FRESNEL LENS SUN COLLECTOR Heating a Swimming Pool with the Sun Solar Swimming Pool Heater

[acoustic4037]

Dan you are the man. Great videos as always. When do you find time to work and pay for your science park?

[usabbott48g]

Add me on Facebook pls

[TheBidore]

Hi, I wanna ask something, I have a project about how to use this fresnel lens but not for swimming pool, i wanna use it to heat the evaporating pond in the salt production, is that possible thanks...

[sfrance783]

bisag unsa nalnag e comment

[Magnumscoffeefreek]

just spray paint a radiator black and run your pool water through it.

[A785R]

How about focusing the lens on a 1" diameter copper pipe with the pool water flowing slowly through it via a small pump for better heat transfer before the water flows back into the pool?

[solarsunpacific]

Go to solarsunpacifc website for best solar pool panel prices. We'll do our best to beat any price.

[Ozarkorganicshiitake]

You have to focus the light on a dark mass inside the pool, works like a charm.

[EDDIEPIRRERA]

Hi, I'm interested to know a little bit more about the comment you made at the end of your video. You said that something black at the bottom of the pool - if the same size as the fresnel lens - would produce the same amount of energy as the fresnel lens. I have a small 15 foot round pool that I'd like to heat and was wondering if you could you explain this concept further? Thanks! PS - would you have any idea how much of the pool needs to be black and how long it would take to heat it up?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@EDDIEPIRRERA sq M of light is the same, Fresnel lenses concentrate so 1 sq M focused on a dark object is the same as 1 sq M of black material in a pool without the need for tracking. I could sell a lot more lenses if I pushed the pool concept but simple black objects are better. If the sun reaches the bottom of your pool, sink some black plastic to the bottom. Make sure no kids get tangled up in it. Plastic works as good as metal in water.

[EDDIEPIRRERA]

Hi @GREENPOWERSCIENCE - Thanks for taking the time to reply to my questions. I was still wondering if you could answer the last question I asked regarding how much of the pool - (a 15 foot above ground 4 feet deep round pool) - would have to be black and how long would it take to heat it up a few degrees? I'm considering putting some 4 foot round black vinyl on the bottom - as long as it sinks!

[ldmachine]

Hi, can you tell where you purchase such a large fresnel lens?

Thanks

[fucktopyo]

its a small pool my friend! i am too big for this !! ;)

[pullbackbaby]

Also, Perhaps a small "waterfall" or a couple of sorts could collect heat with a solar tracking rotor and target the lens on the fountain and a 12v module or more can provide a steady trickle or flow into the pool. No sun burns that way too! I swear she was just swimming and the fresnel lens melted her bikini off.. officer!

[pullbackbaby]

Your channel keeps getting better.

[chonesong]

I love the music. I'm imagining you and your wife dancing

around the lens ! All your videos are excellent !! Thank you

both !

[a10fjet]

not produce, gather

[junglemn113]

the problem with the burning the table is the focal point is on the table not in the middle of the water you can boil water with any lens

[AreaQNH870]

Solution: Make bottom of pool black. Or blue. Or anything non reflective.

[LizzyAston]

in theory, you could point this at yourself whilst under the water - you'd get a tan but you wouldn't burn!!

[14skillz]

double rainbow !!!!!!!!

[pigpal2]

is there any way i can get a discount? i really want one but i cant afford 70$

[TheLeilisa]

Being tall such as 6ft is an advantage in swimming ?

[charizard039]

yayy rainbow :D

[SokHomRocks]

this is not a swimming pool you liar

[hellercowboy]

what would happen if you put a sealed solar panel at the bottem of the tank? would it have a higher output?

[youngrelleus19]

dude thats not hot water rising its cornsyrup

[pingpongme]

it would be cool to see all that sun energy go through a solid block of clear ice and THEN burn the table

[datzfast]

@fungusamogus wtf are you talking about?

[cloudburstlenepmhq]

Free inexhaustible energy is real!But the Oil coporations life depends on covering this up,Check this free energy magnet motor at LT-MAGNET-MOTORdotCOM ,Big change is comming soon!

