Solar Pumping Solutions
solar hot water
Advanced solar hot water
Solar Pumping Solutions are proud to announce the launch of the Second Generation of Hills Evacuated Tube Solar hot water heaters - Hills ESTEEM™II and Hills EXCEED™ - representing the pinnacle of solar hot water systems in Australia today.
The Hills Solar sytems deliver performance efficiencies well beyond those of traditional flat panel and other evacuated tube collectors with an unrivaled efficiency covering 90% of your average annual water heating requirements. No other solar hot water system on the market can offer you this kind of performance.
Please see a selection of available systems at the links to your left, or contact us for custom jobs and quotes.
Why Hills Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water Systems are the best!
- Hills provide a 10 year warranty on all major components along with the backing of a known and trusted Australian company.
- Hills Evacuated tubes will save you up to 90% of your annual water heating costs - no other system on the market can offer you this level of performance.
- Evacuated tubes are tested to -15 degrees C for a 10 hour period. you won't have any problems with freezing in winter. No anti-freeze chemicals like Glycol are used or needed.
- They are also tested hail resistant up to 25mm.
- The Hills Solar Collector is on Average 160% more efficient per m2 of aperture than the Flat Plate Solar Collector..."click here for full information on system efficiency.
- The Hills Solar sytem has the most highly rated efficiency out of any evacuated tube solar hot water system available.
- If you break one or two tubes, the remaining tubes continue to operate and you can easily and economically replace any broken tubes.
- If you don't have the ideal Northerly aspect on your roof, because of its cylindrical design the collector can be mounted in other positions and still function effectively.
- You won't have to reinforce your roof as the tank sits on the ground
- Because the system is modular it is simple to install without the need for cranes or heavy lifting.
- Hills use marine grade, stainless steel tanks - they provide a natural oxide barrier to rust and eliminate the need for a sacrificial anode which saves the cost of replacement by a plumber every 3 or 4 years.
- You can use gas, electricity or waste heat from a wood stove to provide back up heating.
- Eligible for full government rebates
- RECS - compared to flat panel systems - Some flat plate systems may offer more REC's however this has been calculated on 'area' covered by extremely large flat panels. As our systems are more efficient they cover less area.
- REC's - compared to other evacuated tube systems - The Hills systems have been allocated on average 4 additional REC's points (and sometimes more) in comparison with other equivalent sized evacuated tube systems on the market
Energy Output Comparison Graph
For detailed testing results on our solar efficiency levels please click here
(Cosine adjusted) (Tm-Ta=40K G=800W/m2)
Performance testing
Performance testing was conducted by the University of Otago, New Zealand showing very positive results with evacuated tubes over and above other types of solar hot water systems, particularly for colder climates.
"...It is also clear that evacuated tube systems need to be taken into serious consideration as a preferred system type, especially for the cooler parts of the country...."
"...From a straight dollar return on investment, it is difficult to recommend any kind of flat panel system at this stage..."
For a full summary of the report please visit: http://www.alphaheatingandsolar.co.nz/acatalog/Which-solar-water-heating.pdf
How the Hills ESTEEM TM Solar evacuated tubes work
Most Australians are familiar with flat plate technology when it comes to solar heating of water. Evacuated tubes are not as new as you might think, in fact they were developed over 30 years ago by an Australian at the University of Sydney! The technology was snapped up by Europe for very obvious reasons - it works extremely well in the cold!
The Hills ESTEEM TM evacuated tubes are long glass cylinders - these rounded surfaces mean that no matter what time of the day, they face the sun and as long as there is light in the sky the evacuated tubes will be absorbing the sun's energy, in contrast to a flat panel which will only reach maximum efficiency in the middle of the day as well as sustain considerable efficiency loss due to reflection off the flat glass panel.
The Hills Hills ESTEEM™II evacuated tubes have reached efficiency comparisons in winter of up to 160% greater performance than a standard flat panel, no other evacuated tube product on the market can match the performance of the Hills tubes.
Click here to go view independant efficiency comparison graphs.
The Hills ESTEEM TM Solar Evacuated Tubes consist of a double layer of toughened glass with a vacuum between the 2 layers - similar to a thermos. the tubes are capable of retaining up to 97% of the energy absorbed from the sun. Efficiency of the collector is not affected by the ambient temperature and the cold whereas a flat plate collector is susceptible to freezing at low temperatures.
As a result, the Hills Solar evacuated tube solar collector is the perfect system for very cold areas including alpine areas with an Australia and New Zealand freeze rating of - 15 degrees for a 10 hour period. In fact they have been used in much colder situations.
The energy from the sun that is absorbed is transferred to the water via copper heat pipes running down the centre of each tube. A small amount of water is inside each heat pipe which is turned to gas from the heat, the gas rises to the top of the heat pipes, which transfer the heat to the water through the manifold on the top of the collector. The water is then pumped to your water storage tank.
The Hills ESTEEM™II solar hot water system boasts the highest efficiency rating of any equivalent sized system on the market either flat panel or evacuated tube.
Split System Design no more tanks on the roof
A Hills ESTEEM™II Solar Hot Water Systems is a ‘split system' meaning no tank on the roof. Hot water is stored in a well insulated, marine grade stainless steel tank at ground level. If your tank received no external heat input it would only loose approximately 1 degree in temperature over a 24 hour period.
All tanks come with a booster for backup - either electricity, LPG bottled gas or natural gas. Your system will achieve on average 90% heating with the sun and on consecutive cloudy days or times with many guests you know you can rely on your booster.
Electric Boosted system animation
