Austrian solar developer Sunlumo announced that its full plastic solar collector is now the first 100 % plastic collector from Europe awarded with the Solar Keymark certification.
“This certificate stands for reliable quality and safety,” Sunlumo CEO Robert Buchinger declares. Solar Keymark is a quality certificate for solar collectors and solar thermal systems, that is valid throughout Europe.
To be recorded as bearing Solar Keymark certification, the One World Solar Collector had to pass the full test, as specified in the EN12975 standard in force, and to withstand quality assurance in manufacturing. The pilot series was manufactured by licensee One Sun One World GmbH. Their quality management level meets the requirements of EN ISO 9000. Both the product and the manufacturing process are regularly checked by independent institutions. Every product alteration must be recorded with the institution.
Product design to reduce material input
One of the most distinguished characteristic of polymer collectors is the weight. A normal metal based collector weighs around 15 to 20 kg/m². Sunlumo’s plastic-based One World Solar Collector only weighs 8.1 kg. Among other things, the tests concerned internal pressure resistance, high temperature resistance, internal and external thermal shock, impact strength, heating performance, over-temperature protection, and pressure resistance. It was the first time that an external testing institute officially confirmed the suitability of this new collector.
Turnkey factories for producing polymer-based collectors
Sunlumo issues licenses for the realisation of the innovative One World Solar Collector and also supplies turnkey factories. The factories are available with different levels of automation. Production sites can be customised to clients’ needs, with annual production capacities ranging from 100 to 350 MWth.
Jan Gesthuizen
Photovoltaic Feed