Homemade solar collector
The contents
The idea of using solar energy for their own needs is a bit old, but still relevant. This is the most accessible and safe resource of heat and potentially electricity. Yet what we can do for your own purposes to use the heat energy, naturally, with pipe solar collector with his own hands, to buy such a thing is pointless, it will pay off in three years, not before.
If God is not offended talent to work with your hands, but experience in the construction of such devices not as much as I would like to try their ability in designing a very simple version of a homemade solar collector. To make solar heat collector based on the heat pump or heat pipe only if you have a good knowledge base on physical processes, although, in fact, they a little than differ from heat pipes, the cooling cost of the laptop or video card. To make a water solar collector is possible, but will need at least 150дол capital and a week of time.
Benefits of air solar collectors ↑
The best combination of performance, cost and reliability has an air solar collector. Moreover, the capitalists manage to sell absolutely simple and primitive device for a very large sum of money.
What are the advantages «air vent»:
- In the design of the manifold just nothing to break. Here he is even ahead of solar concentrators based on mirrors, paraboloid and any such fiction;
- Even if the idea you gave to the blemish or the slack, so the solar collector, carefully folded his own hands will still work, it will be possible to change, modify or improve until you reach the desired result;
- The appearance of the solar collector is unlikely to astound the imagination, but the fact that you can get under 70onWith, any skeptic will command respect.
Sometimes in storage in the garage or shed without a case and use lie the remains of building materials, which optionally can be used during Assembly. Numerous videos about the materials for the solar collector with his own hands saying that the easiest way to make a device using sheet-corrugated sheet of galvanized iron. The smartest try to manufacture solar collector of the steel pipe, profile, aluminum cans, bottles of soda, in General, from any trash caught by hand.
Actually, to make a serious thermal effect is required suitable material copper, aluminium, or corrugated, without painting or coating. From copper will give up immediately due to its high cost and high risk of theft of nonferrous metal fans.
What materials make the most efficient collector ↑
We will focus on the design of solar collector made of corrugated Board or sheet of aluminum, using steel tubes reduces the efficiency of solar drive, the use of thin-walled aluminum profiles give the best effect, but requires money and equipment. Specifically, 30mm tube PASS-1828 price will pull on a dollar per square meter, in addition, a large volume of welding operations using welding with argon, which will also cost about half the cost.
The collector of corrugated Board is approximately twice worse than the heat collects, but much cheaper. Reduction of efficiency easy kompensiruet, if you make the surface area of the structure more.
In addition to the corrugated sheet, you can use aluminum sheet, used for thermal insulation of furnaces or heating circuit. If you make him a profile similar to a corrugated sheet, will receive design, with all the cheapness and ease of work not inferior to a solar collector made of aluminum pipes.
Stages of manufacturing a solar collector ↑
Getting the maximum knowledge of everything that is available on the Internet, calculate your financial possibilities and make a choice for my first design manifold.
After determining the approximate size of the collector on the basis of available materials, proceed to the Assembly of the heat exchanger. The base manifold is the easiest way to make OSB plates with a thickness of 8-10mm. In addition, this same material will do the inlet and outlet air channels.
Make a number of basic technological operations in the following sequence:
- On the blank sheet of OSB lay on top the sheet of the corrugated sheet or improvised aluminum profile and make the layout location supply and discharge air, the side walls of the box. Procurement of pressure-treated wood should be more of this sheets for 10-15mm on the sides and 100mm for mounting the upper and lower ducts;
- Cut out OSB two workpiece width 50-60mm, depending on the height of the ribs of the corrugated sheet, Board size have to do with the width of the future of the heat exchanger. Put the workpiece on edge and applied to the end face of the steel sheet, pencil or marker, outline the contour of the profile on the workpiece. Next, jigsaw, make a cut on the workpiece a broken line, optionally driven by a grinding tool so that the contour of the cutout coincides with the curves of the corrugated sheet. Perform the same operation for the second end of the sheet profile;
- From the resulting billets will make OSB from the remnants of the box-shaped ducts, the ends of the walls should be done with minimal cracks. If the supply–air exhaust to the heat exchanger will be carried out through the side window, for the second hole should do the cover. Alternatively, the flow can be sum-to withdraw via an additional window in the center of the duct;
- Rear wall – the Foundation of OSB carefully primed and painted with several layers of bright paint or pasted over aluminum foil, used for culinary purposes. The best option would be to make the cover from a single piece of sheet metal, preferably galvanized.
- Over the coating, right on the layout, set the sheet of corrugated sheets, sheet edges and edges adjacent to the coating can handle oil paint or sealant. Along the perimeter of the sheet will do additional fixing with screws on wood.
- After the paint is dry-mounted box-shaped ducts and the side walls. The ends of the side walls and the walls of the duct needs to be in the same plane that will allow to stick on top of sheet glass or solid polycarbonate. After the installation of glass, its ends should stick with cloth tape to make them less sensitive to accidental bumps or chips.
To do built a full solar collector thermal appliance, Windows, inlet and outlet air must be attached kovrovye pipe and the blower motor, can I use with cooker hoods or dryers. At the place of installation make the corrugation in the heated room, and connect the fan to the power supply.
Test solar collector should be done in a variety of weather conditions and the sun’s position. The device has low inertia, within 10-15min of stay in direct sunlight, the discharge air temperature should rise to a minimum of 70onAnd above.
Embodiments of the solar collector ↑
Most often, the air solar collectors are built with their hands to make space heating less expensive, are used for heating of houses and warehouses.
Champions in popularity among solar collectors are a variety of heaters for garages.
A hit and highest point of the usefulness of air solar collector is the use of roof surface. Installing the collector on the roof, the owner will make protecting the house from the summer heat and get a huge flow of warm air through the channels is directed to aluminum water heat exchanger mounted on the roof ridge.
This scheme gives about 400W/CH from the square in the period from 9 to 18 hours in summer. In the presence of heat storage the issue of providing hot water will be resolved without costly vacuum or water solar collector.