Sustainable and efficient solutions, that is the strength of our expertise.
Sustainable sources of electricity generation are increasingly becoming the norm, just think of the many solar panels or windmills that are already shaping the landscape today. However, producing sustainable heat is not yet self-evident, even though our heat consumption is just responsible for two-thirds of total CO2 emissions.
Azteq's solar thermal installations offer a solution for this by using the power of parabolic reflectors. These make it possible to generate heat of up to 400 °C in a sustainable and financially feasible manner.
All the elements for an efficient system
Mirror technology
Our solar mirrors reflect more than ninety-five percent of the sunbeams collected to the same point. This high degree of reflection is made possible by a special coating that reflects the rays as much as possible and absorbs as little as possible. In addition, our mirrors move with the sun so that they make maximum use of the sunlight at any time of the day. To limit the impact on the environment as much as possible, the mirrors rotate to a vertical position when there is no direct sunlight so when it rains so that no water is collected.
Collector technology
The collector tube captures the heat and makes it mobile. For this purpose, the tube consists of three parts: a glass outer tube, a metal inner tube through which oil flows and a vacuum between the two parts. The inner tube uses an energy-absorbing coating in order to minimize the heat losses. The oil in it has a high thermal conductivity to absorb the heat as efficiently as possible. Because of the vacuum and the glass outer tube, the whole tube remains cold to the touch, and therefore bird friendly.
Heat exchanger
This is where the magic happens. The heat exchanger ensures that the captured heat can actually be used. The heat exchanger transfers the heat generated by hot oil from the heat collector to the medium used in the customer’s production process. This can again be thermal oil, but also heat in the form of steam or hot water.
The thermal energy storage
The heat itself lends very well to storage for delayed use, up to five times more efficient than electricity. Azteq makes use of this property by installing buffer vessels that serve as a kind of battery. This allows you to use heat 24/7, even when the sun is not shining. This system requires an additional set of mirrors to produce heat for storage.
Alternative heat source
Despite having an average of 1300 hours of sunshine per year in Europe, there are of course days on which the solar mirrors cannot capture direct sunlight. As a result, they will not be able to generate the necessary heat. Azteq solar mirrors will therefore be installed in combination with an alternative heat source whenever continuous heat generation is required. This can be done with your current gas installation, but also with sustainable alternatives such as biogas. The heat exchanger will then be shared by both systems.
The advantages of our technology
Higher temperatures than other sustainable options
Until now, it has often been impossible for industrial applications to switch entirely to sustainable heat. Technologies such as geothermal or solar flat plate boilers with a temperature range of up to 120 °C are unable to provide the necessary heat for a large part of the industrial processes. By optimizing the technique in which sunlight is concentrated, Azteq’s installations are able to produce heat of up to 400 °C. This is sufficient to support most of the production processes while not compromising on sustainability.
Truly CO2-neutral from installation onwards
Azteq’s solar mirrors are the only sustainable source of high-quality heat that is completely CO2-neutral from installation onwards. Other alternatives to the ecological production of heat are also responsible for CO2 after the development and installation of the system due to combustion reactions. With Azteq solar mirrors, this is not the case and CO2 emissions are limited to the production and transport of the systems.
Minimal impact on the environment
The impact of Azteq solar mirrors on the environment is almost non-existent. Thanks to vacuum technology, the collector tube exterior remains cold enough to touch. The installations are completely odorless, noiseless and move extremely slowly. The mirrors can be directed vertically in rainy weather, so that all the ground receives the rain.