This is an innovative technology which uses sunlight to heat water and is highly efficient! It may be hard to believe that there may be simple methods of heating water all year round using sunlight with inexpensive parts.
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure was the first person to ever devise a means
to heat water with solar energy, his work on this was done in the
1760s. He was also the first person to observe the greenhouse effect
that occurs when sunlight passes through glass.
http://www.sunbelt-solar.com/history.html
There are five general terms used to describe today's Solar Water Heating systems; direct, indirect, passive, active and batch.
A direct system heats the water to be used inside of the solar collector while an indirect system heats a pipe full of liquid to warm a tank of water.
Passive systems allow the natural flow of convection to circulate through the system and active systems use pumps.
Batch systems are comprised of a tank that sits inside of a solar collector, typically using the passive system.
Here's more general information about the types of solar water heating systems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_heating#Types_of_solar_water_heating_systems
The solar collectors come in four main types; flate plate, thermosyphon, batch and evacuated tube.
The following link is an example of a Flat Plate Solar Water Collector, they are similar in design to Photovoltaic Solar Panel Collectors. Though these do the job in warmer climates they are rather inefficient for winter heating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h8R_-LNYgo
Here is a video concerning Thermosyphon Collectors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLL_pB_lUno
DIY Thermosyphon Collector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOY49bH7Ocg
Here is an informational study in pdf format about them.
http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/bitstream/246246/86643/1/30.pdf
A video about a Batch Solar Collector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6BvsxFPN2o
DIY Batch Solar Collector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZxBQRyfKzo
Informational guide on Batch Solar in pdf format.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/15142/SolarHeaterManual.pdf;jsessionid=A74671A50D12E896A48228E0B9F6BC2C?sequence=1
Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are by far the most efficient collectors, known to heat water to 30 degrees celsius though the temperature outside is -30 celsius! They contain pipes of liquid inside of vacuum tubes which insulate the liquid from outside temperatures.
A video explaining these collectors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sK6s6TPfM8
DIY evacuated tubes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB9UkZe6u0M
Informational pdf document on tests.
http://www.heliodyne.com/industry_professionals/downloads/Evacuated%20Tube%20Comp.pdf
more information on diy evacuated tube solar collectors
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=441183012618626&set=a.383909261679335.87346.236978329705763&type=3&theater
this guide is a compilation of snippets taken from our solar water heating album
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.383909261679335.87346.236978329705763&type=3
A big thank you to
http://www.sunbelt-solar.com/history.html
There are five general terms used to describe today's Solar Water Heating systems; direct, indirect, passive, active and batch.
A direct system heats the water to be used inside of the solar collector while an indirect system heats a pipe full of liquid to warm a tank of water.
Passive systems allow the natural flow of convection to circulate through the system and active systems use pumps.
Batch systems are comprised of a tank that sits inside of a solar collector, typically using the passive system.
Here's more general information about the types of solar water heating systems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_heating#Types_of_solar_water_heating_systems
The solar collectors come in four main types; flate plate, thermosyphon, batch and evacuated tube.
The following link is an example of a Flat Plate Solar Water Collector, they are similar in design to Photovoltaic Solar Panel Collectors. Though these do the job in warmer climates they are rather inefficient for winter heating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h8R_-LNYgo
Here is a video concerning Thermosyphon Collectors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLL_pB_lUno
DIY Thermosyphon Collector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOY49bH7Ocg
Here is an informational study in pdf format about them.
http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/bitstream/246246/86643/1/30.pdf
A video about a Batch Solar Collector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6BvsxFPN2o
DIY Batch Solar Collector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZxBQRyfKzo
Informational guide on Batch Solar in pdf format.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/15142/SolarHeaterManual.pdf;jsessionid=A74671A50D12E896A48228E0B9F6BC2C?sequence=1
Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are by far the most efficient collectors, known to heat water to 30 degrees celsius though the temperature outside is -30 celsius! They contain pipes of liquid inside of vacuum tubes which insulate the liquid from outside temperatures.
A video explaining these collectors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sK6s6TPfM8
DIY evacuated tubes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB9UkZe6u0M
Informational pdf document on tests.
http://www.heliodyne.com/industry_professionals/downloads/Evacuated%20Tube%20Comp.pdf
more information on diy evacuated tube solar collectors
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=441183012618626&set=a.383909261679335.87346.236978329705763&type=3&theater
this guide is a compilation of snippets taken from our solar water heating album
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.383909261679335.87346.236978329705763&type=3
A big thank you to
for this great info. Please do visit their FB sites.
