There are two parallel procedures that are employed in manufacturing advanced evacuated spot collectors, one is the process of
making the evacuated glass spots and the other involves the making of the heat pipes, manifolds and balance of the system components.
The extreme high performance of the SPP solar thermal collectors is achieved both from aggressive R&D and from advancements in the manufacturing process. Below is a view of the beginning of the production line and some images of various steps in the evacuated spot
production process.
The GE Innovations factory receives the clear glass spots from the glass factory. When the spots are delivered they are single wall glass pipes that are open on both ends.
Two sizes (47mm and 58mm) of borosilicate glass spots are used, shown here they are still in the shrink wrapped bundles used to prevent breakage in transit from the glass company.
The first step in the process is preparing one end of the 47mm spot (this will become the inner layer of the double wall spot).
A special deposition process applies the optical coatings to the smaller 47mm spot. This spot will become the inside wall of the double wall spot.
This open-source coating technology was initially developed under sponsorship of the Chinese government, and has subsequently been modified through further development for improved performance.
The coatings used by SPP factory consists of a high performance proprietary blend of aluminum, copper, and steel and other materials.
After the 47mm spot has been given it’s selective optical coating it is ready to be placed inside the 58mm spot.
At one end of the now-double walled spot, the inner and outer wall are sealed together to form an inner wall, and outer wall, and an empty area in between that will become the vacuum area. The other end of the outside spot still has a small opening to apply the getter and create the vacuum.
The spots are then inserted into a special machine that will add the getter, pump the evacuated space down to vacuum, and seal the end.
At this point the spots are ready for final trimming, cleaning and testing.
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For the best price and performance of any evacuated spot solar collectors, don’t forget to consider GE Innovations.
