DIY solar convector for heating water. How to make a solar collector with your own hands: types of structures and stages of work. Flat heating heat exchanger

But the principle of water heating is identical - all devices operate according to the same designed scheme. In good weather, the sun's rays begin to heat the coolant. It passes through thin elegant tubes, falling into a tank of liquid. The coolant and tubes are placed along the entire inner surface of the tank. Thanks to this principle, the liquid in the apparatus is heated. Later, the heated water is allowed to be used for domestic needs. Thus, you can heat the room and use the heated liquid for shower cabins as hot water supply.

The water temperature can be controlled by developed sensors. If the liquid cools too much, below a predetermined level, a special backup heating will automatically turn on. The solar collector can be connected to an electric or gas boiler.

An operating diagram suitable for all solar water heaters is presented. This device is perfect for heating a small private house. To date, several devices have been developed: flat, vacuum and air devices. The operating principle of such devices is very similar. The coolant is heated from the sun's rays with further energy release. But there are a lot of differences in work.

Video about various types alternative sources heating

Flat-plate collector

Heating of the coolant in such a device occurs thanks to a plate absorber. It is a flat plate of heat-intensive metal. The upper surface of the plate is painted in a dark shade with a specially developed paint. A serpentine tube is welded to the bottom of the device.

Energy resources. Free solar energy will be able to provide at least 6-7 months a year warm water for household needs. And in the remaining months, it also helps the heating system.

But the most important thing is that a simple solar collector (unlike, for example, from) can be made independently. To do this, you will need materials and tools that can be purchased at most hardware stores. In some cases, even what you can find in a regular garage will be enough.

The solar heater assembly technology presented below was used in the project "Turn on the sun - live comfortably". It was developed specifically for the project by a German company Solar Partner Sued, which professionally sells, installs and services solar collectors and photovoltaic systems.

The main idea is that everything should be cheap and cheerful. To manufacture the collector, fairly simple and common materials are used, but its efficiency is quite acceptable. It is lower than that of factory models, but the difference in price completely compensates for this disadvantage.

The sun's rays pass through the glass and heat the collector, and the glazing prevents heat loss. Glass also prevents air movement in the absorber; without it, the collector would quickly lose heat due to wind, rain, snow or low outside temperatures.

The frame should be treated with an antiseptic and paint for exterior use.

Through holes are made in the housing to supply cold liquid and remove heated liquid from the manifold.

The absorber itself is painted with a heat-resistant coating. Regular black paints begin to flake off or evaporate at high temperatures, which leads to darkening of the glass. The paint must be completely dry before you attach the glass cover (to prevent condensation).

Insulation is placed under the absorber. The most commonly used is mineral wool. The main thing is that it can withstand fairly high temperatures during the summer (sometimes over 200 degrees).

The bottom of the frame is covered with OSB boards, plywood, boards, etc. The main requirement for this stage is to make sure that the bottom of the collector is reliably protected from moisture getting inside.

To secure the glass in the frame, grooves are made, or strips are attached along the inside of the frame. When calculating the size of the frame, it should be taken into account that when the weather (temperature, humidity) changes during the year, its configuration will change slightly. Therefore, a few millimeters of margin are left on each side of the frame.

A rubber window seal (D- or E-shaped) is attached to the groove or strip. Glass is placed on it, onto which a sealant is applied in the same way. This is all secured on top with galvanized sheet metal. Thus, the glass is securely fixed in the frame, the seal protects the absorber from cold and moisture, and the glass will not be damaged when the wooden frame “breathes.”

The joints between sheets of glass are insulated with sealant or silicone.

To organize solar heating at home you will need a storage tank. The water heated by the collector is stored here, so it is worth taking care of its thermal insulation.

The following can be used as a tank:

• non-functioning electric boilers
• various gas cylinders
• barrels for food use

The main thing is to remember that a sealed tank will develop pressure depending on the pressure of the plumbing system to which it will be connected. Not every container can withstand pressure of several atmospheres.

Holes are made in the tank for the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger, input cold water, and the fence is heated.

