Solar Collector From Trash

[9493760]

THANK YOU SIR .

GIANFRANCO FRONZI. JULY /20 /2011

[cchanderson]

Mylar wrapping paper gold 1 side silver other...18 square feet .99 cents ...reflectivity 93%.

[hjshmuel]

For those having trouble finding mylar - turn your chip bags inside out and stop throwing them away.

[toytoy151]

wonderful post ty. if i may i have a few questions.

1. where (in a store) can one find mylar film?

2. what is mylar film and can it be replaced with aluminum foil?

3. after setting up the dish covered with mylar and burning the wood, would it be possible to use that satelite dish and convert the energy into electricity for a home?if so how would you be able to capture the free enegy and direct it towards your home electricity?

again ty for posting and anyone" advice is welcome =)

[tiberiustt]

@toytoy151 I've seen mylar in plastic fabrication stores, but anything shiny (like foil) would work. The conversion from heat (the solar collector) to electricity is the tricky part. A google search will show you the current research.

[toytoy151]

@tiberiustt thank you =) finding the way to convert it on google leads to obscure answers as expected. but thanks again

[tiberiustt]

@toytoy151 Try searching for the terms "electricity from stirling engines." This seems to be the most efficient way to convert heat to electricity on a small scale (please correct me if I am wrong, Dear Readers). The trouble continues to be how to store the power for times when there is no/diminished sunlight. Good luck!

[Fenixs11]

@toytoy151

Hi, sorry my bad english, i,m spanish. and the sun here is strong and many many hours at year.

i find mylar, searching the term blanket of survival and traffic accident. or shop that sell mountain item.

I hope I've helped.

[amberjacksolar]

Good work! Keep it up!

[harrysins]

OR you can just steal all your neighbors solar powered yard lights and take the solar cells out of them...........

[angetodac]

thank you so much!I'm going to try this at home.

[jab0805]

Have you used this in a practical manner? If so, will you elaborate?

[tiberiustt]

No, it was just a proof on concept project, although I've been toying with the idea of using it to power a sterling engine. You can google that if you want more info.

[Loonypics]

Hi neat idea

Try useing a tennis ball to smooth out the wrinkles in the mylar when glueing

[mhytbuster52]

Did you use aluminum on antenna for mirror sun?bro.

[tiberiustt]

Just the mylar film.

[mhytbuster52]

@tiberiustt yes i got it.thanx a lot.

[joohop]

uze a small metal container like ur thinnerz tin with water in/out pipes and az we all know hot rizez kool fallz , so a larger tank on the ground with a cold feed in :)

[joohop]

brilliant my friend ! thnx

[bkunal88]

great job!!!

thanks man!! i was searching some thing like this....

i think this will serve my purpose...

but i need some information from you...

I need the exact temperature it can achieve.. well i know that this is depend upon weather ....

and another is the daily and monthly adjustments.... for pointing to sun....

please send data to my mail id its "bkunal88@gmail.com"....

thanks!!!!

[yeye267]

muy bueno, felicitaciones!!!!

[floatinsun]

Yeah, seems it works, but what is the best use of this project ? I think solar to electricity is the only good idea. But efficiency and large surface are required is a concern.

[NanetteW]

free aol cds LOL

[sellkobayashi]

cut a hole in the bottom of the plate and hook up a vaccum cleaner to pull it down and take out the air

[usam04]

Frankly I've not seen one practical application for parabolic mirrors. It seems it would have to be much larger than whatever it's heating for one. What ever it's heating would also have to be heat durable to the scale of space shuttle tiles. Industrial maybe but practical to diy, not.

[Ambushcrysis]

so what can u use that for?

[garagecrap]

That's good for such a small dish.

[aseglkj]

The reflector is steel, did you think about just sanding it down and polishing it? Or coating it with some kind of paint?

I guess the best solution would be to have it chrome plated. There are shops out there that do that. Can't be that expensive, as some people have their valve covers, alternators, etc. chrome plated.

[obeyance]

@aseglkj

Mylar is about 95%, or more, light reflective. To achieve a mirrored like finish on steel it would take a ton of work and a bunch of tools that a diyer probably wouldn't have laying around the house. Also, chrome plating is expensive... The object of a diy project is to keep the price UNDER what it would cost to buy it.

