Roth Heliostar Solar Panel Revamp

Nu-Heat has upgraded the Roth’s popular Heliostar solar panel that gives added benefits both to installers and end users.

Unlike the majority of solar panels on the market, which have aluminium frames, the Roth panel has a single-piece-moulded polycarbonate chassis. There are two advantages to this; firstly that the panel is significantly lighter than other panels, making handling a lot easier, and secondly that the panel has greater integrity. This ensures that there are no gaps to allow moisture ingress, which mists up the glass and reduces panel efficiency.

As solar panels expand and contract with the temperature differences, one that is made up of several pieces could more easily be compromised, especially through degradation of the seals.

The main object of the revamp is that the panel now has four connections. The earlier version had two, meaning that when the panel was mounted on the roof, connections could only be at the top of the panel. Where connections were previously threaded with flexible hoses screwed on, the new connections take the form of an O-ring seal. The flexible hose now tightens onto the O-ring seal adaptor, removing the chance of twisting the connection and possibly over-tightening it. For portrait mounted panels, this now means that the panels simply butt up together and are secured by a clip. This creates an hydraulic seal.

The main benefits of the upgrade are; simplicity of assembly, lower pressure drop through panel, increasing efficiency and ability to drain panel when servicing.

The mounting kits have also changed and the in-roof kit is now universal for both slate and tile roofs. This is also slightly wider than the previous version, but is shorter in the vertical direction.