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Build Your Own Solar Water Heater

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Build Your Own Solar Water Heater -Why You Should Do It!

You might have been curious about building your own solar water heater but didn’t have the correct instructions to tell you how to do this? If that’s so, today’s your lucky day as creating these things is very price effective and friendly on the environment.

As I am sure you know, many people have an interest in home energy devices and some would prefer to construct their personal solar hot water heater to save them money on their energy bills, as these things are known to reduce your power bills by around one-third (or a lot more) every month!

In addition to that, these water heaters can reduce the dependency you have on the national grid You won’t have to be concerned by power outages as much as other people who rely on the electricity supplier. And you could even be eligible for a a rebate from whomever supplies electricity to you. In the long run, diy solar water heaters are cheap to install in comparison to other methods of generating electricity.

However, if you were to buy a water heater that was pre-made, you’d have to pay much more than you maybe can afford, but if you were to build your own solar water heater, it may cost you a lot less money. Aside from that, if you decided to assemble one yourself, you could get a return on your money in a short time, because it takes a very long time to see a R.O.I while using ones that are ready made.

Consequently, if you’d like to construct your own solar water heater, there are some things that you should look for in the material you buy:

1. It needs to be relatively easy to understand with plans that are precise and thorough. To the point information will hopefully reduce the problems that you might meet when constructing your own solar panel.

2. A money-back guarantee if for example the product isn’t as described or doesn’t help you in the slightest. Guides which are trusty will nearly always offer at least a 30 to 60 day month period for any cash back guarantee, so if the item doesn’t give this money-back guarantee, you ought to not purchase it.

3. Far better, though this isn’t always crucial, the product or service should contain video trainingthat educate you on the right way to construct the item, giving step by step instructions that you just carry out. It’s best to learn how to do things on video so that you can see whether you are on the right track.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. QUESTION:
    can a solar water heater be hooked with a tankless water system?
    i am thinking about saving cost and energy. want to get a tankless water heater. i would like to have a solar water heater too, but heard that u need a stoage tank for the solar heater. not sure if i can combine the two. anyone got an answer for me?

    • ANSWER:
      you could have a 2 panel 80 gallon tank solar thermal system backed up by a tankless. but if you have a tankless, you dont need anything else, it wont work with solar panels, you must have a storage tank. if you have the money, do it. (roughly ,000) installed with a heating element in your air handler to pre heat your air in the winter. payback around 5 years pending tax credits. if thats to complicated, just do tankless, they are awesome. do both if you have the dough. your neighbors will be jealous.
  2. QUESTION:
    How can I fix a leak in my pool’s solar water heater?
    I have a rooftop solar heater for my pool. Today, when I started pumping water through it, I saw a nice water spray coming from a hole in it. How can I plug that hole?

    • ANSWER:
      Is the leak in the panel or the lines to the panel?
      The lines to the panel are the easy fix. Just cut the line remove any sharp edges and install a “shark bite” type of fitting per the instructions.The panel is a little more difficult. If the tubing has movement ( only one end attached ) repair as above. If both ends are secured clean the hole with a fine wire brush or steel wool, drill a small hole, and fill with a two-part epoxy made for metal.
  3. QUESTION:
    Do I really need a pump for a solar water heater?
    I plan on building a PVC solar water heater to connect with the water heater up stairs. The solar heater will sit lower than it. Would I still need a pump?

    • ANSWER:
      Check out some of the instructions on Build it Solar for a thermosyphon solar water heater. As long as the tank is higher than the collector, you won’t need a pump. http://builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm#ThermosyphonAlso check out their section on k solar water heating systems.
  4. QUESTION:
    Is solar water heater cost effective?
    We are considering solar hot water to suppliment our LP gas water heater. Will the costs of a solar system significantly reduce my LP gas consumption? Will the solar heated water be hot enough to not even use the gas heat?

