Latest News From Evinox

Evacuated tube solar energy from Evinox provides the rhino enclosure at Whipsnade Zoo with hot water for the rhino showers, the rhino pool and the enclosure Air Handling Unit. The 1500 litre thermal store allows solar heat to combine with an Air Source Heat Pump to top up any energy requirements in the winter, keeping both water and ambient temperatures at optimum levels to encourage breeding.

The unique design of the high performance evacuated tube collectors ensures that the solar thermal system can make a contribution to heat demand all year round and not just in times of peak sunshine. The Evinox solar system, designed with northern European climates in mind, is well known for generating heat transfer in cold, windy or humid conditions, with minimal heat loss. At the request of the head keeper at Whipsnade Zoo, the control system provided by Evinox ensures that the hot water for the rhino showers, the temperature of the rhino pool and the air temperature of the enclosure are at the optimum levels to encourage the rhinos to breed.
The solar controller provided by Evinox allows for integrating the heating technologies and will bring the heat pump on only when the store sensors realise that there is not enough energy being produced by the solar thermal system to meet the temperature requirements of the system.

Even during winter commissioning the exceptional performance of the evacuated tube system lifted the temperature of the store up to 60°C. The combination of the solar collectors and the thermal store allows the early morning sun’s energy to be quickly harnessed in the upper part of the store by transferring heat, via the heat transfer tube, to above the solar baffle in the lower part of the store.

When Evinox researched the best use of solar technology, they identified that the key ingredient was harnessing the energy when available and storing it in large thermal stores ready for times of demand, ensuring that solar energy is not wasted when available due to the inability to store it.

The Thermal Store solution provided by Evinox, was awarded ‘Industrial/Commercial Product of the Year’ in the prestigious H&V News Awards in 2008, due to the unique way it optimises solar performance, and can generate 15% more energy when compared with other methods of storage.

Whipsnade Zoo has a project board in the viewing enclosure showing visitors how the heating and hot water system works, and publicising their own commitment to using renewable technology. This is the first of other planned projects around the Zoo that Evinox will be working on.