Introduction to the Scenario of Flat Plate Solar Thermal Utilization

In recent years, people's understanding of the long lifespan and high thermal efficiency of flat plate collectors has improved. Practice has shown that they can bring stable and lasting economic efficiency and environmental benefits to users, and are increasingly favored by the market. 

Solar energy utilization industry to flat development has become a trend

The solar energy utilization industry is trending towards a flat-panelization approach. Flat plate collectors have been widely used in various scenarios such as building hot water supply, high-end commercial hot water supply, distributed household heating, large-scale area heating, industrial and agricultural product drying, and industrial and agricultural production.

Flat plate solar collectors are more popular in the foreign market. In the application of solar heating, the flat plate collector systems in Europe and North America account for over 90%. The engineering applications of heating systems in Europe and North America have a history of several decades, and the main type of collectors used are flat plate solar collectors. 

In recent years, large-scale solar heating and heating systems for comprehensive use have seen rapid development. European practice has shown that the performance of flat plate collectors does not show significant decline or change within 20 to 30 years, fully meeting the requirements of solar area heating systems. 

Flat plate solar collectors have significant advantages in terms of heat supply applications

In cold regions and areas with mandatory heating systems, centralized heating is adopted. Heat is delivered to end-users through a network of pipelines. The region has a well-developed district heating network, which has a natural advantage over Europe. Through large solar heat collection fields in the suburbs, it is directly connected to the regional heating network or exchanges heat with heat stations, and directly participates in municipal heating. 

In addition, for the construction of characteristic towns, new rural areas, and migration relocation projects, as well as large public buildings such as schools, hospitals, and factories that have installation conditions, the public building areas in regions with abundant solar energy resources and weak network coverage, such as Xizang in China, are also very suitable for district heating. The operation effect is very good, and the economic, environmental, and social benefits are very significant. 

It has significant advantages in the field of drying applications

Due to the shortage of energy and the implementation of low-carbon policies, the application of solar drying technology has seen significant development. In addition to conducting experiments and research on solar drying of grains and cereals, fruits, vegetables, and wood, studies have also been carried out on drying processes and the development of drying equipment for substances such as Chinese herbal medicines, tea, flowers, plant leaves, food, natural rubber, and sludge. Some scientific research achievements have been made, and some of these new technologies have been put into the market and entered the stage of technical application. 

By comparing the drying quality of materials dried using traditional methods such as sun-drying or heating with conventional energy, it can be clearly seen that the materials dried by solar drying machines have higher quality, higher yield, and more attractive colors. For example, when drying Chinese herbs with solar energy, the improvement in drying quality has led to a sharp increase in the price of Chinese herbs, expanded the export share, and enhanced international competitiveness. The application of solar drying technology equipment in the deep processing of food and plants can effectively prevent the invasion and deterioration of materials by bacteria and insects, and effectively maintain the original excellent quality of the materials, as well as avoid secondary pollution caused by drying processing. 

In terms of the scale of solar drying equipment, most of the current solar drying facilities are still small-sized. China is one of the major agricultural producers and exporters, with abundant agricultural products and biological resources. Especially in the vast western regions, in order to promote the development of local economy, the agricultural products and biological resource products with resource advantages and development prospects in this region are taken as the local pillar industries. Therefore, in recent years, the processing industry of agricultural products and biological resources in China has developed rapidly. Product drying is an important process in the processing procedure, aiming to remove the excess moisture from the materials to facilitate product processing, transportation, storage and use. In remote areas with good solar radiation conditions and underdeveloped economy, flat solar collectors for drying have broad development prospects. 

BTESolar has developed AFPC flat plate air collectors suitable for industrial and agricultural drying, dehumidification, drying and building heating. While using the flat plate collectors, it does not exclude the utilization of innovative vacuum tube collectors. Among them, the DVC500 dual-flow vacuum tube air collector has been widely applied in the drying industry.