A simple solar heater consists of one (or a set) of solar collectors and a pump to run water or air through the solar collector. More complicated (and larger) designs will consist of a heat exchanger and an insulated water tank to store heated water.

Solar water heaters essentially have the same design as a solar space heater. The difference is the medium that flows through the solar collectors. One is water while the other is air.

The big advantage that solar water heaters and solar space heaters have over solar (photovoltaic) panels is its efficiency and its cost. As solar heaters are much more efficient and much cheaper than photovoltaic (PV) panels, you should consider installing them before spending a cent on PV panels. Ideally.

Solar water heaters are becoming more and more common because they are practical, affordable and are easy to install. Even if you are living in areas of low geographical latitudes, you can easily collect hot water with temperatures up to 60°C.

The most common types of solar water heaters are evacuated tube collectors. These heaters have the best efficiency. With better efficiency, the area needed for solar collectors can be smaller. Thus much space can be saved for other applications…like a photovoltaic panel. Glazed flat plate collectors are popular for domestic hot water applications. Unglazed plastic collectors are generally used to heat swimming pools.

You have no excuse not to own a solar water heater.

If cost is an issue, you can construct your own solar water heater using a wooden frame, a piece of corrugated zinc, lengths of flexible copper tubing, a piece of transparent perspex and some black paint. Costs you less than $50. Water running through the copper tubing can be easily heated by 25°C if you get your design right.

As light enters through the transparent Perspex, it remains trapped within the wooden box because of greenhouse effect. Since everything within the box is painted black, heat absorption is at its maximum. As water flows through the copper tubing, it is heated by conduction.

A simple solar collect like this can be constructed within half a day, so there is no reason why anyone should not be using a solar water heater.

Continue Reading:

1. Installing Solar Water Heaters
2. What You Need to Know about Solar Water Heaters
3. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office

A few years ago, in 2008, I had a rude awakening as I received an energy bill of over $250. Even though my household energy consumption remained the same, the bill increased dramatically over the months.

As it turns out, the energy rate has risen again! And this is happening more frequently than ever. The effect of rising oil price has affected many families, including mine. Yet when the price of oil dipped, there wasn’t much adjustment downward.

Naturally, I was angry!

Few weeks later, I met up with a friend who proudly introduced me to his roof-mounted solar panels. I was excited. Because if I install the same thing on my roof, I won’t have to pay energy bills again.

After a little digging, I realized all these promise of harvesting energy from the sun doesn’t really pay off financially. Here’s what I found out:

- A typical solar panels installation costs at least $20,000 for a complete setup. Most of them cost more.

- With such upfront cost, it’ll take me at least 30 years before my energy supply becomes (technically) free.

But I was hooked on this idea of harnessing energy from nature, especially when sunlight is abundant where I live. There was no turning back. This propelled me on the search for an affordable energy system that can take me off grid.

My search began at major retailers but it proved futile. After researching on the Internet and talking to a few friends, my only alternative is to make a DIY solar energy system myself.

I was confident of this approach as I graduated with an Engineering degree.

Five weeks and a bruised knuckle later, I had my first failed project. Everything was well planned on paper and my calculations were precise. Sadly, practical application required more than just theory derived from the books I referenced. This is especially so for DIY solar panel projects.

I’ve already lost hundreds of dollars on trial and error. Ouch! It was at this juncture I decided to get proper instruction to build a reliable solar panel system.

With high hopes, I searched around for a good guide to help me. I bought one guide after another, hoping each guide can help me build my DIY project.

Another two hundred and seventy bucks later, my bookshelf and hard drive was replete with instructional guides. But none of them helped. Again, I was disappointed. It seemed my dream of living off-grid was shattered.

All I found were nothing but rehashed material from textbooks and many of them simply copied each other’s work. Some were so difficult even an engineering graduate like me finds it too time consuming to understand. Others lack crucial information that left me high and dry. Yet others lacked customer support.

Then I decided to put all these DIY stuff away and call it quits. It just didn’t work out…

I went back to my usual life and paid my regular energy bills.

