Importance

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Abstract

The present invention comprises a solar thermal energy collection system to heat water which is made up basically of an assembly of solar panels, build from plates or hollow-cell structured sheets of fixed width and variable length, and a system to store the energy comprising two twin containers, one for the actual heat storage (which can just contain pure water) and another to hold the liquid that flows inside the collectors. The solar collector in these panels is transparent being the solar heat absorbed directly by the liquid that runs in them, which is opaque to the radiation. The container that holds this liquid is at atmospheric pressure and the liquid that is pumped into the panels gets back into the container just by gravity. Whenever there is not enough solar radiation, or in case of malfunction, the pump stops and the absorber liquid drains back into the tank. The collectors will then be empty and translucent which, on one hand, avoids freezing caused by low external temperatures and, on the other hand, prevents that they overheat under excessive radiation. The low-pressure and low-temperature working characteristic of this system allows it to be built essentially from polymeric materials with their well known advantages, such as simpler production and assembly methods, better insulation, less weight, lower costs, etc. This invention also discloses another novel characteristic which refers to the fact that the same panel, built from three hollow-cell structured plates, can be used as an element that is, simultaneously, absorber, radiant and dissipater, that is, by circulating appropriate liquids it can absorb heat in its central plate, can radiate (or absorb) heat on its back plate and can also dissipate heat from its frontal plate.

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First Claim