Solar Water Heater
Vacuum Tube System
Stock on this item is limited. Freight transit or local pickup is the only option. Please email us for freight quotes and availability.
Note: Picture shows the 30 tube unit. The 15 tube unit is half as wide and has half the tubes.

These are the most efficient solar water heaters on the market. Let's start off by explaining why.

There are 3 forms of heat transfer.
1. Conduction
when two objects come into contact, heat transfers between the two surfaces. This is based on the type of materials and contact surface area. copper is without question, the fastest heat conducting material. These solar water heaters use copper tubing to transmit heat from the tubes to the water manifold, which is then collected by the water and then pumped to your water tank.

2. Convection
Convective heat transfer is caused by the flow of a fluid over an object. there is convection caused when the water is pumped through the solar collectors, enabling fast heat transfer and low pumping time. what about the wind blowing over the solar collector? No worry. These are vacuum tubes. The convection must occur directly on the object to cause heat transfer. Wind cannot take any heat out of the system since the vacuum tubes have a void between the copper tubing and the outside glass.

3. Radiation
Radiation occurs all the time with any object. Heat can travel through space through radiation. There's no stopping it. The good news is that the radiation coming out of the solar collectors is extremely minimal, and the radiation coming in from the sun is extremely high due to the black shading of the vacuum tubes and aluminum inserts.

This is the highest of quality solar collector you can get. Copper, aluminum, vacuum tubes.

How exactly does it work?
Radiation from the sun beams into the dark solar collectors. sunlight easily passes through glass, but as soon as it bounces off of something that isn't glass, it turns into infrared / heat. this heat is  trapped into the tubes due to the vacuum, and is forced to conduct into the copper tubes in the center. the heat then travels up the solar tube and into the manifold. Water passes through this manifold, coming into contact with the metal in which the copper tubes are touching. Heat then transfers to the water through conduction and convection. There is very little heat loss since the manifold is insulated well with polyurethane foam.

Generally, these solar collectors are used in a closed system. They can be used year-round if a water/antifreeze mixture is used. to heat your potable water, you just simply need to run the hot fluid from the solar collectors through a heat exchanger to your water tank, or a special water tank which has a heat exchanger build into it. this is the most efficient way to acquire free, efficient heat.

These solar tubes are made to last. they usually last an easy 10 to 20 years and pay for themselves within 2. They can also withstand extreme weather bombardment. even if one tube breaks, the system will not fail as the water is kept separate from the tubes. the broke tube will also continue to function, it will just lose heat to the surroundings since the vacuum is no longer there.

the efficiency of this system is approx. 90%. A 15 tube unit gets about 1875 BTU/hour or 550 watts. a 30 tube unit gets about 3800 BTU/hour or 1100 watts. the system also collects heat even when the clouds are out since some wavelengths of light pass right through them!

What's included in this listing?

Solar Water Collector Manifold
Manifold in which solar tubes connect into. Manifold has a 1/2" NPT inlet/outlet for fluid flow. Material is aluminum with polyurethane insulation.

15 solar Vacuum tubes (Type: T)
Solar vacuum tubes include the vacuum tube made of glass, heat collector, copper tubing for transferring heat to the manifold, and aluminum sheets to aid in heat transfer within the tubes.

Mounting Brackets
Mounting brackets for roof installation along with the necessary screws and vacuum tube holders.

Detailed instructions for installation are included.

Solar Heaters Stats Table

Number of Tubes	15
Able to dissemble?	yes
Technology	Heat Pipe
Total Length	1.65 m
Total Width	1.9 m
Gross Absorb Area	3.14 m 2
Aperture Area	2.52 m 2
Surface Absorber	2.18 m 2
Operation Pressure	8 bar / 116 psi
Entry Connector Size	1/2" Male NPT
Diameter of Condenser	24 mm
Material of Manifold	Anodized Aluminum 2mm
Material of Heat pipe and manifold Head	TU1 Copper
Insulation of Manifold	Polyurethane
Slot for Thermal Sensor	yes
Cold Resistance	-30
Liquid Capacity	1.4 Liters
Total Weight	39 kg / 85.8 lb
Max Flow Rate	600 L/minute
Stagnation Temperature	300 C / 572 F
EN 12975 (Solar Keymark)	yes
Efficiency	77%
Hail Resistence	=<25
Diameter of Tubes	58 mm / 2.28 in
Glass Quality	Borosilicate / 3.3 (T=0.91)
Thickness of Glass	1.7 mm / .07 in
Vacuum degree	3x10 -3 Pa
Absorb Rate	=>94%
Reflecting Emission	<0.06
Coating Material	SS-C/Cu

What else will I need?
This depends on your application:
- water tank, preferrably with a built in heat exchanger
- water pump (we sell diaphragm pumps which work perfectly)
-Controller for activating pump when solar collector has hotter fluids than the water tank
-expansion tank to prevent pressure build-up
-hose and pipe insulation
-Stand for obtaining a perfect angle for facing the sun (we can build one for you if need be)