Apricus ET Vs Flat Plates
Apricus ET Vs Flat Plates
Apricus ET Vs Flat Plates
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Delta-T oC (collector-ambient)
Flat Plate-Gross
Apricus-Gross
Flat Plate-Absorber
Apricus-Absorber
So by manipulating which surface area is used, it is possible to show a flat plate being almost twice as
efficient as evacuated tube, or considerably lower. It is therefore important that the whole picture is
understood so a realistic comparison can be made.
Looking at either the gross or absorber area graph it can be seen there is a significant difference in the
shape of the lines. Due to the higher heat loss of the flat plate the curve drops off as the temperature
differential increases. At temperatures of around 100oC the efficiency of a flat plate is virtually zero while an
Apricus evacuated tube collector can still be converting 40+% of available sunlight into heat energy (based
on absorber area). For this reason evacuated tube collectors are required for any applications requiring
higher temperatures.
The superior insulation properties of the evacuated tubes are also the reason that the performance in cold
regions is far better.
Copyright 2012 - Apricus Inc.
Delivered by Apricus
www.apricus.com
1-877-458-2634
Flat Plate
Thermomax
Apricus
Notice the massive difference in the transversal curves (BLUE). For flat plates both transversal and
longitudinal are the same, which is pretty close to a cosine curve. Please note that NOT ALL evacuated
tubes have this positive IAM curve. Evacuated tubes that have a flat absorber have similar tracking curves
(IAM) to flat plates. This is displayed in the middle graph, the Thermomax transversal curve is the same as
the flat plate, but is shows as straight lines because they have only taken one value at 50deg.
Apricus collectors have a round absorber which passively tracks the sun and thus provides more stable heat
output from mid morning to mid afternoon. Software based output modeling comparing the Apricus collector
with a flat plate IAM curve and the real passive tracking IAM curve an average daily output difference of
25% was obtained. This highlights the importance of passive tracking, and also explains that while some
collectors may have better efficiency curves than the Apricus AP-30, once IAM output is considered the
Apricus AP-30 output is greater.
Delivered by Apricus
www.apricus.com
1-877-458-2634
Morning
Apricus*
Flat Plate*
% difference
C (20oC)
D (50oC)
C (20oC)
D (50oC)
C (20oC)
D (50oC)
CLEAR
14,367 Btu
12,057 Btu
11,373 Btu
6,863 Btu
26%
76%
MILDLY CLOUDY
10,349 Btu
8,105 Btu
7,746 Btu
3,628 Btu
34%
123%
CLOUDY
6,363 Btu
4,153 Btu
4,216 Btu
784 Btu
51%
429%
Domestic hot water production will result in the collector operating in both the C and D categories, so it may
be valid to take an average of the two categories to get more realistic comparison.
Clear = 51%
Mildly Cloudy = 79%
Cloudy = 240%
So can be seen that there is a significant difference in heat output/m2 aperture area particularly at the high
temps (Category D).
Copyright 2012 - Apricus Inc.
Delivered by Apricus
www.apricus.com
1-877-458-2634
Delivered by Apricus
www.apricus.com
1-877-458-2634
Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.
Alternative Proxies: