Hot water solar heating system and method

A solar collector assembly for a hot water heating system, the solar collector assembly including a solar energy absorber and a mirror for reflecting solar energy onto the solar energy absorber;

• the solar energy absorber comprising a flat and elastically expandable metal hot water pipe having opposed flat and wide sidewalls and opposed short sidewalls joining the wide sidewalls;
• and two elongate metal solar energy absorbing plates, each absorbing plate extending along the length of the pipe and comprising two spaced solar energy absorbing panels located to either side of the pipe and an elongate elastically deformable solar energy transfer portion between the panels, each transfer portion having a minimum thickness at the center of the pipe wide sidewall and an increasing thickness to either side of the center of the pipe wide sidewall, a flat pocket between the panels at the energy transfer portions, the pipe in the pocket with the pipe wide sidewalls in heat flow surface-to-surface contact with the transfer portions for transfer of solar energy from the plates to the pipe, the solar collecting panels and the solar energy transfer portion of each solar absorber plate each including a solar energy absorbing surface for receiving solar energy from the mirror, wherein when water in the pipe freezes and expands the pipe wide and flat sidewalls are elastically deformed outwardly and the solar energy transfer portions of the solar absorbing plates are elastically deformed outwardly, and when ice in the pipe melts the expanded pipe wide and flat sidewalls and the deformed solar energy transfer portions of the solar absorbing plates elastically contract and return to their initial positions without impairing transfer of solar energy to the pipe or forming leaks in the pipe.

A solar collector assembly for a hot water heating system, the solar collector assembly including a solar energy absorber and a mirror for reflecting solar energy onto the solar energy absorber;

• the solar energy absorber comprising an elastically deformable metal hot water pipe having a non-circular transverse cross section with opposed wide sidewalls and opposed short sidewalls joining the wide sidewalls, and two metal solar energy absorbing plates, each absorbing plate extending along the length of the pipe and comprising a first elongate solar energy absorbing panel located to one side of the pipe and having a minimum thickness at the center of a pipe wide sidewall and an increasing thickness to either side of the center of the pipe wide sidewall and an elongate elastically deformable solar energy transfer portion, the transfer portion in surface-to-surface heat flow physical connection with one long pipe sidewall for transfer of solar energy to the pipe, the solar collecting panel and the solar energy transfer portion of each solar absorber plate including a solar energy absorbing surface for receiving solar energy from the mirror, wherein when water in the pipe freezes and expands the pipe wide sidewalls are elastically deformed outwardly and the solar energy transfer portions of the solar absorbing plates are elastically deformed outwardly by the wide sidewalls, and when ice in the pipe melts the deformed long sidewalls and the elastically deformed solar energy transfer portions of the solar absorbing plates elastically contract and return to their initial positions without impairing transfer of solar energy to the pipe or forming leaks in the pipe.