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Find the best panel for your home
Do you have a roof with plenty of space that gets lots of sunlight (Southeast to Southwest facing roof)? Flat panels offer a reliable route to many years of solar energy.

Flat roof? Limited space? East or West facing roof? Vacuum tubes can be fitted anywhere and will give you plenty of energy, even on cold windy days.

Flat Panels
Guaranteed to last longer, flat panels consist of a metal plate with special paint (to capture as much energy from the sun as possible) housed in a metal frame and protected by glass or plastic glazing. The sun's energy heats the plate (even on cloudy days) and this heat is passed onto mixture or water and anti-freeze that circulates behind the collector plate. This then goes onto heat the water you use in your home. It is a simple, robust design that manufacturers can confidently guarantee for at least 10 years.

Giving you performance and value for money
A pair of good quality flat panels, such as those from Earth Wind and Fire, costs £1,000 and should last for up to 30 years, during which time they can be expected to deliver your home with 40,000 kwh of useful energy (that is about 50,000 hot showers).

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Distinctive yet discrete

Flat panels are similar in appearance to velux windows. If your home is a listed building or you live in a conservation area, you may need to secure planning permission. Fortunately, most planning authorities are keen to encourage solar thermal energy and you should have less difficulty in securing planning than you would for velux windows.





Vacuum Tubes
You can fit them anywhere, Vacuum tubes are very efficient and so take up less space on your roof than flat panels. They are very versatile and you can install them anywhere on your house (obviously, anywhere that is not in the shade): on a flat roof, an East/West facing roof or even a south facing wall. Because water does not actually flow directly through the tubes (they pass heat to the water through a manifold), the panels are very light and easily assembled on the roof.

Thanks to the vacuum, you get more of the sun's power

The vacuum stops heat escaping and the tubes will therefore give you plenty of energy, even on cold, windy days. Because each tube has its own individual panel inside, you can rotate the tubes to any angle, ensuring maximum solar exposure.

You do not have to compromise reliability for higher performance
Undeniably hi-tech, in both appearance and in how they work, vacuum tubes are subjected to weathering and thermal stresses. Given this, it is advisable that you chose a proven, reliable manufacturer such as Thermomax. If ever a tube were to crack and lose its vacuum, the remainder of the panel will continue to operate and it is relatively cheap and simple to swap it out for a new tube (although this is a rare occurrence).