[630MillionGods]

This will not work

[michalchik]

paint the bottom of your pool black, no lens needed



[wyattlisadana]

WATER IS NOT CLEAR IN AFRICA YOU MEANER!

[ChemHandbook]

I burnt through a 5mm sheet of acrylic plastic once. It was so cool until it started to stink like hell and it was dripping all over the floor. Then it caught fire. I have refused to go near a Fresnel lens since.

[MrShahanwer]

Time lessor

[davetileguy]

try editing

[potgr]

so put the fish bowl over the solar panels and on top the Fresnel lens and reduce the heat problem that damages the solar panel, you can actually produce extra energy from the movement of the hot water or just use them as a solar water boiler .

[andreasfr1]

well, the smoke was pretty^^

[serentor]

lol, im glad windows arent like this, my fishes would become fishfingers hehe XD

[texxs01]

maybe a thermometer in the water?

[JanColdwater]

The vents will also act to keep the metal cool enough so it doesn't melt.

[JanColdwater]

Ok... you can heat the water with a Franel lenz. You just need it to be aimed at something that will heat inside the water on a dark base. So, why not make small franel lens that float on the water with a metal object inside with a dark base w/ vents to allow the water to absorb the heat??

[worldbmx]

Damn i found 1 fresnel lens on the scrapyard today..

but you know i couldn´t buy it so i couldn´t make this thaty you do :(

[HecticDeath]

Love watching your vids :D

[sackvegas]

My experience in lighting shows that light passing through a typical lensed luminaire will lose 10-15% of its light output compared to an open luminaire. Using this logic and his experiment I wonder if it would be more efficient to have a piece of flat metal in a pool vs a solar heater.....putting aside the fact that you have an ugly black thing in your pool

[planetrob555]

DAMN!

Stop fooling with the light and LET IT DO IT'S WORK!!

[Russkyfriend]

simple physics from elementary school....

[wewhippedemdidntwe]

Awesome lightshow!

[anthonymezzapelle]

what about algae blooms? wouldn't increased solar light cause increase in algae ?

[genexstyle]

chloride

[JMF2479]

no, you have chemicals in the pool to kill algae

[anthonymezzapelle]

is there a way to do this without exposure to more chemicals?

[JMF2479]

there is already chemicals in your pool. you don't need to add more. it's already balanced if you mix chemicals correctly. Don't shallow the pool water and you will be fine. lol

[cokerfarm118]

This method of heating water with Fresnel Lens I would like to try it but I do not know where to get the Fresnel Lens Please help me Kindly post your comments

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

@cokerfarm118 Check our website:-)

[dtvjho]

@cokerfarm118 Edmund Scientific in New Jersey

[DieterMe]

If you want to heat your swimming pool it is easy if you have some space left.

Lay around some black rubber mates or bitumium layers. Put some hundred meters

hose on it an pump the water through. Sun emmits about 1 Kilowatt per square meter

so it is only a matter of place to collect enough energy.

[icelez]

what about heating up poision leeching plastics to swim in

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

They never get more than the water temperature. So it would only be an issue if you swam in 130f water.

[ChristianSarbu]

@icelez yum, smart thinking

[2LateIWon]

What if you put like a dark food coloring to the water. Would that work?

[M4sk3dC4sp3r]

RAINBOW POWER!

[YairGeva7]

Just admit you Failed to boil that water... you Failed.

[PsychoticusRex]

if you want a warm pool, paint it black or use a black liner.

[lecochonbleu]

I'm guessing that Fresnel lenses must present a great opportunity for heating swimming pools - by the "boil water in a pot" method that Greenp.s. shows in a video.

I mean a highly organised method, with a pump, a secure pot (that's not going to disintegrate or burn if the system breaks down) dispelling hot water through a pipe every minute or so & taking in new water. Would the lens size requirement for winter (for the same size pot) be too big home pool, say New York?

[lecochonbleu]

Is it possible to set something like that up so it's not too dangerous to keep on? The lens & area between it and the pot are caged off - say running along the top of a high wall in a walled garden. Even if there's a tap trickling water into the pot all of the time, so hot water trickles out over fill level to a metal pipe, I suppose you can't rely on the tap not spilling out for any unexpected reason. Is there a material for this pot? If it's spilling without touching, the pipe could be O.K.

