How do Parabolic Solar Concentrators compare to Solar Trough technology?

While solar trough systems are the primary choice of industrial solar farms, such as those currently under development throughout the western United States and other countries, this form of renewable energy generation cannot compete when compared to the efficiency of parabolic solar concentrators. This is especially true when parabolic solar concentrators are used as a primary energy source for home or business solar hot water production.

Solar trough systems (which are also known as line-focus collectors) consist of rows (or troughs) of collectors which are coated in a highly reflective material. A tube containing oil runs down the center of each trough, and is heated to temperatures in excess of 400 Celsius by the concentrated rays of the sun. The heat from the oil is used to produce steam, which is in turn used to power a turbine-generator or other machinery to produce electricity.

While solar trough systems are undoubtedly highly efficient at what they are designed to do, the sheer number needed to produce electricity can often run into the thousands of units. When these factors are coupled with the large size of each unit and their less than spectacular energy efficiency, it makes the use of solar trough systems as an effective home or industrial alternative-energy-source for solar hot water production extremely limited - especially when compared against the more efficient parabolic concentrator, like the SolarBeam

Parabolic dish solar concentrators are the most powerful type of solar collector available today and are perfectly suited to home and business solar hot water  generation due to their comparatively small size and high efficiency as an energy collector. The advantage to the unit’s smaller size and footprint is that it can usually be placed in areas with limited space (such as rooftops and back gardens), making it a far more versatile system than the far larger solar trough system.

The parabolic dish system consists of a solar collector (shaped somewhat like a satellite dish or inverted umbrella) which is lined with reflective material which capture the sun’s rays concentrating the energy onto an absorber which is set at the focal point of the dish. While other systems suffer from low efficiency due to their inability to track the sun’s progress across the sky, parabolic dish systems can maintain a constant supply of solar hot water because they employ a computerized tracking system. This tracking system allows the dish to follow the sun’s course throughout the day, ensuring that the parabolic dish is always positioned to collect the maximum amount of energy.

 It’s this consistency, efficiency and reliability which make parabolic dish systems the perfect choice for solar hot water production.

Where can solar hot water systems are used for commercial applications?

Solar heating systems are an economical (and green) technology that is rapidly becoming recognized as a viable alternative to conventional energy suppliers. Nowhere is this trend more prevalent than in the adoption of solar heating systems to provide continuous hot water production for use within commercial installations.

An efficient commercial solar heating system can provide up to 80% of the hot water for an average business which currently relies on electricity or gas to produce their hot water supply. An 80% cost reduction in any area can have a significant impact on the bottom line of any business, especially when the current economic climate is taken into consideration.

Any company considering switching from their current energy provider to a solar based energy supply will need to decide which form of solar power solution best suits their company’s solar heating needs. While there are many systems to choose from, the most efficient and cost effective solution is the parabolic-dish solar concentrator.

As the most powerful type of solar collector available on the market today, the compact size and high efficiency of a parabolic-dish solar concentrator, along with its comparatively low cost compared to other solutions, makes this particular system perfect for deployment in commercial installations. The relatively small footprint and ease of installation (some systems, such as SolarBeam Concentrator, takes just 2 days to completely install) means that it can be sited in areas with limited space, such as rooftops (only flat roofs) and small plots of land adjacent to buildings.

A parabolic-concentrator solar heating system collects the energy of the sun and concentrates the gathered energy onto an absorber which uses the collected energy to heat a heat-transfer fluid which in-turn heats the water. Alternatively, the water to be heated flows through tubes attached to the absorber and gathers heat directly from it. The hot water is then stored in the same way as it would have been if it was heated via conventional methods. A single parabolic-dish solar concentrator will take just 3 hours to heat a 228 liter hot-water tank from 12 degrees C to 90 degrees C.

While the cost of installing solar heating systems has been prohibitively high in the past, the recent move towards renewable energy and rapid advancements in solar technology has seen a decrease in cost. Coupled with financial incentives and tax breaks offered by both federal and local level government, the cost of switching to solar heating has never been as attractive as it currently is.

Solar heating systems are most economical when utilized by facilities which require a year-round supply of hot water, with a continuous weekly demand and where the cost of conventionally heating water is prohibitively high.

The SolarBeam is currently being tested for certification by SRCC and Solar Keymark for rebates.