As I was browsing on the web the other day looking for any information about an evacuated tube solar hot water heater today on the web I came across a guy on the web who had made a video demonstrating how he had made the vacuum component for this type of system. He gives you step by step instructions on how to make the vacuum component for such a system via video so you can watch exactly how he does it. He uses a beer bottle with a 1” diameter mouth and puts it inside of a straight vase. The two get molded into place with a plastic polymer and then he drills a hole in the side and inserts a polytube which is hooked up to a vacuum pump and then the air is vacuumed out from between the two. If you buy an evacuated tube system from a manufacturer you have to take into consideration that this type of system is a lot more complex and more expensive than it’s more well known counterpart the flat plate collector. The flat plate collector is a much simpler system overall. If you factor in the fact that the evacuated tube solar hot water system is supposed to be much more efficient especially in cold regions and ones that are overcast a lot then maybe this type of system deserves a closer look, especially if it’s possible to build such a system on your own incorporating commonly found parts into it’s design.
On another website I found a guy who made his own flat plate solar collector that was put together using old parts from the dump. He used an old rubber mat for his backing piece covered with a piece of tinfoil to reflect the heat back onto the coils and his coils were made out of an old refrigerator coil that had had the refrigerant removed. When he put it all together by framing it with some old scrap wood, adding glass on top to keep the heat from escaping, using some wood screws and tape to hold it all together and he had a fully functional model. He hooked up some polytube to the cold incoming water placed higher than the outgoing hot water so that gravity moved the water through the system once the system was primed. This prototype was tested for its effectiveness and within minutes the model was producing very hot water. It performed much better than one would expect. Not bad for going to the dump and picking up some parts which are readily available. I believe he said his total cost was for the poly tube which was somewhere under $4.00. This flat plate solar collector was so simple, easy to put together, used existing parts from something that otherwise would be going into a landfill and yet you could use this to heat the water from your home or for your hot tub or pool. I’d say all and all not a bad days work!!
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