Flat plate collectors are one of the most commonly used types of solar panels for the collection and conversion of sunlight into heat energy. It is generally made of flat plate or sheet-like copper or aluminum that helps in providing a reflective coating to help maximize energy absorption. The entire design of the flat plate collector is made in a way that the collector is connected to a fluid flow system which then carries the heat to the storage tank for instances when needed.
They have various applications and are preferred means for residential or commercial water heating applications. You must have seen the solar panels installed on the rooftops of the houses. Those are the flat plate collectors used for heating the water in residential houses. They have a lot of advantages alongside a few drawbacks too. We here take a look at both sides of the story and delve deeper into it. Read along.
Advantages of Flat Plate Collectors
1. Easy to manufacture
Flat plate collectors have a simplistic design and are easily manufacturable. This makes them production-ready and hence reduces the overall design and setup cost for the same. Add to it the linear design of the flat plate collector and it makes sense why they are cheaper to manufacture than the curved surface concentrators. The efficient budget costing is what makes flat plate collectors one to take note of.
2. Efficiency in Moderate Climate
Flat plate collectors are useful in various temperature and makes them an attractive option for moderate climate where heating is much needed. Since they use solar energy to capture and then transfer that into heat, even normal moderate weather can suffice to get heated water. The efficiency decreases on cloudy days but that’s understandable. Moreover, compared to reliability in heating for residential, commercial, or even industrial usage, flat plate collectors are heavily used due to high efficiency and run time.
3. Low overhead and maintenance expenses
Flat plate collectors require a minimum of maintenance and repair expenses as they hardly ever break down. The entire mechanism of a flat plate collector consists of basic simple components like flat absorber plates, fluid-filled channels, and a transparent cover. Since they have no moving parts, this means there’s less chance of wear and tear in the plates, and they don’t need extensive or frequent servicing. All you need to do is perform periodic basic cleaning of the plates so that the dust and debris do not collect on the plates and hamper the solar energy harnessing. Once you take care of that, you won’t have to think of any regular servicing and can lessen your overhead costs.
4. Longevity and durability
Flat plate collectors owning to their simple working mechanism and not-so-sophisticated design allow for a durable and longer lifespan. Normally maintained flat plate collectors in itself can give you a shelf life of 20-30 years or more. That makes it a perfect piece of machinery to invest in as the payback period and the returns from the machine far outweigh the cost of it. Add to it, a steady supply of hot water for such a long period, it makes perfect sense for a flat plate collector.
5. Environment friendly
Think of it, flat plate collectors do not use any electricity or any fossil fuels. It is completely reliant on renewable solar power. This means that the use of flat plate collectors does not create any environmental concerns and aligns with the idea of global environment protection. This also paves the way for a transition into sustainable energy usage.
Disadvantages of Flat Plate Collectors
1. Seasonal Variation
Since the source of heating and energy for flat plate collectors is solar power, it makes a hard time during seasonal variations like rainy times and cloudy or harsh winters. During such instances, the collector’s performance levels decrease, and as such the heating generated may not be as adequate as required. That means the user may need to have additional heating sources at times like those adding up the cost. Flat plate collectors also do not work in harsh winter months and colder areas.
2. Limited performance at high-temperature needs
Flat plate collectors are not well suited for applications and situations where extremely high temperature is required. Whenever there is a high elevated temperature, the performance of flat plate collectors tends to decline and makes them less than ideal kind of option. This is one area where concentrated solar collectors or any other solar-based thermal collectors may be an ideal option.
3. Bulkiness and Heavy design
Flat plate collectors are on the bulkier side and may not be an aesthetic part if you’re looking for it. Compared to the concentrated ones, flat plate collectors use a larger area and often take up most of the spot on the rooftop or other areas where you want to install it. This makes that area and space used up and users can’t help but live with it without any option to reduce the bulkiness.
4. Limited energy generation during the Night
Flat plate collectors owning to their solar power generation mechanism become inactive during the night hours due to the lack of solar power. For people who are looking for continuous full-time heat or hot water round the clock, this can be a difficult task. In such a case, users may have to install additional heating solutions to incorporate the lack of functioning of flat plate collectors at night.
Final Words
Flat plate collectors have been a major part of our solar energy harnessing system and are widely used across homes and commercial areas. The ease of use and benefits provided by flat plate collectors far outweigh any imbalance and is a good choice to have. That being said, there are a few drawbacks too which we discussed above.
