Solar Panels- which type

House2011

Hi,
I want to install solar panels and was wondering if flat o rtube are best. Does anyone have any experience with them on their own house?
Also, which brand are good?
And would you recomend your installer. I am looking for someone in Galway/Mayo area.
Thanks.

Do-more

In the absence of anyone better qualified to answer you I will try to give you my non-expert opinion on this.

If you compare output per m2 of collector area evacuated tubes will give you a higher output than flat panels.

Also because of the vacuum, tubes will give you better output in cold sunny weather, but in reality you need huge oversized arrays to produce any quantity of hot water in the winter. With panels sized to give you 100% of normal demand in summer time you will get very little output in winter.

It used to be the case that flat panels were a lot cheaper than tubes so € for € you could put up more m2 of flat panels and make up for the lower output that way, but I think the price gap has reduced a lot now so tubes are the better buy in output/€ cost.

I think the only real reason for installing flat panels these days is that they can blend in a lot better than tubes which can stick out a bit like a sore thumb if you have to put them to the front of the house.

maddragon

Flat plate are also more robust and the vacuum in the tubes can be compromised. Tubes are probably a better option overall but please buy European or even Turkish equipment. Stay away from Chinese rubbish or more worryingly, Chinese gear wrongly labelled as being made in Europe.

quentingargan

maddragon wrote: »

Stay away from Chinese rubbish or more worryingly, Chinese gear wrongly labelled as being made in Europe.

Thats a bit of a sweeping judgement IMHO. I've visited factories in China and while some are poor enough, most of them have superb quality control in this sector. If they have valid certification, they can have a lot of advantages over other vacuum systems - specifically that the tubes are a lot cheaper and easier to replace, as they rely on a very simple thermos flask system which is separate from the heat pipe.

Vacuums will be compromised eventually on any vacuum system, and it is a question then of the replacement cost and ease of replacement. Since most Chinese systems are the same size, you aren't married to one brand.

There are also some misunderstandings about the performance of the Chinese flask system which don't take into account IAM. Overall they are about as efficient. But buy from a reliable supplier and be sure that the panel you get is the one that is certified.

80% of all solar panels in the world are made in China. I don't think you can dismiss them out of hand...

Franticfrank

Completely agree with the post above. I did some work with German energy companies and there was quite alot of respect for the Chinese solar industry. The standard's gotten so high now that the Germans are struggling to compete, even from a quality perspective.

House2011

Thanks for all the replies. I'll do some more research into it.

PeteHeat

House2011 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I'll do some more research into it.

You also have the option of buying a product made in ireland that comes with an extended 20 year warranty when installed by one of their approved installers.

I would be surprised if They don't have an approved installer in your area.

Also what Quentin said.

.

peter65

Hard to beat thermomax tubes. I installed them and have a 20 year warranty with them. Go for vacuum tubes. They have the built in high temp regulator in each tube, which helps to overcome the issue of too much water being heated and not getting used