    • ANSWER:
      I have often thought about building a pre-heater to assist my electric heater and cut down on costs. They will only work in certain locations with lots of sunshine and may be unattractive depending on where they are placed.
      You can build one with a metal tank with a pipe fitting on each end. Build a three sided box that the tank will fit into with glass on one side. Paint the tank and inside of the box flat black. The box is positioned so the the glass side is exposed to maximum sunlight. Connect a water supply to one side of the tank and run a pipe from the other side to the cold water supply of the gas or electric water heater. The water coming into the gas heater will be pre-warmed. Just something I think would be interesting to try. Good Luck.
  5. QUESTION:
    How to make reflective solar water heater?
    I have a school project to make a solar water heater. It needs to take sunlight and reflect it onto/into a container that holds water. The surface are of the reflector needs to equal the amount of water in the container. So no giant mirrors heating an ounce of water. How do I do this?

    • ANSWER:
      There are several different ways. First you need to decide if you are going to use a flat reflective surface or a parabolic reflective surface.Probably the easiest way is to get an old tv dish antenna (the small ones not a 10′ huge one) and make the surface reflective. You might try gluing aluminum foil on the inside. Add up your surface area and then put that much water at the focal point. This dish will have to remain pointed at the sun to work best.

      Another way is to make a parabolic trough reflector. The water will be in a long pipe suspended at the focal point of a trough that is reflective. For this one it is enough to have the trough pointed east-west and tilted at the correct angle for the sun at this time of year. You might use aluminum flashing for the trough.

      You could use flat mirrors that will be focused on the container. Because they are not curved they will not focus as well as a curved mirror but with enough mirrors it will still work.

 

Building Solar Panels From Broken Solar Cells

About Solar Cells

Solar cells are devices that generate electricity when light is exposed to it. They are coated in transparent thin film, of silicon monoxide (Sio, n = 1.5), to minimize reflections. The more light that is being reflected, the less light there is being absorbed by the solar cell. The less light there is being absorbed by the solar cell, the less light there is being transformed into energy of another type by said solar cell.In other words, the more light that is being reflected, the less efficient the solar cell will be, in regards to producing electricity.


Click Here For Information On Making Solar Panels Now!

The efficiency of solar cells depends on the location where they are being used. This is primarily because of the tilt of the Earths axis as well as seasonal changes. Basically as you get closer to the poles the suns rays become more and more “spread” out because the land in those areas is facing away from the sun. On average days are shorter closer to poles as well because, depending on the location, they may never fully face the sun even in full summer, where as the equator directly faces the sun all year long. Read more »

Wind Generators for Home Use

Do you want to cut down on expensive electricity bills? Do you want to do your part in saving the environment by reducing pollution? If this sounds like a good idea to you then you think about installing and using wind generators for home use.

Over the last few years there has been a lot of interest in adopting renewable energy sources. Solar energy and wind energy are the best ways to meet your energy requirements, and products that can make good use of sun and wind power are becoming more available each yer. The good news is, that apart from the many big projects such as wind farms, many of these products are now available for home use.
Read more »

Wind Farms

Throughout the world today, nations are turning to the wind power to meet ever growing energy needs. Large-scale wind turbine construction is continually being developed and implemented to help solve the energy problems that face us. While the basic operation, production and installation of these massive machines might be similar to that of smaller units, there are also some major differences to take into account.

To produce a large quantity of electricity for schools, manufacturing plants or even entire cities, equipment of tremendous proportions must be built. Regardless of where they are located, wind resources must be maximized to make use of open land or seas that may be available. Simply placing smaller units over vast areas of land is not a practical solution.

To be adequately efficient in capturing wind energy without compromising huge portions of the environment, bigger machines are required to produce the most electricity in the smallest spaces possible. These will be subject to much greater factors concerning weights, speeds and material strengths than smaller units. Merely scaling up generation systems that might be used for individual buildings or other small facilities is not practical.

First of all, a great deal of planning goes into feasibility studies that will need to go far beyond that required for a backyard power station. In addition to assessing the basic wind resources, there are detailed consumption pattern predictions and ecological impact implications which must be carefully evaluated. Proximity to housing, local regulations and any transmission barriers must also be considered before the actual building of a wind farm can start.

This is an important and complex part of the overall process because it will involve many crucial components to the success of the wind project. Besides considerations to air traffic agencies, local communities and communication providers, this planning stage will determine the possibility of any future problems that could arise. It will also establish facts on investment return expectations.

