The Kingspan Solar range, from Kingspan Renewables Ltd, reflects their on-going commitment to a zero carbon lifestyle and a brighter future for us all. When it comes to creating efficient and cost effective energy solutions that address today's growing environmental concerns, the Kingspan Solar range leads the way. The Thermomax brand is the original and still the best vacuum collector in the world today. 

Solar Energy for a Brighter Future

Solar energy is free, clean and safe. It is

environmentally friendly and produces no waste or pollution. Using solar energy enables you to

reduce your carbon footprint as well as your

energy bills.

The sun radiates enormous amounts of energy

to the earth. In New Zealand we receive, on

average per year, as much or more as 60% of

that received on the equator.This radiation is

similar to the output of 1,000 power stations.

                     New Zealand's Solar Radiation

                     MJ/meter square/day
                     Source Niwi

  New Zealand's daily radiation

 Solar Thermal Vacuum Tube systems

Solar thermal technology transforms direct and

diffuse solar radiation into useful heat using a

solar collector. Each solar collector consists of

a highly insulated manifold and a row of solar

tubes.The vacuum inside each tube provides

perfect insulation and therefore protects the

system from outside influences such as cold and windy weather or high humidity. The

Vacuum technology ensures the most effective

transfer of energy into heat, giving extra performance in comparison to traditional flat

plate collectors and providing heat not only on

warm,sunny days, but also in cool windy

conditions.

Manufactured in Ireland

 Why Thermomax?

With over 25 years of experience, the

Thermomax brand is firmly established as

the world leader. Thermomax collectors

are the premium product in the market,

designed specifically for northern or

southern climates. They provide a superior

performance whatever the weather.

Thermomax collectors are design for both

Domestic and commercial applications.

AS/NZS 2712 Ceriflied                

 Solar Keymark Certiflied

Thermomax products are manufactured at the Kingspan Renewable headquarters in Northern Ireland. A full service package is offered including bespoke design, technical advice, and training.

The Quality of the product is paramount to Kingspan' success. This differentiates the Thermomax brand from the influx of cheaper imported products.  

Thermomax offer quality made market- leading packages for all your solar requirements.

The unique 'plug and play' design of Thermomax solar collectors

makes installation quick and easy. There is no need for heavy

lifting equipment, as tubes can be carried onto the roof individually. Usually facing north, the collector is fixed to the roof by easy-fit roof brackets, which are simply fixed to the rafter.

Thermomax have designed a vacuum collector mounting kit option for every conceivable installation application.

• Flat Roof
• Sloping Roof
• Facade
• Awning
• Horizontal
• Vertical

  Collector Mounting Stands

• Extruded aluminium construction
• No Corrosion
• Engineer design
• Simple assembly

• Selective Coating on Collector Tubes
• Collector Automatic Temperature Limiting Device
• Tubes made from Soda-Lime Glass
• Vacuum Tube Hermetic Vacuum Seal
• Flexible Neck

The goal of any solar thermal collector is to absorb as much sunlight as possible and turn it into hot water while losing as little energy as possible. The selective coating applied to the collection surfaces allows the Thermomax collector to do just that. Black paint will only absorb about 50% of the sunlight hitting it, which means the other 50% is wasted energy. The TiNOX coating used on Thermomax collectors absorbs more than 90% of the sunlight hitting it. Any hot surface will also transfer energy to the surrounding environment by radiation.

The thing you are most familiar with that uses this principal is an incandescent light bulb. The filament in the light bulb is heated to very high temperatures and begins to produce light. Because a solar collector's surface can also become very hot, it will lose energy in the same way. The selective coating reduces this loss down to 4% from around 50% with plain black paint. The quality and composition of the coating insures it will never degrade

Because of the excellent vacuum insulation and ability to absorb sunlight, evacuated tubes can reach temperatures of over 396°C! This is an issue when the power goes out and the pump can't flow water past the tubes. The tubes will boil the glycol that is in the manifold and then sit there until the water flow can be reintroduced and cool them down. During this time, the tubes and the glycol can damage because of the high temperature. Thermomax offers an industry exclusive self limiting feature to prevent this from happening. The tubes will automatically shut themselves off at 95/130°C, thus saving the system from damage.

The glass used on evacuated tubes must be very strong to resist environmental factors, as well as maintain the vacuum inside the tubes. Thermomax tubes use only the highest quality glass to insure resistance to snow, hail and wind, as well as maintain the vacuum over the life time of the tube.

Helium is a very small atom found in small quantities in the atmosphere. Because it is so small, it can actually travel through some types of glass (a process called diffusion). Since the vacuum is very important to the performance of the collector (and defined as the absence of molecules) this will cause the performance of the system to degrade over time. Borosilicate glass, used in most evacuated tube collectors, is susceptible to this phenomenon and soda lime glass,used in Thermomax collectors is not. F. Dewinter, author of "Solar Collectors, Energy Storage and Materials", one of the main sources for information on solar systems, estimates the "Total heat loss can increase by 20% over 4.5 years in borosilicate glass evacuated collectors". Because Thermomax uses only soda-lime glass in its collectors, this loss is minimized.

Another issue with glass on a solar collector is the strength of the tubes. Since they must be located on your roof and exposed as much as possible, they will be subjected to severe environmental challenges in their lifetime. Thermomax has tested borosilicate glass tubes and they have not met the high standards for certification required. Thermomax tubes are certified to take 5 hits from a one inch ice ball at 100km/per hour, withstand a snow load of 500kg and winds up to 100km/per hour without damaging the tubes.

If you are considering other tubes, make sure they use soda-lime glass and are certified for both snow load and the AS/NZS 2712 hail impact test. Most other tubes on the market today do not have these features and certifications.

To maintain the performance of the tubes over their lifetime, air from the environment must be kept out of the tubes. Vacuums are very difficult to maintain over long periods of time because most seals leak a tiny amount of air that over time builds up in the tube and increases its heat transfer. Thermomax has developed their hermetic seal over 20 years to make sure it does not leak any air into the tube. A hermetic seal is one where two materials are fused together with no gap with in them. In the case of this seal, it is glass and copper that are mated together. It may not seem difficult, but remember the extremes of temperature they system must operate in as well as all the environmental conditions the tubes must live in. Most other tubes on the market use a mechanical seal between the end plate and the glass. Mechanical seals in high vacuum will leak over time and not last the 25 years required by Thermomax.

The flexible neck is provided to make sure the hermetic seal is not loaded in extreme environmental conditions, such as high winds, as well as during installation. Most other tubes have a solid neck that can load and break this critical feature of the tube.

The Flexible Neck is also design to absorb thermal shock

The Thermomax collector is still waiting for modelling to be completed, so is not yet part of the grants programme. But we hope it will be soon.

EECA: Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Set up by the New Zealand Government to encourage, support and promote energy efficiency, energy conservation.

The EECA offers; $500- $1000.00 solar grants to anyone purchasing a solar water heating system. To qualify, the system you are purchasing must have an EECA packaged ID number, and must be installed by a accredited solar installer. Click this link to down load the  application form.