There are solar installers who do not like the heat pipe collectors because they can over heat water as well, even with flat plate collectors you can get water hot enough to soften PEX tubing to the point that it will burst if you have a sensor that is slightly shaded or a solar powered pump that has a shadow in front of it for a few minutes while the rest of the system has full sun.
The other advantage of the heat pipe collectors is that you can reduce the amount of working fluid you have in your entire system.
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