集熱式太陽能

Transferring heat from solar collectors is an ideal way of using the sun’s energy. The sun’s heat is absorbed on a flat surface and then transferred to a fluid. The fluid can be used for heating domestic tap water and for radiator heating. In addition, it can be used for large-scale operations, like district heating, heating of process fluid in industries, or solar thermal power plants.

Choose the right solar thermal partner

With a century of experience in heat transfer and energy efficiency, Alfa Laval has the products to ensure your system is as efficient as possible.
The safe and reliable sealing of the gasketed plate heat exchanger means there is no risk of contamination of potable water in tap water heating.
With an Alfa Laval heat exchanger, you maximize uptime with a reduced risk of fouling due to scaling.
Our heat exchangers are AHRI third-party performance certified, so you can rest easily that the thermal performance is as good as we say it is.
Alfa Laval’s global service network means we have the outreach and influence to ensure the continuous functionality of your equipment.

Trend in the solar thermal industry

The heating sector is currently dominated by fossil fuels for energy, with less than 20% of the global heating demand being met by renewable sources. This means there is huge potential for the growth of solar thermal energy as a source of heat.

The interest in solar thermal heating has increased steadily over the past decade, and so has the cumulated solar thermal capacity. With this increasing interest, large-scale solar heating systems are becoming more popular, with district heating being the largest sub-sector. At the end of 2022, 325 large-scale solar district heating systems were in operation, with an installed capacity of 1,795 MW_th.

The main challenges associated with solar thermal heating are fouling and the build-up of sediment. With Alfa Laval’s heat exchangers, this risk is substantially reduced with durable materials and turbulent flow. Our global service network can also ensure that your equipment runs optimally with minimum downtime.

A reliable partner, Alfa Laval shares our commitment to the global transition to renewable energy and has delivered superior heat transfer technology and expertise at our Carwarp power plant.

Richard Payne, CEO, RayGen

Solar thermal solutions from Alfa Laval

Tap water heating

In a solar water heating system, the main source of heat generation is solar panels that act as solar collectors. Since the amount of solar energy will vary throughout the day and year, a conventional boiler is often used as a backup. The collectors use the sun’s rays to heat a transfer fluid, which is usually a mixture of glycol and water. Adding glycol to the transfer fluid prevents it from freezing during the winter season. The transfer fluid flows in a closed-loop circuit that is separated from the water supply by a gasketed plate heat exchanger. After heating the tap water, the transfer fluid will circulate back to the solar collectors. With a gasketed plate heat exchanger from Alfa Laval, you ensure maximum heat efficiency and can rest easy that there is no risk of potable water contamination.

Space heating

Solar collectors in the form of solar panels can also be used for space heating. The collectors will heat a transfer fluid using the sun’s rays. The heat from the transfer fluid will then be transferred to the heating fluid in the secondary circuit using a gasketed plate heat exchanger. The hot fluid can be used to provide space heating through heated flooring, radiators, or forced hot air systems. Regardless of which, with an Alfa Laval heat exchanger you recover the maximum amount of heat, saving both energy and money in the process.

Large-scale solar thermal applications

Solar thermal power plants use the sun's energy to heat a transfer fluid to a high temperature. In order to extract maximum heat, they use mirrors to reflect and concentrate the solar radiation. This heat then needs to be transferred to water to produce superheated steam. The most efficient way to achieve this is by using a gasketed plate heat exchanger. The superheated steam is then used to turn turbines, converting mechanical energy into electricity.