Aluminum becoming more popular in solar applications

Azom reported that the all aluminum MPE absorber project which was a joint entry by Hydro and Savo Solar won as best innovation in the category for solar thermal technology. The award was presented on the opening day of Intersolar Europe 2011, the world's largest trade fair for solar technologies.

Hydro's aluminum tubing business sector cooperated on the project together with the Finnish company, contributing materials and expertise. This included the multi port extrusions and headers, using the HyLife Solar aluminum alloy which Hydro developed especially for solar applications.

Hydro's Mr Patrick Jansson said that the prize winning project has several aspects new to the solar thermal market. Aluminum is a new material in the field and this application uses a new absorber design with MPE profiles instead of welding round tubes to sheet material. In addition, Savo Solar has brazed the absorber in a controlled atmosphere brazing furnace, a process not used in solar thermal technology before. The biggest innovation is the coating that Savo Solar adds to help make its product more efficient than competing products in the market.

Savo Solar claims that its three layered nano coating minimizes the amount of light reflected off from the device, enabling a larger portion of solar energy to be absorbed into the system.