There is one basic need and use in common to us all, at the same time, throughout Europe, that is 'Solar Energy'.
Even though there is a North - South differentiation of cloud cover and solar radiation characteristics in Europe, the same technology can be used throughout Europe.
Design considerations obviously have to scale the installations, to the Environmental historical Data of the Projects locality.
We have chosen Portugal as our example European country, with a specific Location of Cascais, benefiting from around 80% of the solar energy that is received on the Equator.
(Used as our Founder lives there and has RE Project experience in this beautiful Location)
The term 'Solar thermal' designates as 'a system' [70% efficient], in which the energy of the sun is captured specifically for the use of its heat.
The use of solar energy for water heating has been commercially available in Europe for over 50 years, and it is a very recognized mature technology.
The amount of solar radiation received (also called solar insolation) is measured in kWh/m2 (kilowatt hours per square meter) over a 24-hour period.
The solar heating system consists of 5 main components: solar collectors, pumping system (pump, expansion tank and valves), controller, sensors and piping.
Efficiency of Solar Collectors - here are different solar collectors on the market. You can see from the graph why we use heat pipes, which are the most efficient type of evacuated tubes.
We use only Heat Pipe Collectors in our Projects.
The heat pipes are aesthetic, as they are installed directly on the tiles. Also lightweight, as each collector has a maximum capacity of 5 liters.
Due to their circular shape, the heat pipes receive the maximum amount of solar radiation (unlike a flat panel), and the vacuum between the two glass tubes ensures that the energy from the solar radiation is not lost.
The tube that composes the heat pipe is made of borosilicate glass, a glass with high chemical resistance and thermal shock. The outside of the tube is transparent to allow solar radiation to pass through (more than 90% transmissibility), and the inside is covered with a selective coating (aluminium base) that offers high levels of solar absorption with a minimum of reflection.
Glass tube with internal copper heat conductor. If, for any reason, one of these tubes breaks, there is no leakage and replacement is very simple - about 10 minutes. it is easy to see if the tube has lost vacuum, as its normally silver barium deposit turns white when in contact with oxygen in the atmosphere.
The pumping system is a combination of several components, such as the circulation pump, valves, calibration instruments and expansion tank.
Solar System Controller - The controller works mainly with the circulation pump, based on the information transmitted by the temperature sensors.
Other control options allow you to control the auxiliary heating systems. We are currently developing one more option that will include a monitoring system - Intelligent Control.
