Wrapping plastic around the PVC pipe should be the last step. Use outdoor double sided carpet tape to secure the clear plastic sheeting to the PVC pipe. This will hold in the heat.
I have some random sections of 6 inch sewer pipe. I can do the math on cutting into 1/3 slices. Using this with 3/4 ID iron pipe, how far from the bottom should I place the 3/4 water pipe. I just quick rigged somthing with tin foil (on a cloudy day) and it looks like approx 3 inches from foil to bottom of iron pipe will have the solar pin point in the center of the water pipe. Do I want to focus for center? A blank slate here.
@teknotoast The reflectivity isn't stronger at one point of the trough than another so it would make sense for it to be an equal distance rather than sunk in further.
Mind that focussing mirrors, like parabolic ones, only work for direct radiation, thus straight from facing the Sun. This applies in very dry and/or cloudless climates, like on the poles, hot deserts and the top of high mountains. In the tempered, rather cloudy climate zones, most of the solar radiation is diffuse (coming from all directions). In South Sweden f. ex, it is 80% diffuse and almost 100% in tropical rainforest climates - only flat solar panels can be effective there!
A practical use for a solar trough might be as the heat source for wood gasification. No open fire or flame needed to gasify the wood in the gasifier, which would make gasification even cheaper & require less wood overall.
Wood gas can fuel a generator for home power. Generator could recharge a battery bank while powering an electric burner beneath an alcohol still for fuel alcohol. BAM, home power & transportation needs covered without oil or coal. Sun would provide bulk of energy required for
Though I was Harrison Ford for a moment in Raiders from the Lost Ark about to be sawn in half in the camera shot from inside the pipe while being cut . Creative camera work Dan.
It was pointed out, but a radius is not a parabola. The focal point (Pf) of a radius, such as this pipe, is 1/2 the inside radius. Placing the ctr of your pipe exactly at the ctr of the Pf will cause the light from the reflector to hit the pipe evenly. Placing it below the Pf like yours is will cause it to aim at the top half of the pipe from behind. Placing ctr of the pipe above the Pf just shy of the pipe's radius will cause the light to concentrate in 1 line along the bottom of the pipe.
Something important to know is that PVC dust is carcinogenic when it is airborne and inhaled, so make sure you are wearing sufficient breathing protection when you cut it.
Are there advantages to using larger diameter pipe? 12" dia. vs. 6" dia., or is the cost difference not worth the increase?I ask as I have larger dia. pipe avail for free...
I love your enthusiasm. You have done many of the experiments that I have only given thought to. I would like to see some more videos where you show how to take the experiments one step further and make a practical solution where they can be used in every day living. 10 stars buddy. Great work.
@frazelle09 not an expert on trough tracking, but, did stay at a holiday inn...here tell usaully the trough is placed length wise east to west, horizon to horizon...as the sun comes up on the east and slowly travels westward the reflective trough should always catch the rays of the sun, this is passive tracking and...there are some tracking troughs that are active tracking..youtube vids should help you there...good luck..and..yes Dan and his wife have been an inspiration
Dear Dan: Thanks for all the work you've put into your projects! How would you suggest we set this up and would it need to track the sun to be more effective?
Belive it or not Free energy is real,But the big oil corporations don't want that technology revealed,Check this free energy magnet motor at LT-MAGNET-MOTORdotCOM ,Be a part of the energy revolution!
1) Assuming that the two holders are identical and horizontally level, mark onto the surface of the pipe the level of the top surfaces of both holders;
2) Do your first cut;
3) Place the pipe for the second cut and roll it around until your marks are aligned with the top surfaces of the two holders, either side respectively. By aligning it like this, you achieve near-exact symmetry.
Dan: Thanks for all the great videos! Wouln't it be better to raise the black pipe to the optimum focal length rather than having it sit so low in the trough?
hacer que youtube me lo traduzca al español me da muuuucha risa ! jajajaja "un poco de gran jugador" - "la sangre salpica afuera todavia"- "usted ve en realidad rock" jajajaja
hacer que youtube me lo traduzca al español me da muuuucha risa ! jajajaja "un poco de gran jugador" - "la sangre salpica afuera todavia"- "usted ve en realidad rock" jajajaj
i hate these!!! just because its leaking through my room!! there two on the roof..one was leaking(it stoped)...now the second one is...tearing my ceiling apart!
@Bertziethegreat a 40ft long 8ft half pipe of stainless can produce enough heat to separate the h2o to h & o the pipe heated orange and warped. one of the vids are in my playlist called joe ill try to find it.
@frankt04 Most air duct and flue pipe are too thin to be of practical use. If you want to polish and shape your own I would suggest .032 aluminum or stainless sheet or roll metal as a minimum thickness. you may want to go to 16 gauge if you are going to use it in an unprotected area. Polish and clear coat before bending into shape.
I'm working on this myself and considering first to put the mylar onto a sort of rubber / plastic perhaps a shower certain of some sort then to put that onto the inside of the trough.
Or perhaps better to just use a different adhesive material to smooth the surface problems that way you could use the squeegee to smooth the mylar and get rid of the dimples.
Wire wheel brush on a drill might smooth it out simple enough also.
Any ideas as to where I could purchase the thick reflective surface you're using? I am trying with 3 mil reflective mylar but am encountering some problems. The pvc I purchased is heavily dimpled(looked for the best but they are all equally "unsuitable") and is exaggerated upon adhesion. Anyone have any ideas as to rectifying this problem? Sanding tips, other reflective materials?
@anasynpunk What about the use of light thin but highly reflective/ highly polished.. stainless steel sheeting ... that cladders/ insulators use on tanks in the Pharmal or Brewing industries to clad Vessels.. a sheet metal works company may have some offcuts... just pop rivet same to a light wall pvc sewage pipe and use stop-end caps for the ends of the collector plus also the end caps could be cut into rings to stop the half pipe from loosing shape and slid down same at intervals
@anasynpunk why not put the mylar on cheap aluminum building flashing and then put the now shiny flashing inside the pipe. or take a buffer and shine polish the aluminum to a chrome like finish and skip the mylar altogether
You know this could be a business for eavetrough and siding for cold climates. Just use the mirrored trough with a black aluminum mesh flat top. Now you have a frost/ice proof trough that will never have ice dam issues that are absolutely plagueing canada. Thanks for the little boost I needed.