[Minuvash]

This is a good Solar cooker. Thank you

[KasinH]

What 's the distance between the lower center of the dish and hot spot where the wood burned? Does that hot spot converge on one spot in space or would it go farther? I'm a bit concerned about surrounding structures.

[tiberiustt]

The focal point is fairly close to the dish; less that 3 feet. Farther away that that and is just like a mirror, so watch your eyes.

[musicboy115]

hi mr huff

[greenenergy4life]

thanks

[ZED74]

Honestly i thought it was gonna be crap ,  I take it all back !!

Well done

[tiberiustt]

Thanks!

[greenenergy4life]

what kind of glu do you youse.

my mirror dont work relly wel becouse of the glu.

[tiberiustt]

It was spray adhesive, like what is used for collages.

[Beingreal40]

Fantastic. Now what are going to do with it?

[bade3a]

bbq. lol

[appa1920]

Outstanding job. I can't believe how neat your mylar install looked. I'm pleased that you're not a perfectionist and didn't get bent out of shape by the glue problem. Anyway it works awesomely! The glue probably reduced it's effectiveness by 5%! lol I'd like to see you cooking something with it too.

[MrsRoadRunner2000]

very cool!

[jacote46]

avec toute ses technologie y as quelque chose a faire surement faut prendre le temp de bfaire ceci protege notre planete en meme temp

[777999777999]

Sweet!!! I have an old dish! Gotta make one. I want to make a solar smoker and slow cook some 'cue.

[AnnieNM06]

thats so cool! i'm gonna have to do this with our old satelite dish! I think i'll use tin foil tho since I dont have mylar.

when the guy installed the new one he just left the one there and i was like 'now what am i gonna do with this?'

well now i know! thanks!

[campwinnarainbow]

hi teacher

(this guy's my teacher)

-sam

[P90XBringIt]

Awesome job. What made you think to cut triangles? Smart idea, they fit great, can't wait to see you cook something with it!

[99cachorro]

good job! I hope you can use it in the future to do some cooking.

[bugdude666]

hi teacher!

(this guy's my teacher)

-bailey

[tiberiustt]

Hi Bailey!

[centervilletn]

I really like what you did..do you have any practical application for it...im working on a can solar heater...but have modified what the guy in canada is doing ..i live in the southeast usa...and believe i can do somethings different and get the same results with less work...using a baffleing system...and a bathroom exhaust fan...

im very interested in off the grid ideas as far as heating is concerned. any advice would be appreciated.

[tiberiustt]

Thanks for the comment. I really don't know much about how to use this in a practical set-up.

[adamslurch71]

Set it up so that you have a closed system containing water and get the focal point at the base of the water system and have piping that allows the steam to flow up and away and along that pipe put a turbine for it to spin, connect the turbine to a generator and you have instant power. Don't forget to have a pipe going back to the water supply, and with a few well placed one-way valves your all set.

[tunicanl]

your like hank hill. lol

[sevensixtwomilimeter]

heh heh. propane.

[menderfire9]

Sloppy glue job? No problem.

Removing adhesives ... any kind of oil breaks the adhesive down, rub it in with your fingers and then rub away with soft tissue or cloth. Try any cooking oil, hair oil, baby oil, car oil, body lotion, mayonnaise: no strong chemicals needed!

[hipmama715]

Dumb question: if you can make one of these, can you get off the grid and use solar power for your home? Would it take more than one?

[tiberiustt]

This is more like using a magnifying glass to burn stuff. All it does is collect and concentrate the sunlight. While this could be used to cook food, there are better designs (google "solar cooking"). I particularly like the solar funnel design and have used id many times to cook meals. As far as generating electricity, it would take a lot of additional engineering to get any output.

[Brlz4]

Great way to harness the sun's power, just need to use that power

[gilliganisle69]

Its more of a solar cooker than an energy creator.

[12643]

no way! Whats that called, Mylar?

Sun is dangerous. :-)

[SilverFox135]

can you make a solar collecter transfer the solar power into electricity?

[tiberiustt]

See below.

[SilverFox135]

i dont know what you mean but i dont think you can lol

[tiberiustt]

Go down about 4 comments. I answered it there.

