annual report 2011 - Walter Meier

18 / Group Division Climate: solar tHermal enerGy
Walter Meier / annual report 2011
Walter Meier is causing a sensation in
the solar thermal energy industry with an
in-house development: an optimized
collector circuit uses solar energy even
more efficiently and extends
the system’s service life.
Solar Heat
Solar systems have meanwhile achieved
considerable market significance in
europe. until now, though, a number of
weaknesses have prevented a standard
system from dominating: changing
weather patterns, differences between
day and night temperatures plus the
design of buildings all affect the reliability
and operational safety of this
renewable energy source.
the first remedy to the problem was the
“drain-back” principle. Here the primary
pump is switched off when there is a
threat of overheating in summer, when
there is insufficient solar radiation
during rain, when people are away on
vacation or when the thermal storage
system is full. the carrier fluid then
flows out of the collectors and back into
the drain-back container, and it is again
pumped into the solar collectors only
when solar heat can be used once again.
this significantly reduces the thermal
load on all parts of the system and
considerably prolongs service life.
new patented drain-back system
With a revolutionary in-house development,
Walter Meier has succeeded
in making a major improvement to
conventional drain-back systems. the
air is actively blocked off, thus preventing
the build-up of residual air in the
collector, which has until now had a
negative impact on system performance.
the innovative concept therefore
achieves a whole new dimension of
reliability, is highly efficient and so
effective that Walter Meier has applied
for a patent.
Walter Meier is also applying for a
patent on the ingenious sensor and
measurement concept. three temperature
sensors now permanently record
the collector temperature, the heat
loss in the lines and the temperature in
the thermal storage system. the entire
system can be regulated with much
greater precision and efficiency thanks
to this comprehensive information,
and the cooling down of the thermal
storage system or boiler can be prevented
in an effective manner.