You should find the focus of the parabola to maximize the efficiency. (All of the sun will focus at exactly one point)
Measure your parabola and graph it properly on graph paper. Then find the equation in the standard parabola form (x - h)^2 = 4p (y - k). Use the points (h, k + p) to find the focus. Then convert your blueprint on the graph paper into the real thing. It'll work a whole lot better this way than if you guessed where to put the water piping.
hey uncle bob i have just sawn off the edge of my pe*** will driving down to the hospital give me a greater carbon footprint than crawling on my belly and using some gaffer tape ?these things i need to know . please reply soom as the blood is draining from my heeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaddddddd urrrrrrrrrrrrr
I made one of these and puchased the refletive meterial off Dan's web site I made it 4ft long and have perfict conditions for it to work but only get min temp differerence comming out no mater how slow I regulate water flow, how long do I need to make it to make 170F temp?
If you get your hand on stainless steel, please note that it has a large amount of nickel. If you heat stainless hot enough, it turns a dark blue and becomes an excellent absorber, but poor IR emitter, with an A/E ratio of up to 11. Then you can skip the paint. Try this on your parabolic mirror target!!
I have used metalized mylar for the reflective purpose, very good mirror. I like how you use the length of the tube to run along the path of the sun, but what about the yearly axis? this would be great on the equator, which i am not... haha
Don' you think that mirrors is not more efficient than hose spiral. If this spiral covers, let's say, 1m2 we use total sun energy, which sun gives to this 1m2. mirrors just focus energy to water pipe line, but not extra energy we receive. Am I right? (Sorry for my language).
I think I am right, but how about level of temperature - maybe in spiral hose it will be too low because energy is not enough focused. But on the other hand energy colection will be the same as in mirror panels (per m2).
I really do not know, if temperature is more important than total absorbed energy?!? Off course, mirror panels give higher temp. than simple hose, but in little amount of water, but this is maybe better because energy transfers from higher temp. to lower temp., while without mirrors we have bigger amount of water but maybe too cold so useless. ?????
@MetalTala for a 180 degree trough it is lower. The most efficient design would be 1/3 of the pipe but then you cannot cover. The half makes about 1" useless but the cut is easier and the cover insulates.
Just found you guys on YouTube & I couldn't stop watching. You gave me some great ideas & and a few laughs too. You may need to move out of the city to get away from the planes & cars :) Keep up the good work and thanks again for all your time and effort helping educate those of us new to going green.
after it rains how is the PARABOLIC TROUGH focus effected? I seen freshnel lenses were effected is that because the lens bent? Or was it more from the water acting as a lens? What if the rain side of the lens was flat and the inside curved?
Dan, to silence all the critics, I would like to see you mention in your vids what the various uses are for the thing you are creating. Like a mini history of what humans can do with the creation. From an educational standpoint, this would let the viewer know what the specific uses are. I am enjoying your vids and learning a bunch thanks for doing the work.
Sure but buffing out the chromium in the steel to a mirror finish won't be fun and no matter how great a job you do, it won't be true mirror like he has.
The other option?
Found large sheets of mirror tissue paper at the Dollar Tree for a dollar. True mirror chrome and you can just spray glue it to anything :D
I have also used PVC in a solar water heater. I havent had any problems, even though in sunny days the water gets up to 135 F (55 C). My heater cost a little less than this one. It is the main source for hot water in my house.
Here is a video about it:
just go to youtube(dot)com(slash)watch?v=KOY49bH7Ocg
Great videa, as most of them are. The only concern I would have is that galvanized pipe outgasses some pretty nasty stuff when it gets hot. Definitely would use copper or stainless as was suggested in the video.
It would also be better to use PEX instead of water hose. Not sure if water hose is potable safe, but they do use it on houseboats, so who knows.
this is going to waste heat when you need it, like at night, water flows through it, and it will cool.. and say, when the thing is full of ice or even snow, your more screwed.. not a good idea to do this on your house.
Dont have snow:-) and you have a shut off valve with an air gap at night. Also this is used with a heat exchange system and you collect heat all day then use at night.
If you are going to put this on the roof, it is best to mount it vertically in gangs, put a mirror below the lower end and raise it all above the snow line. I have got to agree that insulating the pipe is needed; a single layer of glass with a 1/8" air gap would be a great help. The Chinese are making evacuated quartz tubes in huge quantities for cheap (what else?). Perfect vacuum insulation. The pump runs while collector is hotter than the storage tank. One-way valves for night.
It only warps at 170 f+ at smaller wall thickness. This can hold up to 200f+ Also because it is lined with mirrored material and the backside is white, the PVC never gets hotter than 100f. Mirrored or white objects cannot get hot in the sun. Only dark objects. That is why the steel pipe is black.
Actually mirrored objects can get quite hot if infrared may not reflect or emit well. This is why polished metals get so hot in sunlight. There is no coating to interface light between the surface and air, leaving an A/E ratio of 3.
The glass cover alone will make a big difference.
Insulation should be reserved for the exit and enter pipe. Place CPVC onside of larger PVC. This creates an air barrier. Connect the CPVC to the steel pipe.
i realize that a half circle is not a true parabala but it seems that the water pipe should have been closer to the opening of the half circle. is there any math that could be applied in locating the best pipe placement? what i really really love about this projest is the fact it is soooooooo do-able!! now add a circlulating pump and a hot water heater with a heat exchanger in it and you have a kick butt system.
circular is a special case of parabolic? A more elongated parabolic shape is even more effective at focusing, but also more sensitive to direction of the incoming light.
Sarking foil is 35% mirror and 50% reflective, This is 85% mirror part A and 93% Part C. I have lined a dish with sarking foil, get warm but no real heat.
