Q: Can solar energy save you money?
A: Yes! Solartech has found around a 3-6 year payback period for most type of heating applications.
Q: Can solar work during cold weather?
A: Yes! Unlike older flat collectors, the vacuum in the tube collectors trap the heat and allow it to be unaffected by extreme cold temperatures.
Q: What is the life expectancy of the system?
A: To be honest, no one knows the life expectancy on this system. We do know, however, that these systems have been installed in other countries for over 20 years now.
Q: What is the difference between the tube collectors and the flat collectors?
A: Both types of collectors will efficiently create the thermal energy. The tubes is more of a “well rounded” collector because where the flat panel has no vacuum and will lose heat in the wintertime, the tubes will not. Another nice thing about the tubes is, because they are round, they can pick up the maximum solar rays when the sun is at any position in the sky. The flat panel is capable of only picking up the max solar rays when the sun is directly above it.
Q: Is there any maintenance to a solar system?
A: Not really. The only thing that really needs to be done is to make sure that the bulbs are clean. If there is any dirt, dust, or any other residue that is on the bulbs, it will take away from the efficiency of the collector. Just get a hose and spay down and then wipe away any of the buildup on the bulbs.
Q: What kind of temperature can a solar system produce?
A: Currently, we have seen temperatures reach up to 380º F. This is not the maximum temperature that it can perform, it is the max that we allow it to reach because it will start to boil our mixture if we don’t.
Q: If the bulbs are made of glass, wouldn’t they break easily?
A: With glass, there is strength in a circle. There have been many tests performed on these glass tubes and it has been determined that it can withstand up to a hail ball at the size of 1-1/4”. That size would be about the size of golf balls. Videos of the tests are available on youtube under “tube collector tests.”
"In any given hour, more energy from the sun reaches Earth then is used by the whole human population in any given year." - Bill McKibben, National Geographic
"The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined." - Energy From The Sun, http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Solartech, founded in 2007 by James Blevins, is a company that excels in research & development of solar technology. Currently, Solartech is working with Ball State University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on several patents for the solar community.
Q: Can solar work during cold weather?
A: Yes! Unlike older flat collectors, the vacuum in the tube collectors trap the heat and allow it to be unaffected by extreme cold temperatures.
Solar Thermal Technology is made of a tube collector, collection tank, controller panel and usually a boiler and/or heat pump. The tube collector is a vacuum tube that absorbs the UV light and turns it into heat