SOLAR THERMAL ISH REPORT Boiler systems becoming increasingly complex In boiler rooms the future lies with complex systems. That The step towards complete aluminium absorbers was demonstrated by this year’s ISH, the international has been taken by STI GmbH from Germany (see S&WE 3/2011, page 58) and the Polish collector sanitary and heating trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany. manufacturer Watt Sp. z o.o. from Sosnowiec (see al- so the Intersolar preview on page 134). There is also very two years, more than 200,000 visitors a trend towards using plastic as a tray material. Span- flock to Germany’s financial capital, Frankfurt ish company Orkli, S. Coop is going one step further Eam Main. However, it is not the financial world and is covering its Oksol-150 tank collector (see that draws the public but the hands-on products for S&WE 3/2011, page 56) with polymethyl meth- the sanitary and heating trade that are showcased by acrylate plastic – otherwise known as plexiglass. the manufacturers at the international ISH trade fair. A greater emphasis is being placed on quality As part of the heating industry, large numbers of when it comes to insulating solar storage tanks. solar thermal companies also come to Frankfurt to Whereas most providers previously insulated their present their latest products. However, whereas large combined storage tanks with jackets made of business seems to be booming with heating tech- soft PU foam, increasingly more are turning to some- nology as a whole, solar thermal has recently suf- what more expensive fleeces made of polyester fered a setback with what have been two rather dis- fibres, which have a better transfer coefficient. appointing years. The cost pressures are enormous, Just two years ago, a whole range of providers and the col lector manufacturers have responded by presented harmonised heat pump and solar thermal increasingly replacing copper with aluminium. This combinations. This year, only Kioto Clear Energy AG principally applies to the copper absorber sheets, from St. Veit/Glan in Austria presented such a system which are be ing increasingly pushed back. Until now, (see page 91). It is actually evident to everyone, how- laser welding was the process of choice for combin- ever, that really large savings are only made when not ing copper tubes and aluminium sheets. Bosch just heat pumps but also pellet boilers or condensing Thermotechnik GmbH is now the first large German boilers are combined with solar thermal systems. company to venture into using ultrasonic welding for This is therefore reflected in many new products, this connection. whereby control systems for the boiler room are often 82 Sun & Wind Energy 5/2011 Large crowds at Viessmann’s preconfigured for such complex systems. End cus- sonal use of the electricity generated by users. This is booth. In 2011, more than tomers can link such system controllers online with also the reason why Germany’s Stiebel Eltron GmbH 200,000 visitors once again Boiler systems becoming their computer, read out data and display the yield & Co. KG is marketing this combination, given the in- flocked to Frankfurt for the ISH. from the solar thermal system or the heat pump’s co- creased feed-in tariff in the EEG Act for personal con- Photo: Stephanie Banse efficient of performance. Different pump groups for sumption. charging and discharging storage tanks in complex So much for the most important trends from increasingly complex heating systems with several heat generators are Frankfurt. On the following pages we will be present- also available in various designs. ing the latest innovations in detail. It seems that the photovoltaics industry has also Eva Augsten, Jens-Peter Meyer discovered heat pumps. For example, German PV sys- tem provider Centrosolar appeared at the ISH for the first time. In addition to photovoltaic components, Overview on ISH trends heat pumps from its cooperation partner, Dimplex, Germany, could also be seen at its stand. The two Collectors: Aluminium wins the race page 84 companies plan to develop an overall system in time Storage tanks: Cosy sweaters for storage tanks page 88 for the Intersolar trade fair that combines heat pumps Solar controllers: Monitoring systems by smart phone page 92 with PV systems so as to increase the user’s own con- Accessories: Valves, sensors, pumps and pipes page 94 sumption of the solar electricity produced. This is all European heating companies: Solar alone is not enough page 100 because the German feed-in tariff now favours per- Special For Solar Collectors And System 20,000 m² workshop. Certificated by SOLAR KEYMARK, SRCC, ISO9001, CE. Exported to more than 50 countries. OEM / ODM orders are welcome! Haining Sunpose New Energy Co., Ltd. TEL: +86-573-87621758 87621901 FAX: +86-573-87620958 ADD: No.9, Liancheng Road, Yanguan Town, Haining, Zhejiang, China http://www.sunpose.cn E-mail: [email protected] Sun & Wind Energy 5/2011 83 SOLAR THERMAL ISH