Solar Energy Management turns up the heat in the Hudson Valley

Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 06:15 Written by GHV Editorial Tuesday, 01 September 2009 16:33

Many people believe that solar energy cannot work efficiently in states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Why? Because the winters are long and cold, days are short and often it is cloudy and overcast for weeks at a time. "That belief is not true", says Carl Floor, the Senior Vice President and CEO of Solar Energy Management Inc. That's because his company is successfully providing efficient and cost effective solar energy solutions to Hudson Valley homes via installations of "heat pipe evacuated systems".

Heat Pipe Evacuated Systems are a type of solar energy collection system that is considered one of the most efficient ways to harness the sun's energy. It's a simple concept which uses solar heating pipes and the processes of evaporation and condensation. The heat pipes are normally hollow copper tubes that contain a small amount of liquid. As the liquid is heated by the sun's rays, it boils and evaporates into a gas vapor, rising up the pipe and condensing in the bulb at the end of the pipe. When the vapor cools, it condenses and these constantly repeating processes are what generate the energy BTU's.

"Solar heat pipes differ from flat plate solar collectors, or panels, because they are able to harness the UV rays even when there's a hazy overcast" says Floor. "Although efficiency may diminish under these conditions, studies show that evacuated tube collectors will produce more BTU's than flat plate collectors."

One recent example of this is was at a Solar Energy Management installation at John Coda and Son's Plumbing Supply in Sparrowbush. Three days after the install, the weather turned overcast. Owner Bill Coda said "It was raining out and the system was on, I couldn't believe it." Solar Energy Management demonstrated to Coda and his staff just how hot a single tube could get. "We put a tube outside at 10 am and by 12 noon it reached 265 F degrees", said Floor. "We maxed out at 366 F degrees at 4:45 pm."

"Our solar heating installation in Bloomingburg of 6 evacuated tube collectors generates up to 180,000 BTU's daily and consistently achieved temperatures of 170 F all winter long.", continues Floor. "The higher temperatures that can be achieved with evacuated tube collectors enables us to provide more BTU's than with flat plat collectors, making it possible to provide supplemental space heating in addition to domestic hot water. This is something that was once considered unavailable in the north east."

Affordable Technology

When solar tube style collectors first came onto the market, like most emerging technologies, the tubes were very expensive to produce, which made them out of reach for the average consumer. However, innovative product design and lower manufacturing costs have made these solar collectors very affordable, which is good news for consumers and installers alike. This means that as Solar Energy Management Inc. continues to gain momentum, and as Hudson Valley families begin to seek more economic and earth friendly energy sources, we should be seeing a lot more of these Solar Heat Pipe evacuated systems installed on rooftops across the region.