[christo930]

The Fresnel lens would have to be significantly larger than the pool to warm the pool. A lens doesn't increase the amount of heat, it concentrates it from a large area to a small area, so to heat a pool more than the open sun, you would need to increase the amount of sun hitting it, not concentrate a smaller amount of sunlight. If a pool has 10k square inch surface a 200 square inch Fresnel lens hitting it isn't going to do squat.

[Psychentist]

Yes, Archimedes used mirrors to torch units (so the story goes) he also died in that battle, and his side lost. It would be great for torture though. (See articles about the Spanish Inquisition)

[TheAmefist]

God I hope they don't use light as weapons that would be painful.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Lasers are the closest thing. Lenses or dishes with the sun would basically be impossible as all a target would have to do is either be mirrored, reflective white, or stay out of the focal point.

[mavropoulosg]

Archimedes did it.... Greeks are millenia in front...

[wolfsledgend]

@TheAmefist lol they have allready the germans had laser weapons in ww2 the war just ended before they could implement them. they have footage of them burning a rc mettal plane out of the sky.

[KarbineKyle]

Awesome! I love science videos! We will probably be dependent on the sun someday or geothermal, but all energy sources have their pros and cons. 5/5

[Dirtboy101]

It's so... PRETTY!!!

[guilio14]

iv been telling people this for years with the black matts at the bottom of the pool im glade people are starting to wake up and realise..

[Station90]

@guilio14 Hi, can you tell me where these black matts can be obtained? Thanks!

[okmoontan]

When using parabolic shapes to create a focal point, instead of going to the trouble of lining it with the mylar plastic, why not just paint the outside of it with regular mirror paint? Save time and effort.

[xxx777aaa]

hey ive been checking ure vids for awhile and thanks man they are inspiriing. so anyway how bout put the fresnel oto an a-coil or flat radiator panel (copper) and circulate a tube with another radiator into the water. add a solarpower pump to circulate the heated water and voila right? thats the idea thatsbeen in my headfor awhile

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Very good idea. It could be coupled or added to this concept.

watch?v=tE3QnqlnVOY

Thank you for the comment.

[felixthemaster1]

you made a video of boiling water. why is it featured?

[amybas]

put some bleu ink in it .. beleave me works good.. something to absorb the light

and radiation. :)

[eastofeaster]

You could you place a large piece of black builders plastic used in waterproofing concrete slabs. Very cheap, and lite to remove, attach a couple of pull ropes.

[hootiemcgrudy2]

For alanaldapierce- It would seem that the sun is still going to hit the rest of your pool like it normally does, but with a concentrated area of heat in one spot generating additional heat. I don't believe you need a lense larger than your pool to have this work.

[algae1000]

The same number of photons that normally hit the pool surface will not change because you put a fresnel lens over it. In fact, since a fresnel lens will dis-allow some of those photons to make it to the surface of the pool, there will be a net loss of energy to the pool. The frame of the lens, and the lens itself will either reflect light back out, or absorb it and release it to the air. The aquarium gained additional heat because the lens was larger, and the heat sink collected it.

[algae1000]

The only way this will work is to gather sunlight from another area outside of the pool perimeter, and add that to what is already hitting the pool. Concentrating the light that would hit the pool anyway will not raise the temperature. You need additional photons from somewhere else. The answer lies in the pool's ability to absorb the energy from the light which is why the black mats Dan showed at the bottom of the pool are the least expensive and most efficient way to heat it.

[benrweston]

you do not understand the concept of conservation of energy/matter

[alanaldapierce]

The lens heats things up by increasing the sunlight an object receives.

You can only heat a pool with the lens if the lens is actually BIGGER THAN THE POOL. Otherwise you're just redistributing the sunlight, while leaving the net power the pool is receiving the same.

Of course you could make a net gain if you rigged the lens so its shadow falls outside the pool and it's focus falsl inside, but then it wouldn't be normal to the sun making it ineffective.

All this experimenting is moot.

