Solar Overview

Solar power is probably the cleanest, most viable form of renewable energy available and it can be used in several forms to help power your house. The solar pnaels we use are maunfactured by leading Danish solar energy producer Arcon. They have over 35 years of experience behind them and come from a country where over 20% of their overall energy produced comes from renewable enrgy sources. We are confident that these solar panels are the best available to the market and are most suited to the Irish climate.

The highly efficient collector performace is owing to:

• Sun strip collector
• Anti-reflective glass coating
• Solar glass, low iron, tempered
• 50mm mineral wool insulation
• Secondary indulation film on the underside of the glass

Certified and comply with Clear Skies.EN 12975(UK),DIN 4757/ITW(D) TUV (D) and DTI (DK)

Domestic Solar

Today's solar energy systems are very demanding with regard to the performance and efficiency of the solar collectors. With Next Gen Heat and the STU-VN, Arcon has developed a solar collector of a flat plate design that because of its innovative structure, readily lives up to these requirements under all operating conditions and as a result becomes an infallible solar power plant.

Innovative Features

Several innovative and novel features guarantee the high performance of the solar collector on the Irish market as our climate is very similar to that of Denmark.

• A SunStrip NIOX absorber capable of converting all solar radiation into heat (96%)
• Optional film layer, designed to minimise convection related heat losses in the solar panel
• Optional Newly developed solar glass with anti-reflective material which reduces reflection loses at low angles of incidence
• The simple connection system allows for fast and easy mounting of collector
• Corrosion resistant materials and the experience Arcon has gained producing solar panels during the last 30 years is the best guarantee for a long life, we guarantee our solar panels for 5 years

An Arcon solar heating system provides about 2/3 of the family's hot water on a yearly basis. In summer your oil furnace can be shut off because the Arcon solar system will heat all the hot water. Likewise the solar heating system can supplement the central heating system. An Arcon solar heating system is a quality product, which works irreproachably for many years with an estimated life of 20 to 30 years.

Domestic Systems

Arcon's domestic systems can be divided into 2 groups:

• To heat the hot water supply
• To heat the hot water supply and to add in to the house heating system

Click here to download the technical data sheet for the Arcon STU-VNA domestic solar panel in PDF format.

Approximate solar panel prices

• 5 m² solar panel costing €4700 - €5000 plus 260L dual coil copper tank €700 all prices inc vat. Less the Grant of €1250.
• 7.5 m²solar panel costing €5700 - €6000 plus 350L dual coil copper tank €980 all inc vat. Less Grant of €1500.

Industrial Solar

In Denmark and several other European countries an increasing number of large central heating systems are being built. The Danish company, Arcon has developed a concept based on large modules designed as high temperature solar collectors. With a yield typically 20-30% higher than ordinary solar panels and savings of up to 80% on the plant price, the Arcon system meets all the requirments for using solar energy in a modern hot water supplying plant. The price reduction is mainly due to time saved during installation. A well trained team can mount up to 500 m sq per day.

In Denmark, large modules have being used successfully for central heating systems for more than 10 years. All these plants include high-temperature panels designed to draw maximum energy from the sun's rays via the use of iron free glass and highly effective selective absorbers. Heat emission is reduced by heavy insulation behind the absorber and an extra protective layer inside the front glass. At an outlet temperature of, for example ,60 deg C, the effectivity of these high temperature panels is roughly double that of a traditional solar heating panel.

With the HT solar collector family Arcon has developed one of Europe's highest performing flat plate collectors, efficient enough to supply even complex installations like district heating and cooling. The range of collectors and proven performance once again highlights ARCON as a market leader in the development and manufacturing for solar collectors.

External characteristics

The flexible hydraulic volume, the flow design and the simple roof fastening system are designed to minimise installation time and the use of special tools. There is nearly no need for external pipe work due to the flow design. This reduces installation costs significantly.

Solar glass

The special solar glass is designed to concentrate the light rays penetrating the glass and hence increasing performance, as well as reducing the loss of energy on the glass surface.

The absorber

The new SunStrip NIOX absorber is coated with an absorbing nickel oxide film applied in an environment friendly vacuum coating process. The construction of the flow makes it possible to connect as many as 10 solar collectors into one row. The number of rows is unlimited.

Antireflective glass

For even higher performance the collector can be fitted with an optional anti-reflective coating, designed to limit reflections resulting from the angle of incidence and hence reduce the loss of energy on the glass surface even further. This improves yearly solar performance by upto 12%, especially when the sun is low or for roofs with a low pitch and further expands the scope of application of solar energy.

Insulation foil

Between the absorber and the glass of the solar collector, there can be fitted an extremely thin insulating foil. The foil prevent air from circulating between the hot absorber and the cold solar glass. This improves the performance by up to 8%-15% by minimising heat loss of the collector.

Click here to download the technical data sheet for the Arcon HTU-S(A) industrial solar panel in PDF format.