Super Simple Solar Energy

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een much harder than plugging in some connectors and maybe soldering a wire . I'm glad you find plumbing so easy.

It can be complex depending on what you have to do to hide the pipes. It's just that plumbing is a much bigger job than running electrical wires. Al ways has been, always will be. Even running wires in conduits is easier as the conduit doesn't have to be water tight. I guess this new plastic stuf f can be a lot easier. I think they use someone vaguely like cable zip tie s (but much stronger) to attach the plastic pipes. Still, hard to beat wir ing for simplicity and ease of running in walls and ceilings, our of sight.

You have to plan the layout and measure it all up first. It is not rocket science.

I actually hate plumbing because when things go wrong you end up with water everywhere if you make the slightest mistake with a soldered joint or as I once did forget to solder one entirely. It lasted just long enough for the main tap to be fully open when it yielded spectacularly. Electricity doesn't normally leak out of its pipes onto the floor unless you do something horribly wrong.

There are also compression joints if you are not happy with flame soldering. And there are modern one time push fit plumbing connectors that work remarkably well and allow free rotation. They are a lot more expensive than basic solder or compression joints but quicker.

A solar-thermal collector with air as the working fluid is awfully simple and rugged. YouTube abounds with examples made from aluminum cans.

I think aluminum foil or dryer vent-duct collectors would make more sense given the construction labor savings.

The thermal collector is a far more efficient converter of solar energy than a PV panel, too. Such collectors can be passive (thermosyphon) or fan-driven from a PV panel.

I worked keenly on a whiz-bang solar thermal collector some seasons ago, hoping for some winter heat. I came up with a decent, simple, more-efficient-than-usual design.

Then I looked up and happened to notice it had been cloudy 9 days out of 10 that winter, which continued the whole season -- never mind! But if you've got some sun, it's pretty easy to make a nice collector without too much hassle.

Cheers, James Arthur

Black cloth collectors offer some improvement in efficiency.

NT

I was going to spray paint some aluminum foil black, IIRC. Solar geeks have found the best-absorbing flat black paints. Aluminum foil, appropriately supported, is simple to build, and cheap, too.

I was going to flow air on the non-painted side, to eliminate the any possibility of vapors or smell.

I don't understand the window-screen absorbers -- ISTM they'd let too much light pass through, wasted. Poor cross-sectional area.

Cheers, James Arthur

the fact that the air travels thru the cloth means the hot air is kept away from the front glass side, reducing heat loss. 3+ layers of cloth are used to get a dense black overall. This also reduces heat radiation outward as a lot of heat from the cloth layers just hits a neighbouring layer. Plenty of other designs work too.

NT

ay from the front glass side, reducing heat loss. 3+ layers of cloth are us ed to get a dense black overall. This also reduces heat radiation outward a s a lot of heat from the cloth layers just hits a neighbouring layer. Plent y of other designs work too.

Got it, thanks.

My notion was to wash the back side of the front glazing with cool air, minimizing heat loss.

Roughly like this, but IIRC I had a better configuration than this one... warm air ^ /|\ .-------. | .-. : | | |*| : : | |*| : : | |*| : :

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away from the front glass side, reducing heat loss. 3+ layers of cloth are used to get a dense black overall. This also reduces heat radiation outward as a lot of heat from the cloth layers just hits a neighbouring layer. Ple nty of other designs work too.

I've never tried that or seen it tried. But I see one problem. The air take s 3 paths rather than 1, tripling its flow resistance, plus it turns 2 corn ers adding more. During path 1 up, there is very little temp differential, so no inducement to rise During path 2 down, there is a temp differential the wrong way, inducing to back flow During path 3 up, finally there is a suitable temp differential, but it loo ks no different to path 2, so I'm not sure if there'd be any flow at all.

NT