[brandon9271]

OR you could build a solar water heater out of that black tubing and put it in line with your pool pump :)

[lunewhite]

the refraction and -V- are cooling it if you used a tube to limit the refraction it would melt maybe another 2 lenses at the end of the tube wowowow :)

[josh1111111111111100]

way cool

[doktorfuture]

way cool!

[TheDragonknight123]

pretty cool

[marian362004]

hello. how much cost this lens,because i want to buy 1 ,where i can find to buy.thanks

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Go to our website:-)

[Zimmermania]

You're a hero Dan! Keep it up! If the big boys have big toys you win! You got toys nobody has even thought of yet! Kudos Rojas' !

[tippo747]

just paint you pool black....and it will be like a spa..in summer..........

which might be annoying

[1969info]

Heh Dan,I love your videos. I have a question about the fresnel lenses. Without adjusting your lenses after setting it, How long can you keep one focused on an object and keep the temp about 300F? Before the sun has moved too much. I plan on experienting as well but don't have any lenses yet. Thank you very much for your great videos. I really love the indepth detail you give about your videos subject. Thanks again.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Thank you for the nice comment. You need to adjust the lens every 10-15 minutes a optimal focal point. For 330F you could set the spot to be larger and this should give you 30-45 minutes.

[oscargurses]

good info, good video

[narcovice]

you dont need outside sun to cook you can project a mirror in your house from there use a lens and you have a good solar oven inside

[oscargurses]

you base this on what? i dount youve done it yourself, you lose intensity with every lens involved

[narcovice]

you lose nothing more then the sun itself outside as long as you shine a mirror in your house on the ceiling you can use that to cook i did it myself

[oscargurses]

ok, thanks for elaborating, i'll look into it. peace

[ncbookz]

build a fresnel lense shaped according to the curvature the sun movement

and then you do not need to worry about moving the plat form electronically

[betomas]

The music in the beginning is completely inappropriate for the "action" taking place during the course of the song. Please.

[Zenodilodon]

The other problem is distribution, you taking light away form the other parts of the swimming pool, so you would at best have a hot point but it would be cooler in other places. and just mix anyway, The idea shown is about the best idea available.

[Crusafriedchiken]

same resin you get blisters if u have drops of water on you, and then you lay out in the sun.

[Nesmorbutt]

what would happen if you diverted a small amount of your pool water from your discharge end of your pool pump and ran it via copper pipe "12mm" ,to an area out of the pool where the pipe would be if full focus of a parabolic dish or a fresnel lense, thus be super heated and returned to your pool, perhaps after a day or so you would notice a significant warming.

[Blue24U]

Sounds like a pretty sound idea there. Worth investigating me thinks.

[tainterlakeisgreen]

Yeah it's definitely possible and they are built commercially and at home. I work for a company and make solar thermal collectors that use this principle. Actually ours don't use mirrors. It's just a collection of long fins where water runs through.

Most of our customers use them to heat their domestic water, but its also popular for pool heating.

[sgvalley]

What kind of dark objects can you put on the bottom of the pool?

[laurasIs2c]

The video would go further in promoting examination of effective heat transfer by using a thermometer with the different demonstrations.

[tainterlakeisgreen]

It would also be neat to see him drop some "neutrally buoyant particles" of some sort, or a dye to the water. The convection is pretty noticeable already but it would be cool to see.

[asimov13647]

However, you could aim the light beam on a target IN the water which would heat up and transfer the heat to the water. I recommend ceramic because hot metal tends to react with water.

[solarcradle]

You people ROCK! Excellent video library!

Nothing better than something other than those darn humans, and how much money they can make on wasted resources! Peace!

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

:-)

PEACE!

[ilikefriedfood]

music from sxephil jerks lol

[johnQguy]

That demo was using a spot fresnel, right? Not a linear.

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Yes, this is a spot Fresnel Lens. Linear lenses work best on a long pipe.

[pinochska]

awesomee ideas!!

[spacedreamer]

aaaaaaaaaaah! it's so frustrating to watch you try to focus the lens continually for 3 minutes!!!

Why can't you edit this out?

You owe 3 minutes of life to every viewer

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Light show:-)

[crock703]

I wonder why pool owner don't just attach a equally wide swatch of black rubber (or something flexible and heat absorbent that wont leech chemicals) to their pool cover?

