Solar collectors are a source of clean, renewable thermal energy. To improve the cost of this type of energy and thus increase its use, the project THERMALCOND has been performed
Two years of research, a team led by AIMPLAS and composed of five companies and two technology centers in Spain, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Hungary and Cyprus with a great goal: the substitution of metal parts of solar collectors with plastic ...
The collectors are devices that are mainly used for domestic applications, basically for heating water. Its function is to absorb sunlight and convert it into thermal energy.
Thermal collectors are mostly made of metallic materials, especially copper, but also aluminum and steel.
Declaration. "The main advantage of replacing metallic materials using plastics is a reduction of costs, weight and versatility in design. But all plastic materials have a disadvantage: they cannot compare to metals in terms of thermal conductivity.
What kind of development has been done to increase it?
Declaration. "We have developed some innovative compounds using carbonaceous nanoparticles for it. Our aim was to increase the thermal conductivity without reducing its physical properties, in order to produce the collectors components: pipes, sheets and accessories needed for their design and construction "
Furthermore, also thanks to nanotechnology, THERMALCOND has developed a novel coating for absorbing solar radiation, which enhances the efficiency of the collector when transforming radiation into thermal energy
capable of improving the conversion efficiency of the solar radiation full wavelength spectrum , into thermal energy.
Declaration. " A coating based on nanotechnology has also been developed. This coating absorbs a greater range of incident solar energy and transforms it into thermal energy. In addition, as it is a flexible coating it will allow the materials expansion after thermal shocks during the night and day "
ABN group, Archimedes, Resenergie, Colorex Masterbatch, Pro-form, Avanzare,Smithers Rapra and AIMPLAS have participated in this initiative funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme, a project that is a step in the commitment to renewable energy.
