Solar thermal

[eaton]

What's everyone used and found good value, fitted a cheap make for some builders, 2 Vaillant kits and a Viessmann kit all expensive, got one I'm pricing and spoke to h2solar and the solar shop, anyone used them as they are half the price of vaillant

 

[ecowarm]

h2solar and good trade discounts

 

[unguided1]

secon solar are OK

 

[Logical Energy]

We found after being in the solar thermal industry since 1990,s that U pipe solar thermal offer the best value and best performance over say the heat pipe systems. I would personally recommend the pUre range of tubes. You can fit them on a wall or a flat roof without altering the performance, prices are keen too with a 15 year warranty on the tubes or peace of mind.

 

[markfxy]

U pipes are very efficient but they have had problems with the braze fracturing where the pipe enters the manifold I'll stick with heatpipes for now.

 

[Logical Energy]

U pipes are very efficient but they have had problems with the braze fracturing where the pipe enters the manifold I'll stick with heatpipes for now.

That was the case for the newer less experienced companies in the past. The key is finding a product produced by a factory with knowledge, experience and professionalism. Not all U pipe manufacturers had issues with the braze fracturing. The same could be said for when Schott had issues with tubes blowing; no-one else had those issues, but many companies caught a cold as a result. The problem is, as soon as a product is seen to be successful it spawns a plethora of 'me too' type companies wanting to jump on the bandwagon and copying the successful product. Unfortunately most do not have the expertise and/or the technical knowledge to produce to the same quality, although some can take the technology and improve on it, As with all things it pays to dig a little deeper. Quality of copper, glass manufacture, process and nature of the absorber layer are all just as important to the performance.
The pure tubes are produced in the same factory as Kloben tubes, with over 50,000 collectors installed in over 16 countries globally with 10 pcs that have failed in total. Commercial installations of 350 - 2000 sq. m installed without any issues.(of the 10 failures, 6 were down to installer error.)
Heat pipes are out-dated, you’re not offering your customers the best ROI if your offering them heat pipes only. We supply both types of evac tube collector and flat plate, U pipe is by far the most popular by those in the know..
We have confidence in what we are supplying and so do our trade customers. Feel free to get in touch when you next have an installation, I guarantee you wont use a heat pipe again once you have installed the pUre series!

 

[markfxy]

Kloben are the company that have had problems with their upipe systems if you'd dug a little deeper you would know that, you are wrong to say the heat pipe is outdated Ive recently been installing ecotubes and I'm very impressed with them with an efficiency of 98.6 %and can be installed on flat roofs, walls and either portrait or landscape.
Heat pipes are still the most popular option as most of the major manufacturers EV tubes are heat pipes. If I was choosing panels purely on Quality then it would Sonnenkraft every time.

 

[peteheat]

Kloben are the company that have had problems with their upipe systems if you'd dug a little deeper you would know that, you are wrong to say the heat pipe is outdated Ive recently been installing ecotubes and I'm very impressed with them with an efficiency of 98.6 %and can be installed on flat roofs, walls and either portrait or landscape.
Heat pipes are still the most popular option as most of the major manufacturers EV tubes are heat pipes. If I was choosing panels purely on Quality then it would Sonnenkraft every time.

Kloben unless they changed very recently are Made in China not Italy as we were led to believe, my experience with them was less than happy, still have a kit and I will not sell it, I don't need the trouble.

U tubes have their place, my preference is Ritter and Thermomax very important not to oversize U tube I've been to a few (all different brands) where they will cook the glycol on stagnmation and block the tubes.

Thermomax heat pipes are a good system they also have a snap lock that prevents the manifold overheating at 95c, the only system made relatively local (Northern Ireland) with a 20 years manufacturers backed guarantee.

The manufacturer is big enough to take a hit if they get a bad batch or faulty run of product, better than any guarantee we are expected to accept from China.