).

Another question of course is who cloned who first? Viessmann with the Vitosol line or Apricus with its line of collectors... Both seem to use virtually identical technology (vaccuum tubes, heat pipes, etc.), though the actual implementation may differ somewhat.

Anyway, perhaps some of the folks here could supplment your request for comments with their comments on the VitoSol line. I'm not putting the two on the same pedestal, but some of the installation, maintenance, and operational issues ought to be similar.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

check out

thermomax.com an installer told me they worked great. I have been sitting on the fence trying to decide which collector to get. i have a summary of ratings from Solar Rating and Cert Corp. 321-638-1537 but i can't figure it out. apricus web site looks like it might explain better. let us know what you decide. bob

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Kevin_in_Denver

This collector reminds me of the old Arthur D. Little concept. The idea was that no freeze protection is needed with the storage tank on the roof. The thermal mass of the storage tank is enough to get you through any cold period anywhere in the U.S. without freezing.

The commercialization rights were sold to Solaron in the early eighties, but we could never perfect a way to keep the supply and return pipes from freezing.

Anybody remember that?

Harold

Collectors

I looked at those collectors a while ago. I thought about getting one to experiment. My concern was for the interface between the heat pipe and the header.

I am extrapolating from experience and information on heatsink performance. It is essential the contact to be very intimate. It is common practice to literally polish heatsink surfaces to mirror finishes to increase the contact area performance. A good transfer material is added VERY sparingly in order to not interfere with the metal to metal contact and pressure is applied. Now this is just to get a smaller temperature differential. Many transfer interfaces don't do this particularly well and simply lose some transfer performance. I suspect a little degradation in the solar collectors won't matter as much. The heat pipe may be a few degrees hotter and the transfer fluid a bit cooler. In the overall scheme of things probably negligable.

But I don't see how good stable contact can happen in the heat pipe contact point. They say in their web site that the expansion of the copper provides tight contact, but that would mean that when the joint is cold it would open up. Alternately exposing the joint compound to this expansion/contraction process seem like a bad thing.

Paul Pollets

Try....

Thermomax....vacuum tubes are the way to go.

www.thermomax.com

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

jw

Check out Sunda


at www.ssolar.com

john

jerry scharf

follow up on the apricus

Thanks for the input guys.

Yes, the apricus is similar to the thermomax. It's great to know the thermomax design works well. I talked to the distributors about price, and they are much cheaper than the thermomax units. I won't talk about price, but I was impressed at the price for the system delivered.

jerry

Mark Eatherton1

A word of caution on Ejaculated Tube collectors...

If you live in an area that has hail stones, these collectors HATE hail stones. One good hit at a right angle to the glass and the tube implodes. The chards of glass cause the neighboring tubes to implode and the next thing you know, you have a major insurance claim on your hands.

And yes Kevin, I remeber the bread box heaters. Great concept for people who live in temperate climates.

I installed 2 in Denver. They're both still working, and both have frozen their lines. We put heat tape on them with an amperage monitoring device to notify the owner if they fail.

My articles this summer in Contractor magazine will address all of the different types of solar systems out there and discuss their benefits and detractors.

Enjoy!

ME

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"