Solar Panel Workshop sept 2007

[memethecat]

Someone, darrelleric, asked why not use black plastic. There were some panels made from black plastic and one buyer discovered that if the sun came out and there was no water in the panel the plastic melted down in a little over 10 minutes. Glass and copper pipe are much better. Silver soldering is even better than lead based solder (very strong even to very high temperatures.

[darrelleric]

Why not just use black plastic it is cheap and works as good also when it freezes in the winter it wont burst as easy when you forget to drain it, when the temp. gets below 32 degrees.

[TexasFatAss]

I like it! I've built on for myself in 2006, but I learned 1" pipe or bigger allows for thermal flow, also attach all vertical pipes at the top and bottom. Feed cold water into the bottom and draw hot from the top, It you put this panel at the same height of the water tank gravity will do all the work. Either way this panel will produce a lot of heat, in it's life time. Be sure to paint the entire box to protect it from the elements or it will only last a year or two. Great job!

[howmakeSOLARPANELS]

I have full instructions on how to build very cheap solar panel and wind mill for home. FULL step-by-step guide.

[centervilletn]

alum. tubing is better at conducting heat..if you can find it...should be much cheaper than copper...you can bend into a heating element..put a black piece of sheet aluminum over it instead of fins...use old acustic cieling (fiberglass) tiles to insulate your box..buy aluminum bubble insulation on top of your insulation, put tubing in box..use zip ties to fasten to the bottom of the box, place sheet metal on top of tubing, then glass on top of box...

[damoo1982]

aluminum ? I dont think so, have you ever pulled something out of the oven thats wrapped in foil ( aluminum foil )? its cool to the touch and doesnt hold much heat. Copper does

[centervilletn]

use double sticky foam carpet tape around the edges , between the glass and the box.. makes a nice gasket..

[centervilletn]

great idea for your box is to use metal studs...or 2x8s...just cut slots at the desired lengths and bend ...simple and they look manufactured..thats how i built my cola can heater...

[YouAdamNazzkl0wn]

so was that like ablock party kind of thing?? evryone got together and built 5 units assembly line style???

I'd think you want more pipes inside the box to hold more water.

Looks like a solid design thoigh.

thankx

[Thieni1]

Silicone sealant to place the fins sounds like a bad idea to me, would rather be a hindrance to heat transfer. Would certainly be better by soldering on copper fins and using a bit more lengths of copper - otherwise nice job, every little bit helps!

[shwantz2]

Stupid Brit. Its NOT Aluminium...It is Aluminum.

[spinaway]

stupid yank it our language that you use. its you that change the pronunciation.

[valhalla83]

Actually, the English spelling of Aluminium is different to the American spelling of Aluminum. Notice the missing 'i' in the American spelling.

It is not just a case of mis-pronunciation, but they can't spell either :P

[awmayes1]

@valhalla83

Ok, that might be the case, however it's "different from, not different to"

[vedinthorn]

As a point of linguistic history: mid-Appalachian dwellers pronounce words closer to the original modern English than anyone, including the English themselves, which developed the current accent only after America was settled.

[3DPeter]

this week i made a wooden box witch contains about +- 450 feet of black PE hose, and a sheet of transparrant pvc on top of it, and it

heats the water even without the sun coming true right now. At this moment i use a timer to switch the pump on and off, and now that the sun doesn't shine, i do 15 minutes on and 30 off, and in the future i'm going to look for a temp switch that replaces the timer

for the optimal effect.

If this becomes a succes, i'm going to make

3 more boxes like that.

[casandrakumsung]

Why not use flexible copper pipe?

Also I thought that having the cover in black absorbs the heat. The aluminum will reflect the heat.

[spinaway]

he says in the video we will spray the panel black later. regards jim.

[ebabajan]

great video thanks for uploading. is there any more videos like this i have been searching couldnt find any

[spinaway]

just type solar water heater into youtube you should get the resuts you want.regards jim.

[MandLVideo]

In stead of copper what about the plastic made for high temp. you wouldn't have the problem with dissimilar metals

[spinaway]

plastic wouldnt conduct heat, it would act as an insulater. regards jim.

[ebabajan]

thanks alot :)

[YouAdamNazzkl0wn]

Not true- water inside a black plastic pipe will get very hot.

That's one reason not to leave water lines above ground.

[xsmilk]

any problem with the galvanic action between copper and aluminum???

[defstud]

If one wanted to be "super" green, one would use recycled soda cans...just a thought!

[spinaway]

how would you make the cans watertight?

[technogearhead]

it would be a lot more efficient if you didnt use the sealant on the copper pipes.

instead use cpu thermal gel and metal straps.

[permadegs]

how do you stop the pipes from freezing in winter

[chainslide12]

Put an Glycerine/ Water mix in!

[stuzeviews]

but didn't the guy say this was going directly into his water heater?

[gabrielou812]

Hello I hope that the "sealant" that you are using 4 min. into the video is heat conducting paste. otherwise you are insulating your collector fins from your copper pipe with silicone? GM