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Ryland · 01-25-10, 02:02 PM

I would be wary of this plan for a number of reasons, first off conduit is very thin galvanizing, it will even start to rust at times if just located in a damp location, it is also very very thin.
Steel is also a poor thermo conductor, not as bad as pex but no where near as good as copper so difference in temp between the outside of the steel and the inside of it where the working fluid is is going to be greater then with copper, there for you are going to have more heat that can radiate off of it and be lost, these are all things that have to be looked at when designing soar hot water panels as the more heat you can get out of a square foot the less you are going to spend on insulation, glass and building the frames.
Another thing to think about with interconnects is that good solar hot water panels can reach 200-240 degrees and because of this I've seen radiator hose brake down really quickly, a system we worked on a few years ago needed a flex hose to allow for a small amount of movement we first we used a piece of PEX but that softened, swelled, burst and spewed $100's worth of coolant all over the place and we ended up buying high pressure hydraulic hose as it's not only designed for high pressure but heat as well.

01-25-10, 02:02 PM	#3
Ryland Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Western Wisconsin. Posts: 913 Thanks: 127 Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts	I would be wary of this plan for a number of reasons, first off conduit is very thin galvanizing, it will even start to rust at times if just located in a damp location, it is also very very thin. Steel is also a poor thermo conductor, not as bad as pex but no where near as good as copper so difference in temp between the outside of the steel and the inside of it where the working fluid is is going to be greater then with copper, there for you are going to have more heat that can radiate off of it and be lost, these are all things that have to be looked at when designing soar hot water panels as the more heat you can get out of a square foot the less you are going to spend on insulation, glass and building the frames. Another thing to think about with interconnects is that good solar hot water panels can reach 200-240 degrees and because of this I've seen radiator hose brake down really quickly, a system we worked on a few years ago needed a flex hose to allow for a small amount of movement we first we used a piece of PEX but that softened, swelled, burst and spewed $100's worth of coolant all over the place and we ended up buying high pressure hydraulic hose as it's not only designed for high pressure but heat as well.