Energy

Vacuum-pipe collectors

Some thermal solar panels are called vacuum-pipe collectors as they are made of special glass vacuum pipes, covered by a layer that transforms the sun light into heat. In this case the heat absorber has a round shape and is hosted inside the pipe vacuum cavity: in this way the fluid that carries the heat evaporates, and by transmitting the heat to the top part of the pipe, it condenses and goes back to the bottom. Differently from plate panels, this type of vacuum collectors does not carry the heat (as air is the best insulator), therefore there is no loss and its performance is higher. These collectors need a smaller exposure surface with respect to the other panels and are able to retain the accumulated heat also in very tough weather conditions, guaranteeing a high and constant performance during the whole year. For these reasons they can be used also with a medium-low sun or under particularly tough weather conditions in winter, like on high mountains or in northern countries.