VM Evacuated Heat Pipe Solar Collectors (tubes) operate differently than the other collectors available on the market. These solar collectors consist of a heat pipe inside a vacuum sealed tube, as shown.

Each tube contains a sealed copper pipe (heat pipe). The pipe is then attached to a black copper fin that fills the tube (absorber plate). Protruding from the top of each tube is a metal tip attached to the sealed pipe (condenser). These tubes are mounted, metal tips up, into a heat exchanger (manifold). As the sun shines on the black surface of the fin, the alcohol is heated and hot vapor rises to the top of the pipe. Water, or glycol, flows through the manifold and picks up the heat from the tubes. The heated liquid circulates through another heat exchanger and gives off its heat to water that is stored in a solar storage tank. A VM system is simple to install and easy to expand.