How It Works
Our Skyreach solar systems use evacuated tube, heat pipe collectors which we believe are the most efficient type of solar collector currently available on the market. So how do they work?
The outer tube is made from tough borosilicate glass which has been tested for hail and impact resistance. It contains a dark film called a selective surface which absorbs energy from the sun without causing reflection. This energy is trapped in the tube and transferred to the inner heat pipe in the centre.
This copper heatpipe is hollow and vacuum sealed. It contains a small amount of heat transfer fluid that, because of the vacuum, boils at a very low temperature (around 30 degrees C). As the liquid boils it rises up the heat pipe, condensing at the end and transferring heat into the collector manifold before condensing. It then returns back down the pipe and the process is continuously repeated in rapid succession, thereby heating the domestic water passing through the manifold unit.