On 11/06/2014 22:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
dennis@home wrote:
On 11/06/2014 18:34, Bob Minchin wrote:

I got my strips from Navitron and used them to fit a solar thermal
array
last year
http://www.navitron.org.uk/product_d...D=62&catID=121

They look very flimsy, has the panel been through a storm yet?

I used 9 of them - and had no problems. we live opposite a open space at
the top of a hill and the wind rattles the concrete tiles regularly in
the winter and the panel (30 tubes) about 2.4 sq m has stayed put.

Maybe you are thinking of the PV panel type mountings which are
considerably thicker and made from aluminium?

No, I'm thinking of the ~6 mm thick 30mm x 70mm aluminium sections
holding my thermal panel.

It is adjustable for angle but I thought it was OTT.

Those sound much more like the sections on my PV array.
The Thermal panel is much lighter. The heat exchanger is a single 35mm
copper pipe with a litre or so of gycol mix plus 30 vacuum tubes. I
think the total weight is around 100kg.

If yours is a flat plate panel and has the ability to be angled off the
roof, it might need the strength in the wind?

Its a vacuum tube panel. Its much heavier than a solar PV panel.
PV panels weigh about 12 kg for a 250W one.
They are easily managed by one person, the thermal panel needs two.