| # TECHNICAL
INFORMATION >> PERFORMANCE INFORMATION |
| What does solar performance mean?
| Winter Performance | Comparison
Data |
| Comparison Data Spreadsheet
| Winter Performance in FOG | Testing |
| Performance FAQ sheet |
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| What does solar
performance mean? |
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| Solar performance on a hot water system
is a measure of the total performance of all aspects of the design.
It includes the collector type and choice, the pipe work, the insulation
standard and the settings of the system. No one part can be taken
in isolation. It is very possible to take a good component and make
it underperform. This section is going to help you as a distributor,
installer or consumer understand the important aspects of Solar system
design. We work with all installers directly to help them design systems
for heating, cooling & hot water into existing or new innovative
designed buildings. Our MPPTt technology patents are important in
making our systems perform the best. |
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| Winter Performance
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In winter, conventional solar thermal collectors are severely
limited by their old fashioned designs. The latest Direct Flow
Non Metal Transfer technology excels at delivering higher efficiency
per sqm of collector. This new technology excels when solar energy
is difficult to obtain such as winter time but also if your climate
struggles with cloud, wind or rain at any time of the year. This
technology is now available at an affordable price from Surface
Power and is the single largest growth area in solar thermal.
| The performance
of our solar systems in summer is unbeatable; BUT
to really see if a solar system is
capable of high performance, you need to see how it performs
in winter. Below are examples from customer systems
and how they performed in winter 2009 - Ireland specific. (Please
note that this winter was one of the wettest on record since
1860 (valencia) when first records began with poor light levels
associated with large amounts of rain cloud. |
| Date |
Month |
Collector
temp |
Weather
(www.met.ie) |
Picture |
| 13/09/2009
|
Sept |
95C
(203F) |
Sunshine,
max 21C |
Picture |
| 25/10/2009 |
Oct |
54C
(129F) |
Cloudy
& Rain |
Picture |
| 31/10/2009
|
Oct |
56C
(133F) |
Cloudy
& Rain |
Picture |
| 8/11/2009
|
Nov |
74C
(165F) |
Cloudy
& Rain |
Picture |
| 28/11/2009
|
Nov |
29C
(84F) |
Dense
Fog, Dark, freezing |
Picture |
| 29/11/2009
|
Nov |
44C
(111F) |
Cloudy
with sunny breaks
|
Picture |
| 30/11/2009
|
Nov |
58C
(137F) |
Sunny/thin
cloud/frosty |
Picture |
| 10/12/2009 |
Dec |
48C
(119F) |
Sunny/thin
cloud/hard frost |
Picture |
| 10/12/2009 |
Dec |
55C
(131F) |
Sunny/thin
cloud/hard frost |
Picture |
| 12/12/2009 |
Dec |
63C(145F) |
Sunny/thin
cloud/hard frost |
|
| 13/12/2009 |
Dec |
65C(149F) |
Sunny/thin
cloud/hard frost |
|
| 15/12/2009 |
Dec |
67C(152F) |
Sunny/thin
cloud/hard frost |
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| Please note, tank
temperatures on the december solar readings above submitted
to us by customers were in excess of 46C (114F), that means
that Surface Power solar systems achieved 100% of the daily
hot water requirements 6 days from the shortest day of the year. |
| Pictures were taken at random times
of the day, usually lunchtime. Temps above may not be the max
for the day. |
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| Comparison Data
- NEW May 2011 |
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Surface Power has just received more government certification
confirmation of its superior system performance:
- In new tests (may 2011):
- Surface Power achieved up to 195% of the output per m/day when
compared to the leading CPC Vacuum collector.
- Surface Power achieved up to 430% of the output per m/day when
compared to the leading Flat Plate collector.
- Surface Power achieved up to 2,200% of the output per day when
compared to one of the USA's leading collectors.
- In Sept 2010: Surface Power received certification of 783 kWhrs/m2/yr
as part of the ENERGY STAR certification process.
- (This is the highest public known solar thermal panel certification
for HOT WATER production)
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This is old OLD 2008 (but valid): The SP501 when compared to
52 of the worlds leading solar keymark collectors ourperformed
all of them in a detailsed comparison study. This study covered
both winter and summer conditions. It is worth noting that Direct
Flow Non Metal Transfer solar will always produce more heat
than conventional vacuum or flat plate collectors. See the results
of a comparison of the SP501 with the top collectors on the
market.
Download Here
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| Solar Hot Water
Performance in Winter FOG |
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On the 29th of Nov, 2009, Ireland had a blanket of deep fog
which had descended on the country all day with very low visibility
and light levels. Outside temperatures were approx. 0C-2C (32F-35F),
just above freezing. We received many comments, videos and phone
pictures from customers showing their solar systems working.
Collector temperatures reported between 23C-29C (73F-84F) depending
on the system installed. We will publish some of the data here
in a table format just to highlight our customers experiences.
| 28/11/2009 Nov |
Dark, cold, foggy winters
day |
Weather pictures (
at 1pm)
|
| Max collector temps reported |
23C-29C - (73F-84F) |
Picture
1 |
| Outside air temperature |
0C-2C - (32F-35F) |
Picture
2 |
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|
Picture
3 |
| If you are sending us pictures
from your phone, please ensure the quality setting is good
enough and we may publish them. |
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UK (02034) 115 312.