Five months later, I was looking for an electrical component for a client and bumped into a young lady, Susie, looking for a similar item. Curious, I asked her what she wanted these components for. (It was unusual for ladies to shop around for such electrical stuff…)

I was shocked to learn she had almost completed her own DIY solar panels. She just doesn’t look like she can handle any tools, let alone build anything at all.

Excited, I went online to scrutinize the website she recommended:

View Here => http://www.diysolarpanelsworld.com/diysolar

It looked like one of those websites I bought from, so I was a little apprehensive. But I bought it anyway. By now, my enthusiasm has dried up. Yet somehow my curiosity led me to begin building a DIY solar panel.

One weekend later, I had my first DIY solar panel leaning against my garage door waiting to be installed. I was pleased, and very thankful for meeting Susie at the hardware shop.

This guide she recommended truly makes building your own solar panels easy to understand. Best of all, it shows you how and where to get very affordable components and materials to build your project.

With the low cost involved, it probably takes only 3 years before the cost of the hardware is fully paid back. After that, energy will be totally free for my family and me. Of course, we’ll soon be living entirely on renewable energy.

For the first time in my life, living on free electricity became a reality.

If you have the aspiration to build your own DIY solar panels like I did, I encourage you to take the first step… Look for a good instructional guide and take action to build a system that can harness free energy from the sun. You, too, will be glad you did.

You can learn a lot about building DIY solar panels here and also see many newbies accomplish amazing projects on their first try:

http://www.diysolarpanelsworld.com/diysolar

Continue Reading:

1. About
2. How To Build A Personal DIY Solar Power System With Less Than $99
3. Homemade Solar Panels — Common Mistakes to Take Note Of When Building And Installing Photovoltaic (PV) Panels

In this article, we’ll take a look at how to fit solar panels to an existing DC ductless air conditioning unit.

The items you have to prepare for this project are as follows:

1. A DC ductless air conditioner
2. A battery bank
3. 48-volt solar panels
4. A charge controller

We have chosen a ductless air conditioning system because they are usually more efficient. Unlike spilt-unit systems, they do not require the refrigerant to be pumped through a distance, which requires more electricity.

In a solar powered system, we’ll want to be as energy efficient as possible. This will help us reduce the cost of electricity production.

Many air conditioners can be converted into a DC system. But it’s quite a hassle. So if you can, find one that accepts DC input. Most of these are manufactured for trains, trucks and containers. Different models are available that accepts 12-volts, 24-volts, 48-volts or 74-volts direct current.

The effectiveness of an air conditioner is measured in BTU/hr. Thus when you scout for one, remember to get a unit with suitable rating. For example, an 18,000 BTU/hr unit can effectively cool an 800 square feet space. Determine the area you need to cool, then estimate the rating you need for your air conditioner.

The number of PV panels required to run your air conditioning system will depend on its duty cycle. (i.e. the number of hours you’ll use your air conditioner every day and the length of time the compressor actually runs.)

For example, an office will probably require about 9 hours every day with the unit running about 50% each hour. This works out to a total of 4.5 hours of run time per day. With better insulation and less people in the room, the compressor will probably need to run only 30% of the time.

A typical system will require about 5 pieces of PV panels rated at 250W each. You’ll also need either 8 or 16 pieces of 6-volt deep cycle batteries rated at 160 ampere hour each.

In addition, you should plan for those time when there is no sunlight for a few straight days. A 48-volt (or whatever your system voltage is) power supply can help you cope with such events.

It is possible to use solar panels to run alternating current units. However there will be power loss as we convert DC to AC. As such we’ll require more solar panels than necessary. This is not advisable.

For better efficiency, it will be good to use a variable speed motor controller and a variable refrigerant-flow compressor. Unlike most air conditioners that simply turn on and off according to the feedback from its thermostat, these units adjust its BTU/hr output according to different requirements. Thus the motor runs continuously, but adjusts itself in response to a feedback mechanism.

The on-off cycle of many air conditioner units waste a lot of energy and this is unnecessary. It’ll be more efficient to run the compressor continuously but at a lower pace.

After choosing your air conditioner unit, the batteries and suitable solar panels to charge your batteries, you have to get a charge controller.

