Solar collector with their own hands

Good owners of private houses in are always in search of opportunities to save on heating the water and heating. This becomes especially relevant for recently, when utility prices have a strong upward trend for almost every quarter .The very nature with of its , the inexhaustible source of energy comes to the rescue - solar radiation. Applying the laws of physics in practice, folk craftsmen find interesting ways of saving, developing and assembling solar collectors, which, under the power to do, probably, any - owns only a small amount of effort and skill.

The solar collector with its own hands can be manufactured in multiple ways and from a variety of materials, sometimes even from those that simply "roll under their feet." They are constructed from ordinary old beer cans, plastic bottles, hoses or pipes, withthe use of glass, polycarbonate panels and other materials.

Some of the ways of making reservoirs will be discussed below, but first it is worth studying the connection schemes - they are usually approximately common for any solar water heating systems.

Wiring diagrams for the solar water collector

The effective operation of the solar water heating system depends not only from , from which the collector is made, but how well it will be installed and is connected to .There are a lot of variants of - connection schemes, but you should not look for the most complicated ones, as it is quite possible to use basic ones that are accessible and understandable.

"Summer" version of hot water supply from solar

This simple solar collector connection scheme is applicable both for heating water for a summer shower and for household needs. If the hot water needs on the street in the summer construction, then the tank for the is installed in the air too. In the case when hot water is divorced in the house, and the storage tank is installed there.

collector connection. This scheme usually provides for natural water circulation, in which case the collector battery is set lower by 800 ÷ 1000 mm level of the tank, where hot water will flow - this should be provided by a density difference of cold and heatedliquid. To connect the collector to the tank, pipes with a diameter of not less than ¾ in. Are used. To keep water in the storage tank in hot condition, which it reaches from heating by daylight, the walls must be well insulated with, for example, 100 mm thick mineral wool and polyethylene( if the roof is not built above the boiler).But it is better to provide a permanent shelter for the , since if the insulation gets wet from the rain, it will significantly reduce its thermal insulation properties.

Natural circulation is not very good for use in a system with a solar collector, since creates the weak inertia of water movement in the circuit. And if the battery and the tank are far enough from each other, then, after passing this way, the water will gradually cool down. Therefore, , in order to increase efficiency, a circulating pump is often installed. This variation nt pr is suitable for warming water only in warm half year, and for the winter the water from the system will have to be , otherwise, freezing, it easily rupture t t rub.

"Winter" scheme for connecting solar heating water

If it is planned to use the solar collector all year round, then in the cold weather in the pipes the water does not freeze, a special coolant is poured into the circuit instead of the - antifreeze, that is, the non-freezing liquid. The circuit adopts a completely different kind of - an indirect heating boiler is installed. In this case, the antifreeze heated in the solar collector will pass through the from the boiler heat exchanger, warming the water located in the tank .

The expansion tank and the "safety group" - automatic air vent , a manometer and a safety valve , designed for the required pressure, must be integrated into this system. A circulating pump is usually used for the constant movement of the heat transfer medium.

Solar heating option

When using solar thermal energy for house heating, an indirect heating boiler connected to the collector is also used, and also for additional heating of the coolant - boiler , operating on solid fuel or gas. In the autumn or spring days, when the sun is able to heat the coolant to the desired temperature, the boiler can simply be turned off.

. If the winters in the region are very cold, you should not expect the collector to be of great efficiency, since in this period there are few sunny days and the luminary itself is low to the horizon. Therefore, additional heating of the coolant and hot water is simply necessary. The only thing that will help the solar battery save on fuel - is , boiler will receive not cold , but already a few heated water, and means for bringing its to the required temperature it will take lessburn gas or firewood.

It is also necessary to know that the larger the solar thermal collector, the more energy it will be able to absorb. Therefore, for such a system to be able to generate enough heat for heating the house, the size of the collector area should be increased to 40 ÷ 45% of the total area of ​​the house.

Hot water and heating from solar

To operate the solar collector for both heating and hot water supply, it is necessary to combine both previous versions in the system and use a special boiler for water with an additional capacity having a coil through which circulatesheated by a solar battery coolant. Due to the fact that the inner tank is much smaller than the main one, the water in the it heats up much more quickly from the coil and gives heat to the total.

In addition, the boiler must be connected to the additional heating source - it can be gas or electric boiler or heat generator for solid fuel.

Temperature instability, which creates solar battery, can contribute to overheating of the coolant or, conversely, to its too rapid cooling in heating circuits m water supply. To prevent this from happening, the entire system must be controlled by automation. The temperature controller is installed in the wiring, which can either redirect the coolant flows, or turn on or off the circulation pumps, or perform other control operations.

In the above diagram, this temperature controller is designated as a controller.

So, with connection diagrams( trimming) in general terms, there is clarity. But now it makes sense to consider several options for independent production of solar collectors.