The blade needs to be as high as possible to prevent kickback! If you lower the blade it greatly increases kickback. Ask any professional wood worker, he'll tell you the same.
No problem, most people assume you want the blade low as possible other obvious safety reasons. It depends on the situation. If you are cutting anything that will start to pinch the blade more as you cut, you'll want the blade as high as possible. Otherwise the rule of thumb is generally to have the gullets of the teeth 1/8th inch above the material. Not the tips, but the gullets. depending on the blade that will put the tips of the teeth about 1" up
Resteurant grade aluminium foil works very well, comes in 1000sf rolls. I dont reccomend using PVC piping as it costs quite a bit these days. At least use mirror window film if you desire something more durable. A transparent film/sheet above will help prevent air cooling from robbing heat especially in winter.
Hi it was really good but i would want to know if I will be able to get the Mirror material you put in the pipe in bulk, I am in India near Bangalore, can I have your contact e-mail or Phone no. My No. is 9109741397779 thanks
good job Dan..got some interesting modifications on some units ive been working on, will send u info as soon as my tests r complete..share the knowledge baby! Michael
Thanks, You and your wife have some great videos. And also made me want to try alot of the things i seen on your vids. After seeing your vids make me want to go solar Powered.
This looks good; the big problem being substance to coat or cover the cut tube halves that is both highly reflective, and durable. --- And as for the adhesion; that is another thing! -- The most durable thing for this that I know is rolled, chrome plated brass, but that starts getting more costly. Any ideas, anyone??????
Love your videos, this is a great idea, be careful running hot water through a garden hose if you are using the water for bathing, most hoses release dangerous gases ass they heat up, just taste the water after it runs through a hot garden hose and you will know what i mean. add a tank above the solar collector and you now have a passive loop which will recirculate the water as hot water rises and cold water sinks, make sure you have a pressure relief valve on the hot outlet.
Dan, I just watched your trough reflector water heater. Could something like this be used behind the soda cans, in a soda can furnace? I'm guessing it would get the cans alot hotter? ALso, could it be mounted in a vertical position? Or is it horizontal to follow the sun from east to west? Thank you for any input. I am just starting to get involved with some of these ideas. Thanks Again.
Hello hardshells098765 , I am not Dan, but would like to respond to your question.
The solar popcan furnace holds many cans, which will shadow the mirror.
When you only use one row of cans, positioned in the focal point, the temperature will become extremely high at the outlet, provided that the system is well isolated.
It would be interesting to check the capacity in comparison with the "standard" popcan furnaces.
Instead of cans you could use an aluminium duct that is thicker.
Where did my previous comment go? Are these getting deleted so no one can find alternative reflective materials?? Check out ReflecTech. It isn't cheap but I think it would do a great job.
Unforturnately the PVC pipe is a half circle and not a parabola so I'm not sure this will help much. I would think that the focal point on a circle is the axis or simply 1/2 Diameter.
Given you only have to hit a pipe which is a big target, the half circle is probably good enough. The focal point of a circle and a parabola of similar size are pretty close.
The focal point of a circular mirror is 1/2 the radius of curvature.
All I found on website was like a dozen or so advertisments per page and just links back to youtube. :(
Perhaps I did it wrong but first impressions are often the last.
More followthru please! I can understand that you want to make money off of the internet but please provide complete information to make your ideas usefull to the people that are interested in them... You'll get more traffic when people find it good enough that you get free 'word of mouth' advertising for your site.
Dan, let's say you wanted to use this technology to heat a radiant slab floor heating. Would that be a possibility first? Secondly, what about creating a large parabolic form and using concrete or fiberglass like your other video and just put it on the ground. Lets say it was really cold outside, could you still counteract the cold with the sun? If you were going to just use a form and some cheap concrete you could make a quite large shape and lets say length was also unlimited. Great Vids!!!!!!
nice concept. using reflective car/home tint isnt a bad idea. you could look for R90 tint ("R"eflective, 90%) i guess. maybe that's what he's using here, but i have no idea.
how did you find the focal length of the reflector? what is the material of the reflector? what would be the output temperature if a fresnel lens is used along with the reflector?
ok thanks for the video basics. dose anyone have video of a full arch working. i know they are dangerous and if the pipe breaks the h2o in its broken down state can ingite. i have a blog and would like some refrences on what i wrote the story about. I am looking for video of something about 4feet tall creating steam. posabley running something
What's the name of the material your using for the reflective surface. I have and old satilite dish I can get that is 10 feet in diameter and I would love to turn it into a parabolic mirror with a sterling engine on it but what is the material?
I searched "trough Liner" and "reflective material" and other such search words as mirors etc. etc. and the only thing I can find is Mylar but you said this wasn't Mylar so what is the name of the material and I'll buy it....No luck trying to find what this is without some pointer...is there a company name on the back that I can google?
If I built an array of say four of these and wanted to pump water through them, do you have any advice on where to get a water pump. Preferably something that could be powered by solar cells.
If you are circulating water in a closed loop, then a simple 12v or 6v pump will work. If you have plastic impellers (metal is hard to find) place the pump on the input between the first trough and the heat exchange unit, this will keep the really hot water out of your pump. Also, a faster flow rate runs lower max temps but transfers about the same overall energy. DC motors can run on lower voltage so clouds will not be a problem.
now i got an old grill that is still pretty good to use with charcoal, but coulnt i just get that parabolic mirrored plastic and stick some to the inside part of my grill?? cause the outside is already black, i think it would but i dunno
I watched this video today on creating a trough reflector. You mention a type "C" reflector. Do you have a cut list that you have developed with sources for the reflective materials you've shown? Also, is there a formula for tank size per linear foot of reflector? Thanks!
did I miss the part where the half circle becomes a parabola? You know, as in "parabolic"?
scott98390 2 weeks ago
what is the name of the reflective surface u used and where can i get it?