The next stage would be to produce the proper design of all supporting structures and the wind turbines themselves. The engineers responsible for the design and installation will have to construct an integrated wind turbine system that will meet all criteria for the individual location. There will be geological surveys required to make structural calculations for the foundation designs.

Every unique location will additionally have its own set of specifications for appropriate placement of transmission lines and transformer stations. After all designs have been drawn up and are found to be in compliance with the necessary requirements, the installation can be normally accomplished in a relatively short period of time. In most cases, wind turbine construction projects may only take a few weeks at most.

Of course, the most difficult and detailed portion of the entire process lies in the manufacturing and design of the turbines that will do the actual work of producing energy. Each one will have thousands of parts that must work reliably in the field. Components like heavy duty gearboxes, immense rotatory blades and complex electronics are designed especially for use in high stress situations.

Large capacity generators must be constructed of particularly strong materials in order to perform adequately and avoid unnecessary maintenance. They require higher accuracy, since design flaws that might go unnoticed on smaller units will be greatly amplified in larger scale. For example, a minuscule wobble in a three foot blade may not affect performance, but could destroy a machine with fifty foot blade lengths.

Modern inspection processes use various computer, laser and mechanical processes to ensure accuracy of component specifications. Intensively demanding quality control is implemented to guarantee the safety, efficiency and reliability of these powerful machines. Attention must be paid to the smallest of measurements in all aspects of design and the assembly of these larger wind power systems.

This precise design and production concept is carried out through the numerous sections that comprise an industrial sized wind turbine. Besides the blades and shafts that are familiar on any wind powered unit, there will be specialized equipment as well that will need the same detailed accuracy tolerances. Large modern units have intricate gearboxes, pitch adjustment mechanisms, speed controllers and other innovations that can provide the maximum performance possible.

In addition, there will be a wide array of cooling systems, braking assemblies and high power electrical connectors that are essential for consistent operation in all kinds of wind and weather conditions that will be encountered. Not only must they do their job, but they need to do it consistently over long periods of time. Planning, design and stringent quality control will all play a significant role in the development and the final production of quality wind turbines and effective wind farms.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. QUESTION:

    WInd Farms!!?
    Im all for these wind farms! If they can produce 400 + mega watts of energy for homes, why not? Why R the Kennedys and their “rich snobby”-political-butt buddies stopping a developer from putting up a few on Cape Cod? With the winds that blow in from the ocean, that should help out with power.

    • ANSWER:

      Firstly, they are uneconomic – even when there is a supply of wind farms there will still need to be backup power stations for the frequent occasions when there is no wind.
      Secondly they are an environmental disaster – ruining beautiful landscapes, and emitting a slight but disturbing, steady noise.
      Using the technology and material needed to make them has an adverse environmental effect. It takes nearly 200 years, under optimum conditions, to save the energy involved in their manufacture.
      I could go on – but the main point is that the fad for wind farms is making certain companies – who have got onto the gravy train – very rich.

  2. QUESTION:

    Wind Farms?
    Would you be willing to allow wind farms where you live?
    Where do you live?

    • ANSWER:

      Yeah.
      Anything to help the environment.

      EDIT: well, i live in Boston. Most people at the vineyard oppose wind farms because it makes their land look “ugly”. Come on now. We cant complain about global warming & yet not do anything about it.

  3. QUESTION:

    How many wind farms are needed to create the same amount of energy that 1 average sized, nuclear station will?
    I need to find out how much energy 1 average sized, (preferably british), nuclear power plant will produce comapred to wind farms and other renewable sources of energy. Or how many of each type of renewable energy station (e.g how many wind farms) will be needed to produce the power of one average nuclear plant. I need the answers by sunday night please! Thank you!

    • ANSWER:

      Large wind turbines are 2-5 MW each. Take 3 MW as average…

      Wind farms vary from 2 turbines to dozens, so stick to the individual turbines.

