“China is a Very Good Market for Flat Plate Collectors”
Solarthermalworld.org spoke with Jiao Qingtai, vice president of the Chinese collector manufacturer Sunrain Solar Energy Co., at the Intersolar in Munich at the end of May about the advantages and disadvantages of vacuum tube versus flat plate collectors. Photo: Bärbel Epp
“Sunrain is among the five biggest vacuum tube collector manufacturers in China with an annual amount of square metres of more than 2 million. Even so we decided to start producing flat plate collectors last year, due to the dominance of this technology on the global market except China.
Both technologies have advantages and disadvantages.
Pros: vacuum tubes
- efficiency is high in winter or in cold areas
- widely used – not only for hot water; could be also used for space heating and solar cooling
- good freezing resistance
- hi-tech product
Cons: vacuum tubes
- glass tubes are not tempered, breakage by sudden attacks
- in some cases installation is more complex than the one of flat plate collectors
Pros: flat plate collectors
- easy to install
- easy to integrate into the building
- safer because of tempered glass as the cover
Cons: flat plate collectors
- efficiency is low in winter or in cold areas
- low freezing resistance
In China, flat plate collectors are welcome by the government officers and the architectures and engineers. Therefore I think that China is a very good market for flat plate collectors and the market will grow in the future. “
Further information:
http://www.sunrain.com
