Mechanism of Héliopac® System

The Unglassed Solar Collector is generally placed on the roof. It is composed of EPDM (an elastomer which is characterized by its resistance to UV rays and bad weather) pipe networks. Inside the solar collector is a sanitary antifreeze solution (mono propylene glycol). The link between the Solar Collector and the machine room is provided by round-trip pipes.

Inside the machine room, a Solerpac® Heat Pump extracts heat from the antifreeze solution and takes it to the sanitary hot water circuit (or a pool) at a higher temperature. By taking the calorific energy, the Heat Pump cools the solar circuit. When the solar circuit becomes cooler than the external temperature, the solar collector is able to recover not only the solar energy but also energy from the atmosphere, by convection.

Some installations are fitted with a heat exchanger which preheats the water (prior to Heat Pump action) when the solar collector is exposed to important sunshine.

The Solerpac® Heat Pump is specially made to be adapted to a Solar Collector.
There are 2 models :
> very high temperature : up to 150 °F (65°C) for sanitary hot water
> low temperature : up to 120 °F (48°C) for swimming pools

When the Heliopac® System is used for sanitary hot water, the heat pump heats one or more tanks. A network composed of motorised 3-way valves which can centralise the recovered power on the supply zone, in order to work as a priority on the next water drawing. Such system guarantees a stationary temperature even a lot of water is drawn. Further, the energy provided by the solar collector and the heat pump allows the temperature to be maintained consistently throughout the hot sanitary water supply network.

The Energetic Balance

A hot water installation for a corporate institution must give :

• A sufficient quantity of energy to take water from the network temperature to the distribution temperature.
• A sufficient quantity of energy to balance the thermical loss of storage and distribution.

Thanks to Héliopac® system, those two needs are covered by three sources :

• the Solar collector provides free and renewable energy (solar and atmospheric)
• the comsumption of electricity  from the heat pumps compressors is also transfered to water
• energy recovered from traditional installation (electric or gas) is recovered

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An example in respect a 130°F (55° C) sanitary hot water requirement : The solar collectorcovers about 60 % of the annual needs, the heat pumps compressors about 30 % and tthe raditional installation about 10 %.

Solar Collector : Setting-up

The Solar Collector is usually positioned on a roof terrace. It also can be placed on the ground near the building, or on a inclined roof if it has a southern orientation.

If it is placed on a roof terrace, two kinds of supports are available for the solar collector :

• attached to concrete blocks laid on the terrace.
• attached to a galvanized steel frame.

  Example of solar collector settlements :

Solar collector on a galvanized steel frame.		Galvanized steel frame before instalation of solar collector.
Solar collector on concrete blocks on a roof terrace.		Collector on concrete blocks placed directly on the ground.