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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Laminated absorber member for flat plate solar collector and method of making same

Patent ·
OSTI ID:7308994

A flat plate absorber member includes a flat heat absorbing sheet of a thin metal foil such as copper, or a thin plastic film such as polyvinyl fluoride, bonded to a channeled substrate, and particularly to a plastic laminate such as a glass epoxy laminate. The improved absorber member provides an energy collecting efficiency which is much greater than that of a much more expensive conventional collector having a series of copper tubes soldered to a copper sheet. The absorber is preferably made by the method of taking a base sheet of fully cured glass epoxy laminate and overlaying it with a precut, patterned intermediate layer of semicured glass epoxy which defines the depth of the side walls of the channels. The cover sheet of metal foil or plastic film is then placed over the semi-cured glass epoxy intermediate layer and heat and pressure are applied to bond the semi-cured glass epoxy to the cover sheet and to the previously cured base sheet. 6 claims, 5 figures.

Assignee:
Universal Oil Products Co.
Patent Number(s):
US 4023556
OSTI ID:
7308994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English