Cheap Solar Heat Panel

[motoman465]

Hey everyone,

I found this link on builditsolar.com and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing.

http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/article17solar.htm

Todd

[scottsAI]

Hello motoman465,

Yes, look around you will find better as in lower cost. Interesting start.

Several issues:

1. Why put foam between your house and the heater? The house already has insulation. Your trying to heat the house, the foam is an extra cost you don't need. Now if the collector is above a non heated area then you would want the foam. Or not completely attached to the wall.
   
2. Requires a fan, use a larger opening, nice light weight flap, no fan needed. This method requires several holes on bottom and top. Fan allows reduced size of the openings.
   
3. If was larger area solar collector, then a fan may be desired to further bring the heat into the house.
   
4. Double glazing for cold areas for most designs I have seen. Single pane is like R0.5, double is r2.2. Big difference in how much heat makes it in.
   
   

Was going to comment on needing black, then read through, found they do paint it black.

Have fun,

Scott.

[motoman465]

Thanks for the input.  I was just going to start with something small to see how well it works and to judge its potential.  I was thinking about something the size of a window air conditioner that I could just slide in the window.  Any thoughts or comments on this?

Todd

[stephent]

That's a "small" start.

Very small.

If you need proof--just lay your hand on the dash of your car in the summer on a sunny day.

If it's winter--try it the same way.

Solar heating panels work fairly well, and are usually the cheapest way (outside of conservation) to grab a bit of heat (or hot water).

 

[motoman465]

Thanks, guys!  Unfortunately right now I can only afford to start small, but it is a start.

Todd

[scottsAI]

Hello motoman465,

We all have to start some where. I believe the power of the sun is something like 1kw per meter square or 3' x 4', this translates to 3,000BTU/hr. A small solar panels can get a room hot on a cold sunny winter day. Look around, I have seen window solar collectors around. Should be very low cost. Most are made of 2 x 4.

Have fun,

Scott.

[Stonebrain]

hi motoman,

The idea is worth trying.can be very cheap.

The exemple in your link has reflectif material to make the heat.

This is wrong, it should be black.Black is the best way to make

heat of sunlight.

cheers,

stonebrain

[wildbill hickup]

Read on, it is black!!!!!

[Stonebrain]

Yes,

you're right,wildbill,

Next time I'll read a bit more thouroughly,before

hitting the postcomment-button,

thanks,

cheers,

stonebrain

[GaryGary]

Hi,

One thing to remember is that if you put the small collector right IN the window opening, you gain some heat from the small collector, but you lose the heat you were gaining from the window.  South facing windows are actually good solar collectors, so you don't want to block them.  A south facing window that has an insulating shutter or shade to reduce heat loss at night will perform just as well as a good commercial solar collector.

A small collector is a lot of fun to build, and I bet it will convince you that the idea works -- nothing like feeling the hot air coming out of the exit vent to make one a believer.  But, it won't do a lot toward reducing your heat bill -- you need a good sized collector to do this.

If you have a lot of south facing wall, but are short on funds to spend on the collector, I just added a link to a really, really, really cheap collector that was published in Mother Earth News in 1977.  Its here:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Space_Heating.htm

Look for: "Very Inexpensive Solar Shop Heater.."

The one in the article is very large, but you could build a smaller version.

With a bit of scrouging it can be built for about 10 cents per sqft!

The one I use on my shop only costs about $3 per sqft, and does not require any fans or  controllers -- a small version of it might also be a good option:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/solar_barn_project.htm

There is going to be an article on it in the Dec/Jan issue of MEN, along with an article on commercial solar air collectors by Dan Chiras.

Gary

[scottsAI]

Thanks, I was looking for that link when I posted.

now have it book marked

Have fun,

Scott.

[MR FIXIT]

A piece of aluminium flashing in a foam box painted flat black, cover it with a piece of plexiglass(or old storm door glass).  Hang this out of  your window and make a small opening in the bottom for the air to enter, or a small fan to blow air into it and out into your house and there you have it.  Stand the flashing off from back of the box a little so air can go around both sides.  Make some angle pieces out of flashing to go on the main element(both sides like a heat sink), the more the better. I am using this system and it works very well. I have one wiht a fan in it on my roof , and used a plastic thermostat in it.  It melted the thermostat it got so hot.  I then used a baseboard thermostat(all metal).  It is 4'x4'x6" in size.  The air comes into the house by way of a dryer duct tube that is wraped with insulation.

MIke