A charge controller allows your batteries to be recharged under stable voltage. Many models can cut off the input current to the batteries when they are fully charged. You have to pick one with the correct rating for your batteries in order for it to work properly.

Using your solar mounts, fix your solar panels on your roof or a site with no shading issues. Then use suitable wires to connect the solar panels to the charge controller, and from the charge controller to the battery bank.

After installing the air conditioner unit, make sure your batteries are fully charged before you turn on your system.

You may want to test your system so you know how long it can run during days when there is little sunshine. You’ll can disconnect the charge controller’s wires from the battery and run your air conditioner at full blast. Then measure how long it takes before the battery becomes almost empty.

With a solar powered air conditioner, you’ll save yourself a lot of money in utility bills while you enjoy the cool air during summer.

Continue Reading:

1. Sizing Your Solar Energy Panels – Part 3
2. Making A DIY Solar Powered Reading Lamp
3. How To Calculate The Wire Size Required For Making Solar Panels

Instead of wasting energy trying to keep your pool warm, you can make use of solar energy, which can be found abundantly.

You can buy solar collectors from retailers, use a solar pool cover or make your own solar collectors. Either of these works well.

Here, we’ll show you how to make a simple homemade solar collector that can harness energy from the sun.

What you’ll need is as follows:

1. Submersible pump
2. Solar (PV) panel
3. Black PVC pipe
4. Rubber hose
5. Wooden frame
6. Black paint

You can place your solar pool heater on your rooftop or beside your swimming pool.

If you place your solar collector on your roof, you need to make sure there is enough structural support so your roof doesn’t collapse. You’ll also need to make sure your submersible pump has enough head pressure to transport water all the way to where your solar collector is positioned.

For maximum efficiency, you need to tilt your solar collector southward. As long as there is no shading, it can also be tilted toward southeast or southwest  (up to 45 degrees) without serious performance degradation.

Having chosen a location, you can now determine how big your solar collector must be. This depends on the size of your pool. For the sake of simplicity, you can build your first panel and see if it serves you well. If it isn’t sufficient to heat up your pool, just build another one.

First, you’ll need a frame or a board to hold the PVC pipes in place. This is for good organization…

Next, snake the PVC pipes on the inside surface of the frame by using u-joints. When this is done, cover every inch of the PVC pipe surface with black paint. This will ensure maximum solar energy absorption. With this, more heat can then be transferred to the water flowing through it.

To increase the efficiency of solar collectors, you may want to cover the frame with a piece of glass. This prevents heat loss through natural convection as wind blows over it.

In some areas, freezing may occur at night and during cold seasons. So it’ll probably be good to have a drain valve to empty the water inside the PVC pipes. This prevents damage.

After the solar collector is completed, you will have to cut the flexible hose to appropriate lengths and connect them between the submersible pump and solar collector.

Finally, hook up the 12-volt PV panel to the submersible pump to get the solar pool heater working. For this application, we’ll not need rechargeable batteries since the pool heater cannot work when there is insufficient sunlight.

Notes:

• To prevent evaporative heat loss, you can use a pool cover or a solar pool cover. They are affordable and will help you conserve a lot of energy.

• Solar pool heaters, even homemade ones, can last for more than a decade with proper care. To maintain it, drain the pipes when not in use so they do not burst due to freezing. This prevents algae and bacteria growth too.

Continue Reading:

1. Pool Solar Panels
2. What Are Solar Heaters, How They Work And What They Are Used For
3. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office

We’ll cover both topics here.

Simple Pool Solar Water Heater

A simple pool solar water heater includes a pump, controller, filter and PVC pipes to route the water flow. To increase the heating, you have to increase the water flowing into the solar collector.

You can do this by turning a valve that channels more water through the solar heater. When the valve is closed, water runs entirely through the solar heater.

When it is open, little water flows through the solar water heater due to its high water resistance. (Water, like electricity, prefers the easier path to flow through.)

By adjusting the valve, you can control how much heat you will introduce into your swimming pool.

Pool solar water heaters are much cheaper than PV panels. While the latter requires thousands of dollars to install, solar heaters only require a few hundred dollars for a good system.