BOBMEHRify 3 weeks ago
Great video BTW. ;-)
SurvivalinstinctUK 3 weeks ago
wouldnt half round guttering do the same, and mylar emergency blanket spray glued. Thought it might be cheaper?
SurvivalinstinctUK 3 weeks ago
Great design and video !
ScalerWave 3 months ago
Wrapping plastic around the PVC pipe should be the last step. Use outdoor double sided carpet tape to secure the clear plastic sheeting to the PVC pipe. This will hold in the heat.
ucjb2 4 months ago
Wrapping plastic around the PVC pipe should be the last step
ucjb2 4 months ago
so this will actually heat the water (in full sun) as it travels through the pipe at pressure? (how much pressure?)
so, actually it operates like a tankless water heater?
marz3335 4 months ago
how did you mount that pivot on your table saw? drill it?
marz3335 4 months ago
"shape as a parabolic..." easy to say, isn't it?
em84009 4 months ago
Is it worth the effort to get a true parabolic surface as opposed to a hemicircular surface?
SecularMentat 5 months ago
wonder if mylar would work as a reflective material with something to hold it up.
Unclesamslair 7 months ago
Dan,
I have some random sections of 6 inch sewer pipe. I can do the math on cutting into 1/3 slices. Using this with 3/4 ID iron pipe, how far from the bottom should I place the 3/4 water pipe. I just quick rigged somthing with tin foil (on a cloudy day) and it looks like approx 3 inches from foil to bottom of iron pipe will have the solar pin point in the center of the water pipe. Do I want to focus for center? A blank slate here.
28bull 7 months ago
5:19 thats what she said
bladerockss 7 months ago
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PaperHeartFor2 8 months ago
A good focal point calculator mscir.tripod.com/parabola/
Nicholsp02 8 months ago
and what's material you use to make mirrors?
Bekzat95kz 10 months ago
pipe is too low in trough.
mocatz187 10 months ago
@mocatz187 no, no it's not.
teknotoast 10 months ago
@teknotoast The reflectivity isn't stronger at one point of the trough than another so it would make sense for it to be an equal distance rather than sunk in further.
mocatz187 10 months ago
thanks dan ilove your videos
696969640 10 months ago
Mind that focussing mirrors, like parabolic ones, only work for direct radiation, thus straight from facing the Sun. This applies in very dry and/or cloudless climates, like on the poles, hot deserts and the top of high mountains. In the tempered, rather cloudy climate zones, most of the solar radiation is diffuse (coming from all directions). In South Sweden f. ex, it is 80% diffuse and almost 100% in tropical rainforest climates - only flat solar panels can be effective there!
Thermospecialist 10 months ago
A practical use for a solar trough might be as the heat source for wood gasification. No open fire or flame needed to gasify the wood in the gasifier, which would make gasification even cheaper & require less wood overall.
Wood gas can fuel a generator for home power. Generator could recharge a battery bank while powering an electric burner beneath an alcohol still for fuel alcohol. BAM, home power & transportation needs covered without oil or coal. Sun would provide bulk of energy required for
mangyscavenger 10 months ago
Though I was Harrison Ford for a moment in Raiders from the Lost Ark about to be sawn in half in the camera shot from inside the pipe while being cut . Creative camera work Dan.
trespire 10 months ago
It was pointed out, but a radius is not a parabola. The focal point (Pf) of a radius, such as this pipe, is 1/2 the inside radius. Placing the ctr of your pipe exactly at the ctr of the Pf will cause the light from the reflector to hit the pipe evenly. Placing it below the Pf like yours is will cause it to aim at the top half of the pipe from behind. Placing ctr of the pipe above the Pf just shy of the pipe's radius will cause the light to concentrate in 1 line along the bottom of the pipe.
subsonykexorcist 11 months ago
Something important to know is that PVC dust is carcinogenic when it is airborne and inhaled, so make sure you are wearing sufficient breathing protection when you cut it.
subsonykexorcist 11 months ago
Are there advantages to using larger diameter pipe? 12" dia. vs. 6" dia., or is the cost difference not worth the increase?I ask as I have larger dia. pipe avail for free...
robherrdotcom 11 months ago
I love your enthusiasm. You have done many of the experiments that I have only given thought to. I would like to see some more videos where you show how to take the experiments one step further and make a practical solution where they can be used in every day living. 10 stars buddy. Great work.
Benny
ynnebbenny 1 year ago
For all the people asking for reflective film check out "3M Solar Mirror Film 1100"
euxle 1 year ago
This video is great because many people could actually make and use this....solar is hot...
MrEnergyCzar 1 year ago 8
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smokesupp 1 year ago
i laughed at 5:13 - 5:23
jplastow 1 year ago
use a wet-saw, can usually rent one for a few bucks from a hardware store.
ostralopithicus 1 year ago
@frazelle09 not an expert on trough tracking, but, did stay at a holiday inn...here tell usaully the trough is placed length wise east to west, horizon to horizon...as the sun comes up on the east and slowly travels westward the reflective trough should always catch the rays of the sun, this is passive tracking and...there are some tracking troughs that are active tracking..youtube vids should help you there...good luck..and..yes Dan and his wife have been an inspiration
s4a4v4y 1 year ago
Dear Dan: Thanks for all the work you've put into your projects! How would you suggest we set this up and would it need to track the sun to be more effective?
Have a great evening! :)
frazelle09 1 year ago
Can we also make a long solar cell and use it instead of a water pipe, that would collect and convert more sunlight into electrons?
GameOver1260 1 year ago
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prop23FAIL 1 year ago
good
triksrin 1 year ago
You could measure a near-exact cut:
1) Assuming that the two holders are identical and horizontally level, mark onto the surface of the pipe the level of the top surfaces of both holders;
2) Do your first cut;
3) Place the pipe for the second cut and roll it around until your marks are aligned with the top surfaces of the two holders, either side respectively. By aligning it like this, you achieve near-exact symmetry.
4) Do your second cut.
5) Voila.
