Need matte black paint for solar absorbers / solar panels

A. Hi Henry. Hopefully someone will provide a good answer you are happy with. But in a way your question is sort of like asking for the brand name of the most nutritious hard candy, because paint isn't really the best thing -- black chrome plating is, if there's a way you can get it and afford it. Not only is chrome more efficient as a collector because the coating is selective, but it also doesn't gas (when you put a painted collector under a glass lid in a solar collector to retain the heat, paint tends to volatilize and deposit an obscuring layer on the underside of the glass because it is an organic material. Good luck.

2nd Request

Q. I am looking for a suitable solar paint that has both good heat absorbent and poor heat emissive qualities, to paint on to a copper sheet solar absorber.

A. Thurmalox 250 (Dampney Products) is silicone based paint designed specifically for this purpose.

It is a viable replacement for black chrome, which was the previous best choice.

There are probably many others either currently on the market or about to be; selective emissivity paints have exploded in the market in the last few months.

Google "black solar paint" and you should come up with a number of them.

A. Hi Manak. Please follow Charles' advice, although you can add 'India' to his suggested search term. Sorry, but asking strangers on an anonymous internet for the brand name of the "best product" has repeatedly proved to be an irresistible temptation to people with vested interests to pose as satisfied customers and post glowing praise of their own products while trashing their competitors :-)

Regards,