High efficiency tube mat solar collector having intermittently separated tubes and method for preventing damage to a solar collector

A solar collector comprising

• a plurality of hollow tubes, each tube joined to an adjacent tube by a web;
• a first manifold connected to a first end of each tube;
• a second manifold connected to a second end of each tube;
• wherein at least one web comprises a plurality of first web segments having a slit running in the same direction as the tubes, said first web segments being separated from one another by a second web segment which does not have a slit.

A method for preventing damage to a solar collector, comprising

• maintaining a plurality of hollow tubes of a solar collector in a substantially coplanar relationship in the absence of high wind conditions by directly joining adjacent tubes to one another or indirectly joining adjacent tubes to one another by a web;
• permitting individual tubes of a tube mat solar collector to move about their longitudinal axis in response to high wind conditions exerted thereon;
• and
• returning said individual tubes to their individual longitudinal axis as the high wind conditions subside, said high wind conditions comprising wind of at least 15 miles per hour.