      Total nuclear capacity worldwide is 360 GW for about 450 reactors, so the average power is 780 MW

      Nuclear plants develop power 24 hours a day, every day. Wind turbines do not. So you have to multiply by a usage factor, usually assumed to be about 30%.

      So, on the average, it would take (780/(3*.3)) or 800 large wind turbines to replace one nuclear plant. How many wind farms that is depends on how you break them up. Probably 10 each, or 80 wind farms.

  4. QUESTION:

    Wind farms ! ! ? ?
    For or against ! I played golf once at Hunstanton and near by was one of these wind mills making hell of a noise and you should see the dead birds, not for me.
    Lot of good answers I’m pleased you are interested.

    • ANSWER:

      On the fence at the moment, i would agree that the sighting wind farms is a major problem with wild life and noise and i have seen a paper saying that some are sighted not in windy enough places. And a nation security could be at risk due to radar inference has well. So if we do not want wind power how about the government funding for putting solar panels on every house? and for those who have the solar panels they would get there money back

  5. QUESTION:

    Are there plans to build Solar energy plants and wind farms on the same land?
    It seems to me that wind farms don’t block very much light and need open spaces. So do solar farms. Can be designed to be implimented on the same land, like desserts for instance

    • ANSWER:

      Of course its possible but think about it: You want to locate wind farms where it is consistantly windy most days of the year and the stronger the winds are the better. OTOH, you want to locate solar panels where the sun shines longest and strongest.

      These two conditions are rarely co-existant. Wind farms located off the coast of Massachusetts generate a lot of electricity but are frequently in overcast conditions. The sun shines strong in the desert but the air is nearly calm by comparison most of the day, not conducive to wind power generation.

      I suppose if you can find a windy, sunny place you can have both projects co-existing, but you still need to leave room and seperation so that each can be serviced and maintained by workmen with equipment.

      Ocean going sailboats carry both wind and solar power generation systems to keep batterys charged, but usually only one system is producing while the other is near idling.

      Whenever you “harvest” something you need to locate in an area where your “crop” can proliferate. Both solar and wind are only marginally efficient processes at best (I believe solar is about 16% efficient) under ideal conditions. Operating a marginal process at a marginal location makes the technique unsubstantial, which is to say it may cost more to build and operate the apparatus than it ever will be capable of generating over its lifetime. The optimum conditions for solar and wind are not exclusive, but rarely occur in the same place.

 

Wind Generator

Wind Generator (20kw) - China Wind Generator,Wind Turbine,Wind Solar ...

Homebuilt Wind Generator Power – aDo It Yourselfa Wind Power Guide Review

Do you want to learn how to use do it yourself wind power guide to produce homebuilt wind generator power? Homemade windmills as very effective and efficient methods for generating free electricity at home, and is widely seen as one of the cleanest and best alternatives to using fossil fuels. When built on a smaller scale, it can be used to generate enough free electricity to power a home. Best of all, they are very cheap to build, costing no more than 0 to fully build and make functional.

1. Benefits of Homebuilt Wind Generator Power

Many of the main sources of power and electricity are non-renewable, such as oil and fossil fuels that will not be here forever. With the dwindling supplies of these resources, prices of gas and electricity have been rising fast over the past few months. Instead of using non-renewable energy sources, we should all start using renewable energy such as solar and wind power that will never be fully exhausted in supplies. Maintenance on turbine and solar panel systems are also very easy and cheap with no requirement for the use of fuel.

2. Why Should You Download And Use “Do It Yourself” Wind Power Guide?

As the cheapest and cleanest forms of alternative energy, wind and solar power are considered to be the source of power of the future. The rate of growth in green energy usage is increasing at a fast pace all over the world today, therefore it would be wise to start implementing and building renewable energy systems today to start reaping the cost savings and environmental benefits.

3. How Do You Learn How to Make Homebuilt Wind Generator Power System To Harness Renewable Energy?

Retail made models generally cost as much as ,500+ and above, but making one DIY would cost many times lesser, typically 0 and below, making it a better investment choice. They are also extremely easy to build and I personally learned all the steps through an online downloadable step by step instructional guide with video tutorials.