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glennjgd 1 year ago
Dan: Thanks for all the great videos! Wouln't it be better to raise the black pipe to the optimum focal length rather than having it sit so low in the trough?
bgbyer 1 year ago
@bgbyer Can this optimum focal be calucalated or is it simply trial and error ? Great comment !
southernone1 1 year ago
@southernone1 Dan has an excel program at his website or you can see this
mscir.tripod (dot com)/parabola/
bgbyer 1 year ago
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hacer que youtube me lo traduzca al español me da muuuucha risa ! jajajaja "un poco de gran jugador" - "la sangre salpica afuera todavia"- "usted ve en realidad rock" jajajaja
rogeliodr 1 year ago
hacer que youtube me lo traduzca al español me da muuuucha risa ! jajajaja "un poco de gran jugador" - "la sangre salpica afuera todavia"- "usted ve en realidad rock" jajajaj
rogeliodr 1 year ago
How well does this actually work? A pipe is used, which is a circular curve, not a parabolic one.
galacticflophouse 1 year ago
i hate these!!! just because its leaking through my room!! there two on the roof..one was leaking(it stoped)...now the second one is...tearing my ceiling apart!
DoubleAG90 1 year ago
If you heated the PVC enough, a little pressure could be aplied to make a more parabolic shape out of the half-cylinder.
L00NGB00W 1 year ago
Interesting stuff.
Shalek 1 year ago
If you built a bigger version of this, could you use it for a steam generator?
Bertziethegreat 1 year ago
@Bertziethegreat a 40ft long 8ft half pipe of stainless can produce enough heat to separate the h2o to h & o the pipe heated orange and warped. one of the vids are in my playlist called joe ill try to find it.
koch46 1 year ago
@koch46 you can't separate H20 into hydrogen and oxygen with heat.
You had water vapor.
kennydelmar 1 year ago
Would it be possible to half metal air duct and give it a shine.
frankt04 1 year ago
@frankt04 Most air duct and flue pipe are too thin to be of practical use. If you want to polish and shape your own I would suggest .032 aluminum or stainless sheet or roll metal as a minimum thickness. you may want to go to 16 gauge if you are going to use it in an unprotected area. Polish and clear coat before bending into shape.
2Cweed 1 year ago
I used to sell this design in the 1980's. I have the plans to make this even more efficient
wifitekman 1 year ago
PVC will soften before 180 degree temp has this made any problems
zerkoo 1 year ago
doing this can decrease the distance of pipe needed to heat water?
leepastrana 1 year ago
a riving knive on the saw would stop the pinching, where come from its a legal requrement.
antcowan 1 year ago
I'm working on this myself and considering first to put the mylar onto a sort of rubber / plastic perhaps a shower certain of some sort then to put that onto the inside of the trough.
Or perhaps better to just use a different adhesive material to smooth the surface problems that way you could use the squeegee to smooth the mylar and get rid of the dimples.
Wire wheel brush on a drill might smooth it out simple enough also.
Shleeshtak 1 year ago
Any ideas as to where I could purchase the thick reflective surface you're using? I am trying with 3 mil reflective mylar but am encountering some problems. The pvc I purchased is heavily dimpled(looked for the best but they are all equally "unsuitable") and is exaggerated upon adhesion. Anyone have any ideas as to rectifying this problem? Sanding tips, other reflective materials?
anasynpunk 1 year ago
@anasynpunk Hi,
Go to our website link, you are looking for part C.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 1 year ago
@GREENPOWERSCIENCE
You can buy this Type from Solarfocus.
They sell it as CPC and you can find it here: solarfocus.at
FriedlMichael 6 months ago
@anasynpunk What about the use of light thin but highly reflective/ highly polished.. stainless steel sheeting ... that cladders/ insulators use on tanks in the Pharmal or Brewing industries to clad Vessels.. a sheet metal works company may have some offcuts... just pop rivet same to a light wall pvc sewage pipe and use stop-end caps for the ends of the collector plus also the end caps could be cut into rings to stop the half pipe from loosing shape and slid down same at intervals
malachy1847 1 year ago
@anasynpunk why not put the mylar on cheap aluminum building flashing and then put the now shiny flashing inside the pipe. or take a buffer and shine polish the aluminum to a chrome like finish and skip the mylar altogether
datzfast 1 year ago
Would it be more effective if you covered the entire half pipe with plexiglass to create some green house effect for it?
addiktion13 1 year ago
You know this could be a business for eavetrough and siding for cold climates. Just use the mirrored trough with a black aluminum mesh flat top. Now you have a frost/ice proof trough that will never have ice dam issues that are absolutely plagueing canada. Thanks for the little boost I needed.
magicyte 1 year ago
How about just spraying some chrome paint on the PVC half pipe, instead of the chrome sheeting?
ChowZeb 1 year ago
You should find the focus of the parabola to maximize the efficiency. (All of the sun will focus at exactly one point)
Measure your parabola and graph it properly on graph paper. Then find the equation in the standard parabola form (x - h)^2 = 4p (y - k). Use the points (h, k + p) to find the focus. Then convert your blueprint on the graph paper into the real thing. It'll work a whole lot better this way than if you guessed where to put the water piping.
idontknow307 1 year ago
hey uncle bob i have just sawn off the edge of my pe*** will driving down to the hospital give me a greater carbon footprint than crawling on my belly and using some gaffer tape ?these things i need to know . please reply soom as the blood is draining from my heeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaddddddd urrrrrrrrrrrrr
acefreaky 1 year ago
I'm wondering which would be better, a parabolic trough or a absorberplate design?
bret354 1 year ago
Is it really insulated well enough to hold heat through the night?
HashDylan 1 year ago
Comment removed
tankdog951 1 year ago
I made one of these and puchased the refletive meterial off Dan's web site I made it 4ft long and have perfict conditions for it to work but only get min temp differerence comming out no mater how slow I regulate water flow, how long do I need to make it to make 170F temp?
tankdog951 1 year ago
Thanks so much !
red8hk 1 year ago
And now we have a parabolic... solar reflector, heater... How do I use it??
erasmusso 1 year ago 2
This is great, Dan R.
