Hills Solar Esteem
Evacuated Tube Technology
Most solar hot water systems use old fashioned flat-plate collector technology which has been around since the 1970s. It works but there is a longer lasting, more efficient, better looking alternative: Hills Solar Esteem Evacuated Tubes. Hills Solar Esteem hot water systems use state-of-the-art technology based on evacuated glass tubes and highly efficient heat transfer techniques.
The Science
Evacuated Tube technology delivers significantly better performance than traditional absorbers on the market today. Their advanced design incorporates tubes that consist of two layers of high quality borosilicate glass with a vacuum layer between them. This vacuum acts like a thermos flask, retaining up to 97% of the thermal energy, resulting in hugely increased efficiency.
The Sun's thermal energy is then transferred to the manifold via the heat pipe located inside each tube. The small amount of evaporative liquid in each tube is super heated by the Sun's energy and forms a vapour. The vapour rises to the top of each pipe; this heat is then transferred to the water flowing through the manifold. The heated water is then returned to the tank.
Hills Solar Evacuated Tubes are frost tolerant and have passed the AS/NZ 2712:2007 Standards for both hail and freeze resistance. Hills Solar Esteem Hot Water Systems have passed the freeze test to 15°C without the need for a heat exchanger or glycol.
Collect more sunshine
A key benefit of the Evacuated Tubes used in Hills Solar Esteem hot water systems is that they are round. Therefore the tubes are always facing the sun and can absorb more of the sun's energy.
In contrast, old fashioned flat-plate collectors only achieve their maximum efficiency in the middle of the day. A great deal of the sun's energy is simply reflected off the flat glass panels, especially in the morning and afternoon. The cylindrical design of the tubes ensures effective collection of the Sun's thermal energy throughout the day.