The black mat separated from the pool cover itself by several feet of connecting rope, it could sit in the shallow end, and be "rolled" up on top the pool cover (a white underbelly on the mat would make it indistinguishable when rolled up.)

[adamberk07]

im taking that to dragons den

[crock703]

dragon's den?

[adamberk07]

its a canadian show where people pitch ideas to rich investors..

dont worry, i wont

[Timthegreat2]

originally english

[bereaman]

Or just paint the pool black.?

[crock703]

I guess.. if you want a big black pool.

A downside to that might be that the black wil discolor not very uniformly and more quickly, looking patchy. Also, metal closer to the surface might be a better heat sink than a black pool floor.

Anyway, QUIT WALKING ALL OVER MY DREAMS MAN!!!

[bereaman]

Yes the pool does go patchy and doesnt look too good, just a thought, keep your dreams alive. MAN!!!.

[Procrastinatathor]

Love the refracted light mixed with smoke from the wood, amazing effect. Amazing refraction too!

[TheSolarBloke]

Hi Dan, Always enjoy your videos and also appreciate that you now use a tripod.

[jamespetts2]

This would work best if the bottom of the swimming pool was covered by a giant copper heatsink, but had a glass surface (to stop people's feet getting burnt), with holes in the glass to allow the hot water to circulate through the heatsink.

[TimpBizkit]

I don't think you'd need the glass cover. The water would be sufficient to cool the heat sink. You could have a black (classic oil treated finish)

[jamespetts2]

Presumably, the glass cover would be there to stop people from hurting their feet on the sharp edges of the heatsink?

[adamberk07]

would they get burned by the UV rays? they should have a separate little area that has water circulating but is closed off from the rest of the pool? ya?

[dadhadit]

o yes it dose and it works ! tks!!

Mike!!!

[Windradgucker]

Heating a swimmingpool with a lens does not make sense at all:

The lens must be much bigger than the pool in order to get more sunlight(=energy) than the pool itself.

And:

who on earth has got a pool with an glasbottom :D

The blue tiles on the bottom would transfer part of the sunlight into heat.

Maybe laying out a black rubbermat on the bottom of the pool would help getting more heatenergy.

But your videos are allways interesting

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

Agreed:-)

Thank You for the comment.

[azzmunched]

Following your acute perception of the EXAMPLE given, did you realize that it would not work at night also? His videos are more than interesting, they are very informative if you pay attention. I think those black shapes on bottom of the pool were doing what you so sharply suggested after watching the video. Ha! I'm not really that serious.

[alucard2107]

that was pretty cool. how hot did it get?

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

The water got to 110 F the heat sink I did not get any readings on. I melted fins off of one before with no water.

[DurAR89]

How long was the heat sink in the tank under direct Fresnel Lens beam? And how hot was the water at the end?

Thanx for another cool demonstration +5

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

The heat sink was exposed for about 20 minutes total and the tank was about 110 F when finished. On and off, heat sink and plastic, about 30 minutes.

Thank you for the comment:-)

[nakedblasphemy]

Wouldn't this be much more effective if you placed the heat sink at the top of the water and focused the heat there .... the water underneath would then absorb/cool the device so it wouldn't melt ???? The heat would then transfer to the water ???

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

It needs to be fully submerged to transfer all the heat to the water. The deeper the object is, up to a limit, the better circulation and water mixing you will obtain because the heated water will rise.

[honda4004]

hi would a black dye attract heat or would it still act as if the water were clear.if it did attract heat then you could add a neutraliser to make it clear again once it has heated.just intrigued as not much sun in england cheers

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

It depends on the amount of dye. If you cannot see the bottom, a majority of light will be absorbed, less the light reflected off of the surface. Actually you will have a more reflective surface if the water is black. Dark objects on the bottom work great. Winter the sun's angle usually prohibits direct light from hitting the bottom. Thank you for the comment.

[LinuxUser269]

nice light show!!

[GREENPOWERSCIENCE]

LOL

Instant tanning salon/swimming pool all in one:-)

[mani2oo]

And what if a swimming pool is parabolic shaped with reflexiv surface and focal point is in water :-)