Answer: No, when the temperature drops below a critical temperature, the pump is activated briefly and sends just enough heat to the pipelines so that the solar energy system does not freeze.

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Answer: This technology would really be pointless with standard (flat plate) collectors, as they lose much too much heat in cold nights. However, as the Paradigma collectors are extremely well insulated by the vacuum, heat loss is dramatically reduced. That makes the technology useful in the first place.

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Answer: The frost protection function is only required during cold winter nights, and a temperature slightly above zero is sufficient. For example, by contrast, water from the cold water pipe is still quite warm. The frost protection requires only a minimal fraction of the collected solar heat.

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Answer: The flat plate collectors, which were prevalent until now, would waste too much energy in “frost protection mode” with water. Their insulation is far worse, generally only with single-glazing, a technology which would be out of the question for windows today, for example. Paradigma's thermos flask collectors, with their excellent insulation, are the first collectors which allow the use of water.

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Answer: No, the frost protection function is fully automatic. The special controller monitors the system using the installed temperature sensors. If there is a fault, an audible warning signal is sent.

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Answer: Yes, the controller – a miniature computer - is programmed to do so during the long test and trial period. The independent ITW test institute of the University of Stuttgart also certified that the AquaSystem operates reliably even under extreme conditions.

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Answer: The AquaSystem was thoroughly tested by ITW Stuttgart – the institute which has tested solar energy systems for the German consumer magazine Stiftung Warentest for years. Their findings: it really does work as promised!

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Answer: As the solar energy system uses water instead of glycol, we can connect the collector directly to the heating circuit. It is as though you have a normal heating boiler and an additional wood boiler, only the second “boiler” – the solar collector – is on the roof.

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Answer: There are precise guidelines for this: e.g. what kind of pipes and what insulation are permitted and what length of the sections can be outdoors. There are buildings in which it is difficult to comply with these guidelines.

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Answer: We have made provisions for such eventualities: There is always a piece of expanding material, a so-called corrugated hose, between the collector and the solar pipe. The freezing water can expand there without building up explosive force.

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Answer: The intelligent controller regularly checks that the pump is functional and emits an audible signal if it is defective. If the alarm is unnoticed, and the system actually freezes, the corrugated hoses prevent serious damage to the collector.

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Answer: As the manufacturer, we provide an unlimited guarantee for such extremely rare cases. The requirement is that the entire system is installed and operated in accordance with the installation instructions – our System Partners vouch for that.

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Answer: Paradigma System Partners invest a lot of time and money in the qualification of their employees and train them as real solar experts to ensure that this is the case.

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Answer: Nothing at all. But why use expensive chemicals when intelligent technology today allows us to use water? In many ways, water is the ideal heat transfer medium for a solar energy system as long as it can be protected from frost.

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Answer: If the system runs without problems, there is no reason to do so. However, if the collector area is generously proportioned compared with the requirements, there may be trouble with rapidly aging glycol. If this is the case, conversion makes sense as an alternative.

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Question/problem:
According to studies by ITW Stuttgart, the collector yield of our CPC evacuated tube collectors is 602 kWh/(m²?a). According to the Blauer Engel environmental label yield proof, flat plate collectors generally reach the required 525 kWh/(m²?a).
Can these values be compared to one another?

Answer: No, comparisons of the two are not permissible, as the two values were determined for completely different conditions! While the ITW yield was calculated for a defined aperture area (e.g. 5 m²), the Blauer Engel calculation determines whether a minimum collector yield of 525 kWh/(m²?a) is reached for a solar coverage rate (fsol) of 40%.
Overall, the Blauer Engel requirements for the collectors are far lower than the ITW yield forecast.
Below, we compare a flat plate collector which just meets the Blauer Engel requirements with our CPC collector:

Key value	Blauer Engel collektor	CPC collektor	Advantage of CPC
ITW collector yield (for 5 m² aperture area)	389 kWh/(m²a)	602 kWh/(m²a)	+55%
ITW solar coverage rate (fsol) (for 5 m² aperture area)	45%	67%	+49%
Blauer Engel collector yield (at fsol 40%)	525 kWh/(m²a)	735 kWh/(m²a)	+40%
Aperture area required for Blauer Engel (fsol 40%)	3,2 m²	2,3 m²	-28%

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