People commonly ask what type (and size) of solar collectors they should get. This can be determined by going through a few questions:

1. How long is your pump’s running time?

If your pool filter is turned on for a long time, you have more opportunity to introduce heat into your pool. The converse is also true. Thus if you intend to run your pump for many hours a day, you can get a smaller-sized solar collector.

2. How is your pool installed?

Some pools are installed above the ground. These pools lose heat at a much faster rate. Thus you’ll need large solar heaters to compensate for the heat loss.

3. How will you install your solar collectors?

There are different ways of installing your solar collectors. Often, aesthetics and efficiency do not coexist. Solar collectors mounted flushed to the ground do not get as much sunlight as those tilted towards the sun.

4. How much sunlight do you get?

This depends on your location. Shading also affects how much sunshine you receive at your pool and at your solar collector. You may want to clear some branches or find a sunny spot to place your solar collectors.

5. How much wind do you experience?

Wind removes heat from your swimming pool. For open ICS solar collectors, even heat collected at the solar heater is taken away. So if you experience strong wind at your area, these are what you can do:

-    Increase the solar collector size

-    Use a glazed solar collector

-    Plant bushes around your pool and solar collector to break up the wind flow

-    Increase the daily pump time through the pool solar heater

While installing your pool solar water heaters, you will want as much value out of it as possible. This can be achieved by improving its efficiency.

Here are some tips that you may find helpful:

1. Run the pool solar heater during the sunniest time of the day.

Running water through solar collectors drain energy. You may not need to heat up your pool throughout the day. Conserve energy by heating your pool during the sunniest time of the day. You can continue running it till the evening if you want to.

Keep experimenting… After a while, you’ll find the optimum period to run your solar heater.

2. Use a pool cover

Your solar heater can be 50% more effective when you use a pool cover to retain its heat. If you use a solar pool cover, it will also help introduce more heat into the pool.

3. Connect solar collectors in parallel

Connecting solar collectors in series increase the water resistance and makes your pool pump work harder. Connecting them in parallel cuts the resistance in half. This helps to save electricity.

Continue Reading:

1. Installing Solar Water Heaters
2. What Are Solar Heaters, How They Work And What They Are Used For
3. Heating Up Your Swimming Pool Using Solar Energy

A Heated Pool

There are 2 common methods to heat up your swimming pool using solar energy. You can use solar pool covers or you can use a solar water heater.

First let us look at what these are, then we’ll touch on the advantages and disadvantages of each system.

Solar pool covers are special pool covers that also absorb energy from the sun. They are dark colored and absorb heat better than other types of pool cover. Heat that is trapped in the material is passed to the water by conduction.

These products serve 2 purposes – to warm up your swimming pool and to prevent heat loss by evaporation.

Solar water heaters collect solar energy by using a solar collector. In order to warm your swimming pool water, you have to pump water through it.

The interior of a solar collector is black. This helps to absorb as much heat from the sun as possible. There is a layer of insulation lining the walls of the solar collector. There are also pipes that run through it, carrying cold water.

Inside a basic solar collector, heat is transferred directly to the water passing through it. Thus it also acts as a heat exchanger. Big solar water heaters use a separate heat exchanger in order to handle more capacity.

Pros and cons of using solar pool covers

Solar pool covers need neither installation nor maintenance. All you have to do is pull it out from its bag or roller and spread it across your swimming pool.

And as long as it covers most part of the pool, it’ll be able to do its job well. Some pools are kidney shaped, so you can simply float 1 or 2 rectangular (or square) shaped covers over its surface.

Solar pool covers, like ordinary covers, prevent water loss through evaporation. Thus it saves you the trouble of filling up your pool with water and chemical. And by keeping dirt and debris out, your cleaning time is also reduced.

Pool covers, however, can be dangerous. This is because if children (or even an adult) were to jump or fall into it, he can get wrapped in the cover. He may find it difficult to get out of the pool cover and might drown as a result.

Or if someone swims under the cover and tries to surface for air, he won’t be able to… until he reach the end of the pool.

As convenient as solar pool covers are, they eventually deteriorate and begin to fray. Fragments of plastic can get into the filter and choke it. It may even damage the filter medium.

Yet when you use caution and check the condition of your solar pool cover regularly, these events are unlikely to happen.