REPORT: COLLECTORS prismatic solar glass pane and the laser-welded cover strip made of anodised aluminium. A uniform fixing system was developed for the tray and frame, which Aluminium enables rapid installation with just one tool. The col- lector is simply slotted into the lower attachment rail and then screwed tight. Quick action hydraulic cou- wins the race plings are used to connect the collectors to one anoth- er, which can be installed without any tools. Has aluminium’s triumphal march in collector New collectors were also shown by the BDR construction now really got going? It very much Thermea brands, Remeha and De Dietrich. With the looks like it, whereby plastics are also playing an RemaSol NEO 230 solar collectors, the company above increasingly important role. all emphasised the efficiency, which has been im- proved through optimising the size and design. For mong the companies increasingly relying on example, η0 is now around 82.6 %. De Dietrich has aluminium is Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH from supplemented its PRO C range with its new C 250 V AGermany with its Buderus brand. For example, and C 250 H collectors. These models are also said to aluminium and plastics are the prevailing materials provide a greater output for a lower price. The simple with its new, award-winning flat-plate collector, the connection technology with plug connectors is aimed Logasol SKN 4.0. The new aluminium full-surface ab- at facilitating installation. The company utilises the sorber is welded ultrasonically to the copper harp “steamback” protection system in all its collectors, Collectors did not exactly form pipe array. The frame and rear panel are produced as which automatically switches itself on and empties the focus of this year’s ISH one piece in the form of a plastic tray, making it suit- the collectors if required. stands. able for mass production. The collector cover made of Aluminium absorbers are nothing new for Max Photo: Messe Frankfurt / Petra Welzel solar glass is bonded to the tray. The fibreglass- Weishaupt GmbH from Germany. New, on the other reinforced plastic makes the collector not just more re- hand, is its WTS-F2 flat-plate series of collectors, sistant but also relatively light, weighing just 40 kg. which the company has specially developed for roof- The profiled tray with integrated hand recesses facili- mounted and flat-roof installation. The focus is on tates transport onto the roof. properties with a high domestic water requirement, Germany’s August Brötje GmbH, which forms part such as hotels, sports facilities and apartment build- of the BDR Thermea Group, has also switched to using ings, as well as on providing heating support. Inte- aluminium with its new SolarPlan FK 25 R C (frame) grated manifolds therefore enable up to ten collectors and FK 26 W B (tray) flat-plate collectors. It is not just to be connected hydraulically in series. The collectors the frame and tray models available from June 2011 are connected with metallic seals. The full-surface ab- that are made of aluminium, so are the company’s sorbers, which have a Mirotherm coating, are con- vacuum-coated full-surface absorbers. With the tube nected to the closely wound copper meander tubing heat exchanger Brötje is staying with copper, but in- using a laser double-weld. According to the manufac- stead of using harp pipe arrays, the company has now turer, the meander principle has proved equally effec- switched to serpentine-shaped arrays that are de- tive with both high flow and low flow operation. This signed to reduce stagnation in the collectors. The col- technology also offers considerable advantages with lectors’ appearance is determined by the opaque, the bleeding. The solar glass pane is bonded to the 84 Sun & Wind Energy 5/2011 aluminium frame with permanently elastic, high qual- Hartwig Wallnöfer. Wallnöfer is still using copper and ity two-component adhesive, which is designed to markets its collectors in the high-end price segment. ensure that the inside of the collector is effectively protected against water ingress. Round collectors decorate Robust, simple and flexible – this is how Elco façade corners GmbH, the German subsidiary of the Italian Ariston Thermo Group, describes its new Solatron S 2.5 flat- APS Arosio GmbH from southern Germany showed a plate collector, which comes in roof-mounted, roof- round flat-plate collector from the Italian collector and integrated and flat-roof versions, and which can be storage tank manufacturer, Teknoenergy. The collec- installed horizontally or vertically. Quick action tor has in fact already been in the catalogue since hydraulic couplings for tool-free installation ensure 2010, but is not expected to receive its Solar Keymark that the collectors can be easily and quickly installed certification until this spring – presumably in April, ac- on the roofs and that the installation costs also re- cording to Urs Bogner, a sales manager at APS.