Heat exchangers from the company Talum Izparilniki are built into modern vacuum solar collectors (SC), the first ones of such kind in Slovenia. As a participating development partner and supplier of roll-bond absorbers for vacuum tube solar collectors, we joined the pilot project InfraSUN, the holder of which is the Institute “Jožef Stefan” (IJS) from Ljubljana.
The InfraSUN project is included in the international project EMILIE, which aims to stimulate the innovative use of solar energy. It is based on the introduction of solar heating and cooling and the display of models for their introduction in terms of “the sun as an infrastructure”. The solar collector field, built on the roof of the IJS, is the result of a research, engineering and innovative work by both partners and is actually a living laboratory that incorporates modern technologies using solar energy.
The thermal system of solar collectors, consisting of 648 vacuum tubes made by the company Talum Izparilniki, occupies 200 square meters of the flat roof of the building C at the Institute “Jožef Stefan” and is intended for heating and cooling the building with solar energy. In order to improve overall energy efficiency, a heat recovery system is added to the system. The advantages of solar cooling are in the correlation between energy supply and cooling needs. When the sun source is the strongest, the need for cooling is the highest.
The technology of solar heating and cooling could play a more important role in the future, especially in district heating systems, because it offers high efficiency, but it is also compatible with most conventional heating methods. This technology also has great potential in reducing exposure and sensitivity to energy price fluctuations, as most of the costs arise in the initial investment phase, while operating costs are minimal.
More about the project: http://www.emilieproject.eu/eng/pilot-actions/infrasun.aspx
Figure 1: Field of vacuum solar collectors on the roof of building C on the Institute “Jožef Stefan”
Figure 2: Vacuum tube solar collectors (SC)
Figure 3: Roll-bond absorbers, produced in Talum Izparilniki, built in vacuum tube solar collectors