Solar collector from hose or flexible pipes

Those who have a private house with a kitchen garden or a summer residence , of course know that the water remaining in the temporary light mains after watering the beds, quickly heats up. This is a positive quality of hoses or flexible pipes and used by folk craftsmen, creating from them solar heat exchangers. It should be noted that such a collector will cost many times cheaper than bought in the store, but to make the process of manufacturing passed successfully, you need to make some efforts.

Such a collector can consist of one or several sections into which the folded is folded and fixed tightly by a "snail" hoses.

This design can be called the simplest in design and installation. The main drawback of the of its is that its can hardly be used without forced circulation, because if the pipe lengths are too long, the hydraulic resistance will exceed the pressure created by the temperature difference. However, it is not difficult to solve the problem of installing a circulation pump. And such a system installed in a country house will be an excellent help and will quickly pay off, including expenses( very small) on the power supply of the pump.

Similar collectors are used for heating water in swimming pools. They are connected to the filtration system, which is necessarily equipped with a pump. Water, circulating through the pipes of the collector, has time to warm up before entering the pool.

In some cases, , creating the entire solar battery system, you can do without installing a storage tank. This is possible with when hot water is used only in the daytime and in small quantities. For example, in a contour of 150 m pipe, which has an internal diameter of 16 mm, accommodates 30 liters of water. And if five or six such "snails" from the pipes will be assembled into a single battery, during the day the shower can be taken several times for each member of the family, and still has a lot of hot water for household needs too.

If you have any doubts about the efficiency of this water heating, we recommend you look at the video showing the hose collector test:

Video: the efficiency of a simple solar collector

Materials for the manufacture of

To make such a solar water collector, you need to prepare some materials. It is not at all ruled out that some of them will be found in a shed or garage.

• Rubber hose or flexible plastic pipe black color, having a diameter of 20 ÷ 25 mm - this is essentially the main element of the system, in which water will be exchanged during the water circulation. The amount of hose will depend on the size of the solar battery - it can be both 100 and 1000 meters. Black hose color is preferred because it absorbs heat more than all other shades.

It should be noted at once that the metal-plastic pipes are not particularly suitable for the production of the collector, even if they are coated with with black paint. The fact is that their plasticity in the given by the is not enough - , they break through with bends of a small radius and thus , even if the integrity of the walls does not deteriorate, the intensity of the water current will decrease.

Hoses are sold in coils of 50, 100 or 200 meters. If you plan to make a battery of a large volume , then will have to acquire several bays. In the event that is planned to be used in each section, for example 50 or 100 m hose, then it is not necessary to buy a whole 200-meter bay better to purchase a ready measured hose. This will save time during installation.

The hose can be laid not only along a round spiral, but also oval, and also in the form of a coil.

As a good alternative, modern pipes made of cross-linked PE-PE can also be tried. At them - quite good plasticity, well and how to give to them black color if it is not on sale - it is simple to think up.

• If the roof slope on which the collector battery is installed is steep, then special - boxes of bars, plywood or metal sheet are manufactured for hose spirals. This requires 40 × 40 or 40 × 50 mm, plywood 6 mm thick, or a metal sheet of 1.5 - 2 mm.

The blanks of the future module are treated with an antiseptic( wood) or anticorrosive compounds( metal).Then a box of one or more spirals is assembled from them.

By the way, as the sides of the box you can use the old window frames, which simply mount the bottom part.

• For pre-treatment of metal and wood, it is necessary to purchase antiseptic, anticorrosive and primer compositions.
• Hoses( pipes) will experience considerable loads of and from coolant mass, and from temperature and internal pressure drops. Therefore, they will try to break the laying, deforming, prosest, so you need to provide special fasteners for their maintenance in the initially specified position.

This can be a metal strip, which is fixed between the pipes on self-tapping screws.

Another variant - is a loose bundle with a dense cord or plastic tie "tie" with a crosspiece or crosspiece. But in the after , this method of bonding is more suitable for a plastic pipe than for a hose, since it can with the expansion of rubber to hang on the cord. If a reinforced rubber hose is chosen for the collector, then this method is completely suitable for for fixing.

Another with one mounting option, suitable for a plastic pipe or reinforced hose, can be nails with wide hats. They can be clogged or in the bottom of the box( in this case it should have a thickness of at least 10 mm), or on a kind of cross made of a bar.

• It will be necessary to prepare hose or pipe fittings. There are a lot of similar - fittings, but you need to choose exactly those that are designed by for the material collector chosen for the .

In addition to the of such connectors, threaded fittings are required for the transition from plastic or rubber pipes to common metal. Such a connection will be necessary if the collector consists of several modules.

In order to know how many connection elements are required, it is necessary to draw a schematic diagram of the created system in advance and to calculate their number on it.

• To combine all the modules into a single battery, two collectors are required - a piece of of a metal pipe. Through one of them, fixed at the bottom of the battery, cold water will enter the heat exchangers, and in the second, fixed from above, will be collected warmed.

The upper pipe will connect to the storage tank, that is, go to the consumer. It should have a diameter of 40 ÷ 50 mm.

Assembling the

batteries Prepare the in the as needed, you can start working.

