building tomorrow's home today

Home Technology Group recently installed 2 panels of Seido-5 evacuated tube solar collectors on top of a garden shed. The heat is stored until night when it is used to help keep a greenhouse warm during the colder months.
The Seido-5 tubes use a curved absorber plate which collects heat from lower angles than the standard flat absorbers. The heat pipe which uses evacuated tubes to collect the sun's heat have many advantages over traditional flat panel type solar collectors. These tubes circulate no water so the system volume of anti-freeze solution is much less. Instead, the water runs through a header into which the tubes plug. The heat pipe design also seems to be more efficient and collects more heat than traditional flat panel collectors.