Choose solar collectors: plans or vacuum tubes?

[Cuicui]

http://www.ese-solar.com/ese/produits/prod_absorbeurs.php
?

I find the ESE technology excellent. I was thinking of making tube absorbers + fins copper but I ran into the problem of welding (it is expensive soldering with tin).

That's why I found the ultrasound weld interesting.
For information I compare it to the Giordano technique which is different (copper tube + aluminum fins).
My current absorbers are Martell-Catala (fine copper pipes taken in a weaving of copper wires).

[Christophe]

Your photo is a test in progress? Do you want to enlarge your solar collector?

I'm not sure that the copper absorber part is wise:

a) it will cost a fortune at the current copper price
b) it will weigh quite heavy!
c) thermally it's probably not the ideal

For our sensors, we will be working on them in a few weeks, so I could tell you more ... so far I have never "touched" them here is a photo "close":

[Cuicui]

Your photo is a test in progress? Do you want to enlarge your solar collector?

I am trying to retype the family home in Alsace 140 km from home. My father had a solar water heater installed (6 m2 Glycol Sensors). I would like to install in addition a solar roof running with ordinary water and can be connected to the central heating (gas boiler) to keep the house frost free. I do not want to dismount my Vosges installation to take him to Alsace. The photo is an essay made quickly.
I happily have an old stock of copper sheet.
If not, what material would you see for an absorber?

[povrich]

Hello,
It is this damn CO2 who m'inqiète, especially for the young, because me, I will not see the disaster.
I wonder if we could not make methane or methanol from CO2 and H2 that we would manufacture from solar and wind power, which would be a means of storing H2. So CO2 + H2 ---> CH4 is it possible, simple and low cost. This would also be interesting because I believe that CH4 is very energetic, so for a given energy, we would make less CO2, which could be recycled. If it is easy to recover it from the cars, for the power plants, no problem, we know how to recover it.
Since Capt Malo ... also comes on this forumhe will probably have an answer.

[I Citro]

Copper is an ideal material for the realization of sensors ...

It is important to blacken it as much as possible on a layer as thin as possible, stable and perfectly matt.

The absorber / transfer pipe junction is also very important.
As mentioned above, tin soldering decreases the yield. It is preferable to make this weld without filler metal.
Ultrasonic welding allows this ...

The yields are then better than for sensors having absorbers of a different nature than the transfer tubes, especially if the absorbers are not secured to the tubes (clipped or crimped, for example).

[Christophe]

Uh and the thermal inertia Citro?

[Cuicui]

Uh and thermal inertia

Can you be more specific ?

[I Citro]

Uh and thermal inertia

Can you be more specific ?

With the mass of copper represented in your photo, it will take some time for your "absorber" to transmit its calories to the tube ...

Normally absorbers have very low thickness (less than 5 / 10e mm).

[Cuicui]

Uh and thermal inertia

Can you be more specific ?

With the mass of copper shown in your photo, it will take some time for your "absorber" to transmit its calories to the tube ... Normally, the absorbers have very low thicknesses (less than 5 / 10th of a mm).

I do with what I have (I do not have a rolling mill to thin my copper sheet). Given the good thermal conductivity of copper, I do not worry about the transmission of heat to the tube.
My problem is to find a way to ensure a good contact between the sheet and the tube. The ideal would be to pass welding, by clipping the fins on the sheet (Giordano technique) or by tightening the sheet against the tube with 2 slats.
In hot countries we could make economic sensors with recycling equipment (scrap metal tube and tin plate fins).

[Cuicui]

In hot countries we could make economic sensors with recycling equipment (scrap metal tube and tin plate fins).

Another idea for rustic absorbers: cut along the length of the empty cans as a cylindrical mirror, put them on a steel tube as absorbers. Advantage: no welding, heat concentration for higher temperatures.