• To begin with, all the wooden parts of the future construction must be treated with antiseptic.
• Further, if the bottom of the modules is made of metal sheet, it must be covered with an anti-corrosion compound. Usually, a mastic is used for this, designed to cover the bottoms of cars.

• After the compositions dry out on the prepared elements, single or common modules are assembled from them.
• Then they fit the hoses, for which the holders are fixed.

• For the free passage of pipes through the edges of the modules, holes - are drilled for them in the upper part and lower part. Accordingly, the cold water inlet pipe is output to the bottom hole, and the outlet is heated to the top.
• If several modules are mounted vertically, or one common, in which is stacked several "snails" of the as well as , one above the other, the lower end of each of the spirals is connected to the upper output of the lower one - and this serial principle commutes all"column".The lowest end is connected to a common metal collector, through which cold water will flow. In the same way, all adjacent vertical rows are mounted - with a common connection to the supply manifold.

• Accordingly, the upper ends of the hoses of the uppermost horizontal row of modules are connected to a metal pipe-collector, through which hot water is diverted for consumption.
• The helical collector circuit can be mounted on a metal sheet not mounted on the roof, but near the house, on its southern side, or near the pool, if it requires heating. In this case, the metal base will promote faster heating of the water and heat in the pipes, since it has good thermal conductivity and heat capacity .

• Another one version of a thermal solar collector can be laying the contour on the roof plane in special boxes in long parallel rows along the entire length of the roof.

Video: simple linear solar collector

amplify the effect with plastic

collector. The figure shows a solar collector of hoses( pipes) whose performance is significantly increased for the account of the using conventional plasticbottles. In than here "chip"?And there are several of them:

• The bottles play the role of a transparent casing, and do not allow airflows to take away the heat of the during the of an absolutely unnecessary mutual heat transfer. Moreover, the air chambers themselves become peculiar accumulators of heat. There is a greenhouse effect, which is actively used in agrotechnics.
• The round surface of the bottle plays the role of a lens that enhances the effect of sunlight.
• If the bottom surface of the bottle is laid with a reflective foil material, then the effect of focusing the rays in the tube passing zone can be achieved. Heating from this will only benefit.
• Another is an important factor. Plastic transparent surface in some measure will reduce the destructive negative impact of ultraviolet rays, which neither rubber nor plastic "do not like."This circuit should last longer.

For the manufacture of such a solar collector you will need:

1 - Rubber hose, metal or plastic pipes black colors - as a heat exchanger.

2 - Plastic bottles that will become a casing around the contour pipes.

3 - In bottles, in their half, which will be adjacent to the base, a foil or a shade of reflective material can be embedded. The reflecting part should look toward the sun.

4 - The stand will be , the can easily be mounted from a bar or a metal pipe.

5 - Hot water storage tank, which must be connected to the sampling point - faucet, shower and etc .

6 - Capacity for cold water, which can be connected to the water supply system.

Assembly of the solar collector

The assembly of the variant shown in the upper diagram is performed as follows:

• For the beginning, a stand is mounted from the metal pipe or bar. If is manufactured from wood, then it must be covered with an antiseptic compound, if is the same of metal, then it must be treated with an anti-corrosion agent. It is necessary to calculate the length so that between the two stands is set flat number of bottles.
• On the racks, at a distance width of bottles, horizontal slats are fixed, on which it will be possible to make additional fastening for the coil. In addition, they will give the framework additional rigidity .
• Next, the required quantity of - plastic bottles is prepared from them, the bottom part is cut from them so that one bottle with the side of the neck snaps into the resulting hole.

• The hose( pipe) of the required of the length is taken, which will be sufficient for laying the coil circuit on the ready-made frame-stand.

Having retreated from the edge of the hose 100 ÷ 150 mm, the makes the the mark of the fixing point. Then through this edge on the pipe is put on the necessary number of prepared bottles, which will be enough to fully cover the area to the opposite rack. The bottles are installed tightly one to the other, so that the neck of the second enters the hole cut in the bottom of the previous one.

• When the pipe section for laying the upper section of the coil is completely closed by the bottle box, the of its edge is fixed from above on the left column of the frame. For fixing, you can use clip-holders for plastic pipes with latch , the right size.

frame. Further, using the same clip, the empty section of the pipe is fixed to the opposite, right-hand post.

• If necessary, the position of the bottles is corrected, so that the foil half of them is lower, at the reservoir frame.
• Then the pipe is given a smooth turn, and it again snaps onto the clip .
• The next stage on the pipe again put on the bottle, and it is fixed already on the left rack. Such a follower is observed and on until the entire frame is filled with the collector coil.
• Now it remains only to "pack" the fittings through which the tie-in of the resulting collector to the cold water supply and to the storage of the hot tank will be performed.

Such a collector, as you can see, is absolutely not complicated in manufacture, but it can become a good "helper" in a private house, taking on the functions of heating the water.

By the way, solar energy can be used not only for heating water, but also for supply to heated air rooms. For example, how to make solar air collector yourself, you can find out if you click on the link to a special publication of our portal.