A company located in Saint-Hyacinthe offers to heat the air and liquids of agricultural buildings using solar energy. It manufactures proven, innovative, and versatile heat collectors. A way to protect the environment by reducing heating costs for buildings and grains, among other things.
The company Solar-O-Matic from Saint-Hyacinthe manufactures certified quality solar panels or collectors to heat air or liquids. “Be careful, despite some similarities, these are not electricity-generating panels,” explains Jean-Marc Rochefort, production manager. “Most people still do not make the distinction.”
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Jean-Marc Rochefort with a small model of a solar collector used to heat air.
Indeed, this type of collector transmits heat from the “Sun rays pass through the glass, then an air space, before hitting the black-painted metal plate that absorbs the heat and transfers it to the air or liquids,” explains Rochefort. The production manager of Solar-O-Matic Technologie founded his company with his wife Carole Laurence, general manager. He is assisted in production by his son Maxime, his daughter-in-law Katy, and a few employees.
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When the sun… heats the air
In the case of an air heating collector, the air is transported by a fan to the room or structure to be heated through black-painted metal pipes. The sun transfers its heat to these pipes that are welded together and support the rods. For example, with eight PS-201 model collectors mounted in series, the temperature difference between the entry point into the collectors and the exit point inside the building can reach 32°C. “Even in winter, when it is 0°C outside, the air is introduced at 20°C,” illustrates Jean-Marc Rochefort, who combines various training: plumbing, mechanics, electrical, pneumatic. Over the last 3 years out of 18 at Bell Canada, he worked in the laboratory that the Hydro-Québec Research Institute (IREQ) shares with the telecommunications giant.
The hot air solar collectors from Solar-O-Matic are already equipping dried prune and apricot factories in Morocco as well as an imposing Gaz Métro building, which transports comforting air to several locations in the basement of Montreal. “These collectors would also be very suitable for drying grains and wood, or flax, in homes, hospitals, or nursing homes,” notes Jean-Marc Rochefort.
Collectors for heating liquids
These collectors transfer solar heat into a cooling liquid called fluid, often pure water or mixed with glycol, through the black-painted receiving metal plate (the absorber).
This type of collector can include heating the radiant floor of a chicken coop or garage, pool water, heating or cleaning system water, etc.
In traditional models, the absorber communicates its heat to a copper coil located just below. The heat transfer fluid circulates through the coil to the structure or heating under the action of a pump, or sometimes simply by gravity and convection (movement due to a temperature variation).
In his collectors, Jean-Marc Rochefort replaced the pair of absorbing plates and coils with two stainless steel plates that were assembled together and welded in a specific pattern. The cooling liquid circulates between these two plates and heats directly under the black-painted absorber (the upper plate). This innovative concept, pending a patent, has undergone a series of rigorous tests, notably by the National Research Council of Canada. These collectors provide an energy of 1,650 Wh and their stagnation temperature (when the liquid is not circulating) reaches 145 °C. “And the heat transfer fluid maintains much more pressure and speed end-to-end of this collector than in a coil model,” explains Rochefort.
To heat or cool a multitude of liquids
As stainless steel resists, for example, we can circulate maple water through our collectors and preheat it to shorten the evaporation time,” explains Jean-Marc Rochefort. Similarly, preheating canola oil to nearly 27°C, which is necessary before filtering or reaching the high temperature of cooking oils, could be done simply under the action of the sun and without greenhouse gases in our collectors.”
Conversely, Solar-O-Matic stainless steel plate collectors could also cool maple water before it is stored: “We would circulate it between the plates that we put under the snow,” adds the entrepreneur.
Save under the sun
“In single-family homes, our collectors could pay for themselves in less than 15 years and in three to seven years in industrial buildings, according to Jean-Marc Rochefort. But the customer must take the time to redo their with the installation program, as each battery is unique. In any case, these collectors will meet 30% of heating needs and probably beyond our 25-year warranty.”
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