If you get your hand on stainless steel, please note that it has a large amount of nickel. If you heat stainless hot enough, it turns a dark blue and becomes an excellent absorber, but poor IR emitter, with an A/E ratio of up to 11. Then you can skip the paint. Try this on your parabolic mirror target!!
avid0g 1 year ago
I have used metalized mylar for the reflective purpose, very good mirror. I like how you use the length of the tube to run along the path of the sun, but what about the yearly axis? this would be great on the equator, which i am not... haha
denmanhippy 1 year ago
Don' you think that mirrors is not more efficient than hose spiral. If this spiral covers, let's say, 1m2 we use total sun energy, which sun gives to this 1m2. mirrors just focus energy to water pipe line, but not extra energy we receive. Am I right? (Sorry for my language).
AAAAAKuba 1 year ago
I think I am right, but how about level of temperature - maybe in spiral hose it will be too low because energy is not enough focused. But on the other hand energy colection will be the same as in mirror panels (per m2).
AAAAAKuba 1 year ago
I really do not know, if temperature is more important than total absorbed energy?!? Off course, mirror panels give higher temp. than simple hose, but in little amount of water, but this is maybe better because energy transfers from higher temp. to lower temp., while without mirrors we have bigger amount of water but maybe too cold so useless. ?????
AAAAAKuba 1 year ago
You can rotate the reflector once bi weekly or so to optimize sun tracking.
avid0g 1 year ago
should the pipe not be nearer the top of the trough (the centre of the complete circle)
MetalTala 1 year ago
@MetalTala for a 180 degree trough it is lower. The most efficient design would be 1/3 of the pipe but then you cannot cover. The half makes about 1" useless but the cut is easier and the cover insulates.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 1 year ago
Just found you guys on YouTube & I couldn't stop watching. You gave me some great ideas & and a few laughs too. You may need to move out of the city to get away from the planes & cars :) Keep up the good work and thanks again for all your time and effort helping educate those of us new to going green.
Zlakemann 1 year ago
after it rains how is the PARABOLIC TROUGH focus effected? I seen freshnel lenses were effected is that because the lens bent? Or was it more from the water acting as a lens? What if the rain side of the lens was flat and the inside curved?
joshpceeg 2 years ago
@joshpceeg Just temporally diffused Fresnel Grooves are filled that makes the FL longer Mirrors have no grooves.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 1 year ago
No need for that mate. Just use some house Guttering. :-)
MrWombatPPC 2 years ago
2:26 How the hell did you mount a camera inside that thing?
nightvid08 2 years ago
Dan, to silence all the critics, I would like to see you mention in your vids what the various uses are for the thing you are creating. Like a mini history of what humans can do with the creation. From an educational standpoint, this would let the viewer know what the specific uses are. I am enjoying your vids and learning a bunch thanks for doing the work.
MrRyhoppster 2 years ago
Where do you get that flexible mirror sheeting my friend?
JonDeth 2 years ago 3
dunno ....but an 8 x 4 (foot) sheet of thin stainless steel is about £40 .
roll it up and tape it and it should fit in your car boot.
neiallswheel 2 years ago
Sure but buffing out the chromium in the steel to a mirror finish won't be fun and no matter how great a job you do, it won't be true mirror like he has.
The other option?
Found large sheets of mirror tissue paper at the Dollar Tree for a dollar. True mirror chrome and you can just spray glue it to anything :D
JonDeth 2 years ago
I have also used PVC in a solar water heater. I havent had any problems, even though in sunny days the water gets up to 135 F (55 C). My heater cost a little less than this one. It is the main source for hot water in my house.
Here is a video about it:
just go to youtube(dot)com(slash)watch?v=KOY49bH7Ocg
jaketeater 2 years ago
Great videa, as most of them are. The only concern I would have is that galvanized pipe outgasses some pretty nasty stuff when it gets hot. Definitely would use copper or stainless as was suggested in the video.
It would also be better to use PEX instead of water hose. Not sure if water hose is potable safe, but they do use it on houseboats, so who knows.
It would be an excellent pool heater.
Thanks for all the vids. Cool stuff.
jeffjohnvol 2 years ago
What are you using for the Part C reflective material?
whtrepblcn 2 years ago
this is going to waste heat when you need it, like at night, water flows through it, and it will cool.. and say, when the thing is full of ice or even snow, your more screwed.. not a good idea to do this on your house.
danratsnapnames 2 years ago
Dont have snow:-) and you have a shut off valve with an air gap at night. Also this is used with a heat exchange system and you collect heat all day then use at night.
Works great.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
People have been asking, what is that adhesive mirror? is it something you can get at a hardware store?
sev07pass 2 years ago
and the part c mirror?
sev07pass 2 years ago
If you are going to put this on the roof, it is best to mount it vertically in gangs, put a mirror below the lower end and raise it all above the snow line. I have got to agree that insulating the pipe is needed; a single layer of glass with a 1/8" air gap would be a great help. The Chinese are making evacuated quartz tubes in huge quantities for cheap (what else?). Perfect vacuum insulation. The pump runs while collector is hotter than the storage tank. One-way valves for night.
avid0g 1 year ago
The video does not mention the fact of the high toxicity of pvc when it is not specific for high temperature
SEKILIN 2 years ago
I use super-heated sand to heat PVC to the point that I can mold it. I'm currently making rain gutters for my house out of 3 inch PVC.
DominickBlack 2 years ago
The PVC pipe is gonna warp/melt in the sun's heat.
DominickBlack 2 years ago
No,
It only warps at 170 f+ at smaller wall thickness. This can hold up to 200f+ Also because it is lined with mirrored material and the backside is white, the PVC never gets hotter than 100f. Mirrored or white objects cannot get hot in the sun. Only dark objects. That is why the steel pipe is black.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
Thanks for the info. You R really educating me.
I'm gonna build this soon in order to try and heat my pool.