[SilverFox135]

okay thanks but if you cook food with it wouldn't it have some kind of radiation in the food? considering your using the reflection of some UV rays i might be incorrect but your more knowlogable than me

[tiberiustt]

Yes, sunlight is a form of radiation, but it isn't harmful in the same way as nuclear radiation. If you use concentrated sunlight to cook, all you are doing is heating the food. Actually, to be more precise, you are using the suns rays to heat the cooking pot, that then heats the food.

[tomanyasses]

really cool kinda like a magnifying glass

[Faaabula]

Very cool!

[69furball69]

re: cleaning mylar.

the metal is only on one side, the other side is the shinier side and the side that you want exposed.

[brob1969]

Nice job! You took stuff out of the waste stream and repurposed it for something better. Keep it up!

[thechuck918]

So you point a couple of those towards a metal cylinder filled with salt. salt heats up the water that you have on top in another cylinder creating steam and with a small steam turbine generator you have free electricity.

[smeeves]

more so a variation of solar energy rather then free energy...

[Haloya101]

I dare you to stick your hand in front of it XD

[keekaykorapsa]

nonetheless your project turned out excellently even with those wrinkles present. nice one, I'd try that. also, I figured a stainless steel wok would also work nicely. thanks for the idea. good day to you :D

[rommelcva]

its a nice project if you can help our town just giving a diagram for a small lights only using LED my home town is a small island

[zws1922]

Try putting a small stirling engine coupled with a generator and you've made the most effective solar/electrical generator yet ;)

[zws1922]

Try putting a small stirling engine coupled with a generator and you've made the most effective solar/electric converter yet ;)

[vietarc]

Becareful guys, seems like a kilowatts invisible rate. Just don't point it wrongly. Cover it up after use. You can direct that sunlight into solar pannel and get more power, however, current solar panel material doesn't withstand alot of watts at one time. I'm thinking you can mold marbles into smaller disk shape, like a small replication of the large disk. Then use it on solar pannel.

[tiberiustt]

I store this one inside (I'm afraid a cover would blow off). All I really use it for is teaching and impressing my geeky friends.

[joesmoe71]

Impressive! I have an old dish around, I may try it!

[Taino187]

Woah... thats really neat :) nifty thing to have on a camping trip to start a cooking fire!

[platanoproductions]

instead of mylar can you use copper sheets?

[tiberiustt]

Any thing that is shiny would reflect the sunlight, but I don't know how it would compare in heat generated.

[bloggycreek]

Very cool!

[RHEAD100]

Awesome; Just shows what you can do if you just think.

Thanks for shairing.

[InvalidMemberAccount]

I believe you made a solar concentrator and not a collector. Nothing is stored.

[snoopdog68]

I took the foil off mine and have some mylar and spray adheasive. I will make one today.

[haunclesam]

nice work! Did you actually use it to heat water or something?

[mickmorrell]

If you put a metallic reservoir into the focal point and attach it to your hot water system it should be able to heat up the water in your boiler.

Gotta go out and find a sat dish.

[kas720]

Use an old Mylar baloon! I have one bumping around the house now! I have used ruber cement to glue down magazine pages before and if you are sure to the rubber cement on both the dish and the underneath side of the mylar I think it will glue nicely.

[KARStarla]

What can you use this for if it burns stuff up? How does it "collect" solar?

[jrgcool35]

It doesn't exactly "collect" solar. It does more of a reflection.

[silverunicorns777]

very impreive

[Ricangal]

In the sports dept at Wal-Mart they sell those mylar (aluminum) blankets. They sell for ab about $1.97 each. Loved the project.

[bob25552]

I'm thinking old AOL cd's instead of mylar :)

[tiberiustt]

Cool idea! I'll try it next time I find a dish.

[bob25552]

Ever try to cook a hot dog with your collector? Maybe a piece of steak! I'm gonna build one just to see what it does to a marshmallow :)

[Taino187]

haha.. i think it'll just go "poof" fireball!

[elitesoldier55]

buy a small steam engine and boil water to produce steam, coolest thing I've seen is one of these powering a small steam engine which powered a generator.

[guest2424]

check out the "Inflatable Solar Collectors" light goes in but most doesn't escape the balloon. This looks like it would allow it to collect at 360* angles which means increased efficiency.

[cheaphardwarez]

Hmmm, Im thinking about that old junk 12 foot dish now..

[timetraveler3797]

wow, he made fire!

Seriosly, I thought he would put a solar pannel there or at least an insulator for heating the house.

