DIY solar vacuum tube water heater manifold

[midgety1]

cool

[aspiringbodhisattva]

Fantastic video. Can I ask: what solar pump do you have working with that manifold?

[1BustedMyth]

Great video.

I'm told that these tubes are being manufactured to a lower set of specs then the original design. If made from spec they will collect around twice as much energy.

the original unit is good for around 300 C+

( I had a phone call with the original designer of "Solar Tube" 5/11)

Food for thought Circa 1980 Sydney

Maybe also of interest was a prototype mini solar thermal unit using evac tubes, about <6msq with around 2kw output or electricity.

(Origine Energy) circa 1995 Adelaide

[CleanRepublic]

@1BustedMyth These are still manufactured at the same high quality as ever. Thanks.

[1BustedMyth]

@CleanRepublic, You may have mis understood my comment. I was not running them down, these are great units at a great price. I made the comment to open dialogue for OTHER high performance applications.

The scientist who developed the first one lives 8km from me! the Chinese units are made under lic and ARE NOT to the original specs.

You are talking solar hot water, I am talking other applications.

The ORIGINAL designer has personaly told me!

I take it you are pushing a product?

[1BustedMyth]

@CleanRepublic, For solar hot water, what you have is an excellent product at an excellent price and it is built to that price.

These are ALL copies of "Solar Tube" developed here and Licensed to Chinese manufacturers.

NOBODY on the planet has made the original spec product since the 1980's !

Only a handfull of original units still exist. i know because I am trying to get my hands on one!

Give a little respect to the people who developed it !

So sorry but you are wrong, read between the lines

[ajsgrs]

How well does the the PVC perform with the heat? Any stats or figures on the amount of heat you can get with the system in this fashion?

[CleanRepublic]

@ajsgrs We'll hopefully will be releasing some more detailed info on that soon. We'll post it at our website. Thanks.

[Kntryhart]

@ajsgrs My concern is if the pump fails, temperatures in the manifold can exceed 300 degrees. PVC is no match for those temps. I personally have had PVC melt at much lower temps! Try is for yourself; take a PVC fitting and place in boiling water for 5 minutes. When removed, it is like putty. Unless this is some type of special plastic, I would stay away!