A sample-check on all-glass vacuum solar heat collectors

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and promote the healthy development of solar heat utilization, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ) carried out a sample-check on quality supervision of all-glass vacuum solar heat collectors. In the process, about 64 products of 48 companies from Beijing, Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong were checked and 95.4% of them were qualified.

According to the recommended standard of GB/T17049-2005, AQSIQ tested 16 performances of the all-glass vacuum solar heat collector, including solar irradiation, vacuum quality, solar transmittance and solar absorptance. Products of large and high-market share companies were much better and were all passed the test.

The main problems in sample-check:

1. Some products have higher average heat loss coefficient than 0.85W/(㎡·℃)）,so that the products are weaker in heat preservation and less effective in energy conservation.

2. Vacuum quality of some products is beyond the requirement of the national standard with the disappearance rate higher than 50%, which causes shorter service life of the vacuum tube.

3. Solar absorptance of some products is lower than 0.86, leading to the low heat absorption capacity of vacuum tube.

As for those problems, AQSIQ has obliged the local quality supervision and inspection centers to deal with the unqualified companies according to the law, and to publicize and praise those high-quality companies in the sample-check. AQSIQ will continue to supervise the quality of all-glass vacuum solar heat collectors and promote the quality level of the industry.