About the author: Want to create Homebuilt Wind Generator Power? Download the Best Step-By-Step Home Energy Guides at http://www.renewableenergysystemreview.com where the author shows how he reduced his energy by more than 80%!

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/homebuilt-wind-generator-power-do-it-yourself-wind-power-guide-review-1825241.html

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. QUESTION:
    wind generator?
    how big would the wind generator need to be to run a clothes dryer 24/7?

    • ANSWER:
      You just need to get a wind-turbine that can generate about 1500 watts then and inverter to convert it to 220volts a/c.
      But 24/7 with just a wind turbine is impossible unless you live somewhere that the wind is blowing all the time at the optimal wind speed.
      Spending the money for a wind turbine is best only done when you can grid tie, or store in a battery.

  2. QUESTION:
    How do I build a homemade wind generator?
    Wondered if anyone knew how to build a simple homemade wind generator to power our home? A homemade wind generator that is not too complicated would be good. Do you know how to build a wind generator? Please help us.Thanks

    • ANSWER:
      The first thing you need to do is figure out how big of a wind generator you need. Most wind generators that are over 1000 watts in generating power are quite a bit more difficult to build. You will need to have your wind generator 15 feet above any obstruction within 300 feet. That is a must.
      Some great resources exist but probably reading an article or two about building wind generators would help a lot. Try the resource I listed for a very informative article, there is mention of a website in the article where you can find some great wind generator plans too. Hope this helps, we have built 3 wind generators so far with these plans.

  3. QUESTION:
    What is the difference between a gas driven generator and a wind driven generator?
    I am looking to make a wind driven generator. My thoughts are that if I buy a gas driven generator it has all the converters and such so I can just plug in and go.I can adapt it to wind. I can buy a gas generator without a motor. Or does the gas driven one have to much torque compared to a wind generator?
    I hope this makes some sense.

    • ANSWER:
      Wind generators have a great deal of gearing because the blades of a wind generator move slowly and provide considerable torque from long blades (and can’t move faster because the turbulence from one blade messes up the next one) while a generator is more efficient the faster it turns to rotate the fields past each other faster. There can be only limited speed regulation of a wind generator and that comes from an expensive hub to rotate the blades, so smaller ones regulate the voltage output and turn the blade unit edgewise to the wind to stop it.
      Motor driven generators do (part of) their regulation by controlling the speed of the gas motor. So you would be buying a unit that would be missing the part that gets regulated and get control circuitry that has nothing to connect to.

  4. QUESTION:
    What size wind generator do I need to replace my electricity-winter 800kwh summer 2400kwh?
    I live in a very windy place and would like to consider a wind generator – I don’t know how to figure out what output I would need – my electric usage monthly varies from 800KWh in winter to 2400KWh in summer.

    • ANSWER:
      The quick answer is 2400kwh would probably need close to a 20kw generator but if you want to get an average for the year maybe 1600kwh average you might get away with 10kw.
      Very windy is a relative term so you will need to look at a wind map. Go to http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps.asp and select your state and then find your area.
      You will need to take that information and check it against a power curve for different wind turbines. This is one for a few turbines in the 10 to 20kw range. http://www.windturbine.net/performance.htm This will give you an annual output for this brand of wind turbine. If you look at the chart the left column is the 20 and the far right is the 10 and notice how different the outputs are from just 12 to 15 mph wind speed, that is why an accurate wind speed is important.
      Also I don’t know about your place but where I live we have much better winds in the winter than summer so for me average through the year is what I go by.

  5. QUESTION:
    What are the right batteries for a wind generator and where can i find them?
    I am looking into building my own wind generator but i cant find the right batteries. Any help would be useful.

    • ANSWER:
      I think you are looking for deep cycle batteries, the same kind that are used with solar collectors.

      Try some of these sites…

      edit – to answer the question “Why not car batteries?” … the difference between a deep-cycle and car battery is that deep-cycle batteries contain solid lead and withstand “deep-cycling” (losing up to 80% charge) better than automotive batteries, which have a different construction. Car batteries are designed to give you more “starting” power and stay up above 50% charge. Deep-cycling a car battery can result in a quicker breakdown of the core, thus increasing cost in the long-run.