On Thu, 29 May 2008 21:35:34 +0100, "Fredrick Skoog"
wrote:

I am considering getting a solar heated hot water system and have been
quoted for either the flat panels or the tubes.

Good tubes always beat panels, on everything except cost. However that's
enough to make or break installation actually taking place, so it's a
hard choice. All you can really say is that you need to run the numbers
for your site, your system and your budget. Anything else, even someone
else's first-hand experience, is just hand-waving in comparison. It's a
pretty exact science, or ought to be if you do it right.

http://www.t4sustainability.co.uk includes John "Wookie" Beardmore who
used to post hereabouts.