Pros and cons of using solar water heater

Solar water heaters for swimming pools take very little time to install. One hour is all it requires. It is also not a great hassle to fit solar water heaters to the pumps and controllers in the filtration system.

There are many different types of solar heaters, ranging from simple to complex. Therefore you can easily find one that fits your needs. They are also not expensive since they do not necessarily need to be glazed and workmanship does not affect its performance seriously.

Compared to solar pool covers, solar water heaters can heat up your pool better and there is more control. Thus you can enjoy warmer water (if that’s what you want) and you can always turn off its valve if it gets too warm for your liking.

Like solar pool covers, solar water heaters have their disadvantages.

With numerous constrictions within its design, your pool pump has to work harder to push water through solar water heaters. You’ll eventually end up with a higher energy bill.

Even with a solar heater, if you are not using your pool for some time, you still have to pull a cover over the water to prevent water and heat loss.

(A good addition to this is to plant bushes to divert or break up wind blowing over the pool.)

In order to help your pool pump run better, you have to choose a solar collector that does not have sharp bends in the piping. Also, ball valves are more efficient than gate valves. Therefore ask before buying.

If you haven’t bought your pool pump, you may also want to choose one that is smaller and has a higher efficiency. When using it, remember that you do not have to run it the whole day in order for it to clean effectively. Start with 8 hours, then increase or decrease the running time till you feel it’s filtering at its maximum efficiency.

Continue Reading:

1. Pool Solar Panels
2. What Are Solar Heaters, How They Work And What They Are Used For
3. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office

Generally, the techniques for harvesting solar power are classified into 2 main categories: active or passive.

Active solar techniques involve inventions like photovoltaic panels, pumps, and fans. These are responsible for converting solar energy into useful output. Passive solar techniques involve positioning materials (with desirable thermal properties) along the path of solar radiation and designing spaces that allow natural convection (air circulation).

You have to consider the benefits of each approach (active or passive) before you implement them. Active solar techniques are somewhat more expensive to implement. However it gives you more control and the energy can be converted into a wider range of output other than heat. Passive solar techniques involve careful thought to the architectural design of your house. However it does not drain as much financial resources. Most people will consider implementing both types of system that complement with one another.

The most common installation you can consider is the solar heater. They are cheap, easily installed and are efficient. These nifty devices can help you cut a large percentage of your energy bill by taking care of your heating needs. You can heat up your rooms without using any electricity. You can also heat up water so you can have a warm bath or swim after work.

Heat gathered during the day can be stored in materials with high specific heat capacity (or thermal mass). They act like rechargeable batteries for storing heat in the day. At night, they provide you with warmth while the ambient temperature outside falls. Some of these materials include water, bricks, cement and stones.

The next most common installation you can consider is a solar panel. Solar panels convert the energy from the sun into electricity via a process known as Photovoltaics (PV). Thus these contraptions are also known as photovoltaic panels.

Photovoltaic panels are popular because of their practicality and convenience. While solar heaters gives out only heat, electricity from solar panels can be converted into heat, movement and light. Electricity can also be stored in battery banks so there will still be electricity supply even at night or during an overcast afternoon. However the down-side of this installation is the cost. For the average household, it may require up to $8 per watt to install. A 2.5kW system can easily cost you $20,000. (This costing is not exact as it depends on several factors like your location and solar panel efficiency.)

There are also other systems that can be built into the architecture of your house. However using only the solar heater and photovoltaic panel, you can design a world-class home solar power system that can effectively gather energy from the sun for your household needs.

Continue Reading:

1. Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities
2. Home Solar Power – Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Photovoltaic Generators to Power Your Home
3. 7 Different Ways of Using Solar Energy At Home and In Your Office

Let’s consider the advantages:

1. Solar energy is everlasting. The sun will shine everyday, at least for the next few million years. Unlike fossil fuel, there is no fear that solar energy will one day run out. If the sun is no longer present, life on Earth ceases anyway. Thus solar power is a very dependable source of energy.

2. Solar energy does not cause air pollution. Burning coal or oil, on the other hand, causes fumes and toxic gases to be released into the atmosphere. Large volumes of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) cause global warming, which is now a topic that concerns every nation in the world. This is due to the devastating effects of global warming.