[rawhipshank]

very cool

[PabloManUK]

This is very cool :)

are you guys all in the USA? can we make something like this with the levels of sun we get in uk? would be cool to try but dont have a dish spare :)

[kuppypat]

alright. I've built it and I am now able to catch things on fire, but I want to use it for my benefit. so when will you build something to convert the heat into electricity from trash! haha. no but seriously!

[binarycortex]

Have you tried putting a small solar cell in focal point facing the dish?

[tiberiustt]

I thing that would just melt the cell. You could probably use it to power a small boiler/turbine.

[xsyar]

I am impressed, good job.. Put a set of mirrors and doubble the solarcell incomming light.. must be cheaper than buy solarcells for all m3

[fiable262626]

really good home innovation to show how cheap renewable energy can potentially be.

some countrys have already implemented large scale solar collectors to heat things up to 3000(oC), this type of thing could be especially well implemented in space as of the very small amount of material reqquired to conetrate a large area of sun, also in space there is no atmosphere or clous to block the sun and givin constant energy.

[cdltpx]

Wow I have a shed full of old satellite dishes bet I can build a kick ass array. Mylar is basically those emergency blankets you get from wal mart for a dollar I'm guessing what the f give it a try. That lenz I got out of a large screen tv sure gets hot instantly that thing is dangerous it could vaporize things.

[talebarabi]

well done nice job , nice to see clever things done in you tube. may be if you add a tube full of water to the focal point to get water steam and the steam will be used for hot water or even drive a small steam engine to generate electricty.

[diamondsmajestic1]

Simple concept. Can you use it to increse the output of solar cells, like concentrating solar rays on solar panels to get more bang for your bucks ?

[tiberiustt]

I'm not certain. Are there any solar experts out there that know?

[audiofreeq]

with this type of collector your better off boiling water to genorate steam for a small turbine connected to an alternator

[hellhound0011]

very cool!!! I'm going out to make one right now.

[NanetteW]

Wouldn't it be brilliantly wonderful, if we could defeat 'Star Wars' (has nothing to do with stars - or asteroids...) with our own earth-mounted reflectors such as these? ^__^

Google earth is a weapon is disguise...

[ejac10101]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing that. I'm impressed what was acheived with such little outlay. Well done.

[gordoncam1]

great job. thanks. you can also use those silver sunshades for windshields, but they are bumpy and kind of hard to manipulate.

[desertblbuesman]

nice job

[desertblbuesman]

Mylar does not like compound bending at all and outside will last < a year. Done it! My 6 footer now used for boiling a spagetti pot full of water is made with scrap mirror facets glued on with liquid nails. Random sizes. Slice up larger mirror randomly fast ~3X3in.. Fill up the dish as good as they go on. A 6 footer is a hot mo'. Find Glass shop scrap, derilict houses with cracked hung mirrors etc. Cost = two tubes of liquid nails. "remove that old big dish for ya ma'm?"

[tiberiustt]

I think it was just mylar. I got it at a garage sale and it was on a roll, kind of like foil, but it felt like plastic.

[zacandmillie]

If you can't find mylar in a roll go on eBay and look for emergency blankets, the kind you take camping. The foil is usually mylar. You can get them for about a dollar.

[acerkiwi]

You can get some "chrome vinyl" self adhesive mirror film used by sign writers.

[dleok2]

What´s the name of the reflectant material???

[NanetteW]

Mylar, polished aluminum, mirror bits, ... be sure to have welder's glasses around so lookie-loos don't sue you for going blind.

But you will know enough to face the dish away from the sun when you access it (turning your steak).

[tiberiustt]

Great comment. In my excitement to get this up I forgot that the potential audience is the world. Be safe out there kids! (Although I did think it was kind of obvious that if it burns wood you should keep your face away from it when it's facing the sun.)

[DarkTemp0]

i particulary like the finished dish :) looks very smooth and perfect.

You could no try building more of those things and equip them with what ever sun traking mechanism you like and put the things to good use like heating something (water for your shower :) ?) this things cut energy consuption by a bit if constructed well enough, even if only used to heat the water ... saves you the gas/electricity you would usualy use to do it

[zacandmillie]

Great video. I have a similar satellite dish and some rolls of mylar ready for a free weekend to glue it on. I also have small mirror tiles which cost me too much so if the mylar works I'll get another dish from the local dump and try the 2 side by side.