真空管太阳能集热器的热损失最小，因此，其效率对环境温度、风条件和日照水平相对不敏感。入口温度从85°C（185°F）升高到132°C（270°F），平均效率仅降低13%。因此，与传统平板集热器相比，预测真空管集热器的性能更简单。本文提出了一个简单的手动程序来预测真空管集热器系统的性能。它基于各种应用的每小时计算机模拟结果，以及GE/Valley Forge开发的相关测试数据。引文:新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基市阿什雷学报第84卷第2部分

Vacuum tube solar collectors have minimal heat losses, therefore, their efficiency is relatively insensitive to ambient temperatures, wind conditions and insolation levels. Inlet temperature increases from 85°C (185°F) up to 132°C (270°F) reduce average efficiency by only 13%. Thus, it is simpler to predict performance of vacuum tube collectors than conventional flat plate collectors. A simple manual procedure is presented to predict the performance of vacuum tube collector systems. It is based on the results of many hourly computer simulations for various applications and of correlative test data developed at GE/Valley Forge.