3. Solar energy does not cause noise pollution. If you are living away from the power grid and have a diesel generator running 24 hours a day, you may be aware of the deep humming noise that never goes away. Those super-silent models provides you temporary relieve before you’re aware of the deep droning noise only after a few days. In contrast, solar panels make no noise at all – not even a little.

4. Solar panels and solar water heaters are maintenance free. They have no moving parts and do not require you to oil their joints. Once installed, they continue to harvest energy from the sun without complaints. All you have to do is give it a spray of water every now and then. This is to make sure dirt and leaves do not stay on the surface to make your solar generators less effective. Try using this method to maintain a diesel generator and you’ll soon have to send it to the mechanic for a complete overhaul.

The main disadvantage about using solar energy is the cost. Also, solar energy is absent at night. However, there are ways to get around these obstacles:

1. You can start by using a solar water heater. You can save a lot on energy bills simply by letting the sun heat up your water instead of using electricity.

2. You can spend time to make a DIY solar panel to begin with if budget is really your concern. Homemade solar panels may not be as pretty but they are at least as functional as commercial ones.

3. During the day, energy gathered from the sun can be stored in battery banks. At night, these storage units provide your house with electricity.

Even though solar energy may seem quite expensive right now, the cost of electricity generated from fossil fuel may one day overtake solar energy costs. Then if you have already installed solar panels and solar heaters on your roof, you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank while the rest of the world pays for their energy needs through their nose.

Continue Reading:

1. Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities
2. Home Solar Power — Different Ways of Harnessing Energy From The Sun To Reduce Energy Bills
3. What You Need to Know about Solar Water Heaters

A Small Solar Power Generator

If you’re thinking of making your own solar power generator, you may have heard how easy it is to throw some photovoltaic components together and start generating energy from the sun. Isn’t it?

Yet if you’re building a solar powered generator for the first time, I can almost guarantee you’ll make these 3 most common mistakes that most beginners (and even some experienced hobbyists) do not know about.

Mistake #1: Not Calculating the Number of Solar Cells and Battery Bank Needed

While this sounds like the obvious, a good proportion of us are guilty. Simply estimating the power and voltage generated by the cells will not do. Calculations and measurements need to be done…for everything. You’ll need to have sufficient solar cells. Battery banks also need to be large enough to store enough of these renewable energy so that it can power your appliances throughout the period of use. Everything needs to be calculated, even the wire gauge (size).

This is especially important if you intend to power your appliance throughout the night. A small initial effort (towards calculations) goes a long way to make sure your project doesn’t crash and burn mid-way.

Mistake #2: Using A Flimsy Solar Panel Casing

It is important to design your solar panel casing with proper dimensions according to your material selection. But most beginners do not have a proven design nor proper planning. As a result, many of these constructions end up being flimsy. And as you may already know, solar cells are brittle and easily broken if you do not handle them with care. If they’re mounted on a flimsy panel casing, they can be broken during installation — it is at this time when most handling (and knockings) occur.

Mistake #3: Not Vapor-Proofing Your Solar Panels

Most homemade solar panel projects break down due to corrosion and rust at metallic joints. This is especially apparent if you’re living by the sea or in a humid area. Reason: vapor seeps through many types of sealant through time and they stay in the interior of the solar panel. So it is important to use the correct type of sealant so vapor cannot seep through.

While there are many other pitfalls you’ll probably encounter while building your first solar power generation project, the above three are the most common among hobbyists.

Fortunately, many mistakes such as these can be avoided if you have an experienced hobbyist guiding you. A good alternative is a reliable, step-by-step construction guide. This can also help you avert mistakes that can potentially bring your solar power generator project to a grinding halt.

PS. As many “advanced” hobbyists have commented, they’re still referencing these manuals even after they’ve built a few successful projects over the years.

Continue Reading:

1. “Who Else Wants to Build DIY Solar Panels?”
2. Build Amazing Home Solar Power Systems Used by Families Who Don’t Want to Pay For Their Utilities
3. Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels – Electricity Conversion From Sunlight