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ANDREWS WATER HEATERS’ ‘SOLARFLO’ RENEWABLE ENERGY WATER HEATING SYSTEM NOW AVAILABLE WITH EVACUATED TUBE COLLECTORS

Andrews Water Heaters, UK market leader in commercial water heating solutions, has launched an evacuated tube solar collector to complement the SOLARflo renewable energy water heating package, as an alternative to the more conventional glazed flat plate collectors currently offered. Evacuated tubes can fulfill different specification requirements in terms of optimizing efficiency where surface area is limited and offering flexible installation possibilities.

Evacuated tube collectors are ideal for larger commercial water heating applications as they have a high annual, average thermal efficiency of around 83% due to the vacuum which insulates the collector’s absorber surface heat loss via convection.

SOLARflo evacuated tube collectors are available in 20 or 30 tube options with gross collector areas of 2.83m2 and 4.25m2 respectively. These supply heated
water to single coil or twin coil unvented hot water cylinders holding between 450 litres and 900 litres. Larger bespoke solutions are also available. Single coil cylinders are used to provide water pre-heated by solar energy into pipework
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supplying a direct fired storage water heater like the Andrews MAXXflo. Twin coil cylinders, on the other hand, are designed for use with a commercial boiler installation such as the Potterton Commercial Paramount two or Eurocondense two.

Evacuated tube collectors require a lower surface area of collector array per litre of stored water which is useful where roof space is limited, in comparison with the output required. For example, a 450 litre cylinder requires 4 glazed flat plate collectors, with a gross collector area of 10.2m2 or 2 evacuated tube collectors, having a gross collector area of 5.7m2. Comparative data for the largest 900 litre cylinder are 7 flat plate collectors with a gross collector area of 17.9m2 or 3 evacuated tube collectors with a gross area of 12.8m2.

SOLARflo evacuated tubes are of the direct flow type, which allows the collectors to be positioned flat on a roof or vertically on a façade, offering increased installation in locations which may be unsuitable for flat plate collectors. In addition, the evacuated tubes may be rotated by +/- 25o, optimizing their position relative to due South in order to gain maximum advantage from solar irradiation.

Solar collectors comprising evacuated tubes are relatively easy to install, particularly in larger applications requiring collectors to be fixed at high level or
on a pitched roof. Support brackets, side rails and manifold are installed first, then the individual tubes are fitted into the manifold and tube clips. This method of installing components individually makes each collector very light to handle.

For maintenance purposes, tube failure may be identified using the barium disc
installed in each tube and a single tube may then be replaced. SOLARflo evacuated tubes are Solar Key Mark Approved and, in common with the glazed flat plate collectors and stainless steel unvented cylinders in the range, carry a 10 year guarantee.

The SOLARflo package offers a complete solar thermal solution for both direct-fired storage water heaters and commercial boiler applications. The package includes high quality evacuated tube or flat plate collectors, single coil or twin coil duplex stainless steel cylinders, pump station, control unit and system expansion vessel. All components are therefore available from a single source, together with Andrews Water Heaters’ renowned design guidance, technical assistance and after-sales service. Andrews Water Heaters is part of Baxi Commercial Heating.

Email: rebecca.johnson@baxigroup.com