DominickBlack 2 years ago 6
Actually mirrored objects can get quite hot if infrared may not reflect or emit well. This is why polished metals get so hot in sunlight. There is no coating to interface light between the surface and air, leaving an A/E ratio of 3.
avid0g 1 year ago
If i put a glass cover on top and insulate the back . will it still be cost effective at 32 degrees temp?? any input here is greatefull ..
silverbird58 2 years ago
The glass cover alone will make a big difference.
Insulation should be reserved for the exit and enter pipe. Place CPVC onside of larger PVC. This creates an air barrier. Connect the CPVC to the steel pipe.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
i realize that a half circle is not a true parabala but it seems that the water pipe should have been closer to the opening of the half circle. is there any math that could be applied in locating the best pipe placement? what i really really love about this projest is the fact it is soooooooo do-able!! now add a circlulating pump and a hot water heater with a heat exchanger in it and you have a kick butt system.
brent41m 2 years ago
circular is a special case of parabolic? A more elongated parabolic shape is even more effective at focusing, but also more sensitive to direction of the incoming light.
JPRubber2 2 years ago
Where does one purchase the mirror film for this project?
spiritwalker6153 2 years ago 2
At smoke shops/grow stores. It's called Mylar.
buddcinder 2 years ago
Hi,
We have it on our website. Mylar is different and usually crinkled. You need a smooth surface.
Dan
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
Sarking foil
flyingpigstuff 2 years ago
Sarking foil is 35% mirror and 50% reflective, This is 85% mirror part A and 93% Part C. I have lined a dish with sarking foil, get warm but no real heat.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
The blade needs to be as high as possible to prevent kickback! If you lower the blade it greatly increases kickback. Ask any professional wood worker, he'll tell you the same.
Fentanyl3 2 years ago
I didn't know that, thanks.
iDesell 2 years ago
No problem, most people assume you want the blade low as possible other obvious safety reasons. It depends on the situation. If you are cutting anything that will start to pinch the blade more as you cut, you'll want the blade as high as possible. Otherwise the rule of thumb is generally to have the gullets of the teeth 1/8th inch above the material. Not the tips, but the gullets. depending on the blade that will put the tips of the teeth about 1" up
Fentanyl3 2 years ago
I've been cutting some thick wood and i kept the blade as high as the wood. Kickback was huge and now with blade higher it became a lot easier.
iDesell 2 years ago
Correct. When the blade is high it's forcing the work against the table, not resisting feeding the work into the blade.
westkan 2 years ago
Resteurant grade aluminium foil works very well, comes in 1000sf rolls. I dont reccomend using PVC piping as it costs quite a bit these days. At least use mirror window film if you desire something more durable. A transparent film/sheet above will help prevent air cooling from robbing heat especially in winter.
Icyndeep 2 years ago
Hi it was really good but i would want to know if I will be able to get the Mirror material you put in the pipe in bulk, I am in India near Bangalore, can I have your contact e-mail or Phone no. My No. is 9109741397779 thanks
TheSharath1969 2 years ago
What reflective material are you using inside of the PVC and where do you purchase it....thanks
dkpd1581 2 years ago
Reflective Mylar.
brianhoopajoo 2 years ago
About making your water pipe black. Mat black heats better than gloss. If you use black plastic pipe, lightly sand off the gloss.
Heating cement through solar needs both to be insulated from ground cooling.
riftalope 2 years ago
Hi good gadget making.
FYI
cutting lots of plastic on bench saw?
Buy a TRIPLE CHIP saw blad cuts cool,
not crack plastic
also a wood buzzer is great for fixing rough sawcuts on plastic. set to minimum cut depth.
2222satnee 2 years ago
Good ides thanks
jadoon663 2 years ago
yak yak yak
but fun ideas
bobs12andahalf2 2 years ago
for the same $500 you can buy a better system on the internet , just saying
dynamicsolutionsllc 2 years ago
good job Dan..got some interesting modifications on some units ive been working on, will send u info as soon as my tests r complete..share the knowledge baby! Michael
RadiancePower 2 years ago
Great, but we would like to see it functioning make part 2 : )
espido 2 years ago
Thanks, You and your wife have some great videos. And also made me want to try alot of the things i seen on your vids. After seeing your vids make me want to go solar Powered.
MrMardiGrasGuy 2 years ago
Thank you for the great comment:-)
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
hey Grayjc, bite the big one...showoff!
packagewarren 2 years ago
This looks good; the big problem being substance to coat or cover the cut tube halves that is both highly reflective, and durable. --- And as for the adhesion; that is another thing! -- The most durable thing for this that I know is rolled, chrome plated brass, but that starts getting more costly. Any ideas, anyone??????
viking1au 2 years ago
Love your videos, this is a great idea, be careful running hot water through a garden hose if you are using the water for bathing, most hoses release dangerous gases ass they heat up, just taste the water after it runs through a hot garden hose and you will know what i mean. add a tank above the solar collector and you now have a passive loop which will recirculate the water as hot water rises and cold water sinks, make sure you have a pressure relief valve on the hot outlet.
Wertyouch 2 years ago
Thank you for your ideas.
Can you give a list of other material that are flexible and mirror like?
Thanks for your response.
polytruthlaughs 2 years ago
i need buy it
im from mexico
pleasee
vaquerosk8 2 years ago
ey my firendsss help meee. i need known the name of the kind of aluminium that was used in this concetrator.
pleaasee giveme thee nameeee
vaquerosk8 2 years ago
sawsome!
eurogoldexchange 2 years ago
Dan, I just watched your trough reflector water heater. Could something like this be used behind the soda cans, in a soda can furnace? I'm guessing it would get the cans alot hotter? ALso, could it be mounted in a vertical position? Or is it horizontal to follow the sun from east to west? Thank you for any input. I am just starting to get involved with some of these ideas. Thanks Again.
hardshells098765 2 years ago
Hello hardshells098765 , I am not Dan, but would like to respond to your question.
The solar popcan furnace holds many cans, which will shadow the mirror.
When you only use one row of cans, positioned in the focal point, the temperature will become extremely high at the outlet, provided that the system is well isolated.
It would be interesting to check the capacity in comparison with the "standard" popcan furnaces.
Instead of cans you could use an aluminium duct that is thicker.
321ozzy 2 years ago
Paint the duct black for better heat absorbtion. The thickness of the material of the duct will increase the capacity.
Make sure that the duct is much smaller in diameter than the parabolic (or semi-parabolic) mirror.
Good luck
321ozzy 2 years ago
Where did my previous comment go? Are these getting deleted so no one can find alternative reflective materials?? Check out ReflecTech. It isn't cheap but I think it would do a great job.
JasonPAtkins 2 years ago
u stink
TimJamesSaunders 2 years ago
The formula is: Y=X^2/(4 x h)
h=focal point
Unforturnately the PVC pipe is a half circle and not a parabola so I'm not sure this will help much. I would think that the focal point on a circle is the axis or simply 1/2 Diameter.
grayjc 2 years ago
Given you only have to hit a pipe which is a big target, the half circle is probably good enough. The focal point of a circle and a parabola of similar size are pretty close.
The focal point of a circular mirror is 1/2 the radius of curvature.
sjh7132 2 years ago
See my video on a calculator for parabola / focus. You can email me for a free copy (email address on the video). Walter
wjj4832 2 years ago
Check our website, we have links:-)
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
All I found on website was like a dozen or so advertisments per page and just links back to youtube. :(
Perhaps I did it wrong but first impressions are often the last.
More followthru please! I can understand that you want to make money off of the internet but please provide complete information to make your ideas usefull to the people that are interested in them... You'll get more traffic when people find it good enough that you get free 'word of mouth' advertising for your site.
buckstarchaser 2 years ago
Dan, let's say you wanted to use this technology to heat a radiant slab floor heating. Would that be a possibility first? Secondly, what about creating a large parabolic form and using concrete or fiberglass like your other video and just put it on the ground. Lets say it was really cold outside, could you still counteract the cold with the sun? If you were going to just use a form and some cheap concrete you could make a quite large shape and lets say length was also unlimited. Great Vids!!!!!!
randypetersen 2 years ago
I want to know the relationship between size and output. What is the BTU output for your trough?
eppie9111 2 years ago
Dan, Thanks for the ideas. I have 2 questions for you, if you have time!
1. Is the pipe placed at the focal point?
2. What is the output in terms of Gallons hotwater (temp) per hour per section as shown?
Thanks
mlc520120 2 years ago
nice concept. using reflective car/home tint isnt a bad idea. you could look for R90 tint ("R"eflective, 90%) i guess. maybe that's what he's using here, but i have no idea.
iansdodge 2 years ago
why not just tin foil? you have brands that sell extra thick foil that you can use if you have a little bit of patience.
its way cheaper and nice to tryout first brcause you can buy it anywhere
veryfuck 3 years ago
Foil is only 40-50% reflective. It works ok at best. A mirrored surface is much better.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 2 years ago
That's not parabolic, it's semi-circular!
esuok123 3 years ago
wouldnt a concave shape be more efficient
gierkep 3 years ago
how did you find the focal length of the reflector? what is the material of the reflector? what would be the output temperature if a fresnel lens is used along with the reflector?
sankyDK 3 years ago
What is that mirror material called?
Thanks!
glourie 3 years ago 2
ok thanks for the video basics. dose anyone have video of a full arch working. i know they are dangerous and if the pipe breaks the h2o in its broken down state can ingite. i have a blog and would like some refrences on what i wrote the story about. I am looking for video of something about 4feet tall creating steam. posabley running something
heathdoyon 3 years ago
This stuff technically is not Mylar, it is a metallized material and provides a true mirror. Check Ebay search trough liner.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 3 years ago
unless i missed it, you didnt say wat that material is? where can i get that stuff, whats it called?
treborly 3 years ago
looks like tin foil, lol
Adrianofnagrand 3 years ago
What's the name of the material your using for the reflective surface. I have and old satilite dish I can get that is 10 feet in diameter and I would love to turn it into a parabolic mirror with a sterling engine on it but what is the material?
rockme5150 3 years ago
Name of material, brand and location of purchase? Thx.
phobik2000 3 years ago
I searched "trough Liner" and "reflective material" and other such search words as mirors etc. etc. and the only thing I can find is Mylar but you said this wasn't Mylar so what is the name of the material and I'll buy it....No luck trying to find what this is without some pointer...is there a company name on the back that I can google?
rockme5150 3 years ago
I think this stuff will work
t2436jf 3 years ago
I can't imagine WHY you didn't bother to mention WHERE you get the mylar material!
4merCIA 3 years ago
Where can the flexible mirror material be purchased?
t2436jf 3 years ago
If I built an array of say four of these and wanted to pump water through them, do you have any advice on where to get a water pump. Preferably something that could be powered by solar cells.
thanks.. great video
-John
t2436jf 3 years ago
hi John,
If you are circulating water in a closed loop, then a simple 12v or 6v pump will work. If you have plastic impellers (metal is hard to find) place the pump on the input between the first trough and the heat exchange unit, this will keep the really hot water out of your pump. Also, a faster flow rate runs lower max temps but transfers about the same overall energy. DC motors can run on lower voltage so clouds will not be a problem.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 3 years ago
now i got an old grill that is still pretty good to use with charcoal, but coulnt i just get that parabolic mirrored plastic and stick some to the inside part of my grill?? cause the outside is already black, i think it would but i dunno
thomas242007 3 years ago
How efficient is this compared to a standard coil collector?
phoenixavenger 3 years ago
This adds about 4x the surface area of a regular pipe.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE 3 years ago
I watched this video today on creating a trough reflector. You mention a type "C" reflector. Do you have a cut list that you have developed with sources for the reflective materials you've shown? Also, is there a formula for tank size per linear foot of reflector? Thanks!
Uneekele 3 years ago
Thanks. Good vid
sallyos06460 3 years ago