The tank houses a spiral heat exchanger. Copper, stainless steel or plastic are used for it. Water heated through the heat exchanger will rise upward, so it should be placed at the bottom of the tank.

The collector is connected to the tank using pipes (for example, metal-plastic or plastic) carried from the collector to the tank through a heat exchanger and back to the collector. It is very important here to prevent heat leakage: the path from the tank to the consumer should be as short as possible, and the pipes should be very well insulated.

The expansion tank is a very important element of the system. It is an open reservoir located at the highest point of the liquid circulation circuit. For the expansion tank, you can use either a metal or plastic container. With its help, the pressure in the manifold is controlled (due to the fact that the liquid expands from heating, pipes may crack). To reduce heat loss, the tank must also be insulated. If there is air in the system, it can also escape through the tank. The reservoir is also filled with liquid through the expansion tank.

Alternative energy sources are becoming more widespread every year. This is not surprising, because humanity strives to make the most efficient use of available resources without harming the environment.

Attention ! The sun is considered the most promising source of energy.

That is why more and more people are thinking about how to make a solar collector for heating a house with their own hands. This is largely due to the openness and accessibility of this technology to the general public.

The fact is that some 20 years ago such a thing could not even be thought of. But the rapid development of technology has pushed the industry to optimize existing production and create systems that everyone can do.

The main advantage of solar energy is its infinity. Moreover, special devices allow you to receive enough heat even in winter. A similar effect can be achieved by making a homemade solar collector for heating a house on a vacuum basis. But such a design is quite complex and requires expensive materials.

Types of systems

Before moving on to creating a homemade solar collector powered by solar energy, it is necessary to consider the main types of structures that are widely used in home heating systems:

As you can see, there are many types of solar collectors that can provide stable heating for your home. But not all of them can be done with your own hands. Of course, in theory this is possible, but in this case special knowledge and expensive materials are required.

Principle of operation

Before you start building a homemade solar collector for heating your house, it won’t hurt to figure out how it can effectively heat water. Conventionally, the device can be divided into three components:

• battery,
• light catcher,
• coolant.

The task of the battery of a homemade solar collector for heating a house is to convert solar energy. Vacuum designs operate on the principle of a thermos.

Usually water is used as a coolant. But for greater efficiency, it is better to pour antifreeze inside a homemade solar collector for heating a house. Also, if you want to use it in winter, additional heat exchangers, two circuits and a larger plate area are required.

How to make a solar collector from an old refrigerator

Preparation

First of all, to create this heating system you will need to find old refrigerator with a coil. Then you need to remove it. If you don’t have an old refrigerator at hand, you can make a coil with your own hands from copper or steel tubes.

To create a full-fledged homemade collector, you will also need the following materials:

• rubber mat,
• foil,
• rail,
• glass.

You will also need a container for water. It is best to use a barrel that is large enough for your system. Also, drain and supply pipes should not be overlooked.

Attention ! Select reliable and convenient valves for the design.

Using all these simple materials that you can get in your garage, you will make a reliable homemade solar collector for heating your home. It will be able to provide the indoor temperature you need.

Making a collector

To make homemade heating, you must strictly follow the instructions. This will allow you to get the expected result with the least effort. The design creation algorithm consists of the following steps:

1. Rinse the coil. There should be no antifreeze left inside the structure.
2. Build a frame around a homemade coil. It can be based on ordinary slats. The dimensions of the structure directly depend on the parameters of the device.
3. The rug must match the frame you made. It is very important that the coil is not installed end-to-end, but has some space to work.
4. On rubber mat you need to put some foil on it.
5. After the foil is placed, the homemade coil is fixed using clamps. They can be obtained from the same refrigerator.
6. It is best to secure the clamps with screws.
7. IN homemade design several holes need to be made. The coil tubes will come out through them
8. It is extremely important to strengthen the bottom. Slats are ideal for this task. It is best to fix them on the reverse side.
9. Place glass on top. You can use an old window as the starting material. As a last resort, it can be purchased at a hardware store.
10. Regular tape is suitable for fixing the glass. For greater reliability, the perimeter can be strengthened with a couple of screws.

Now the homemade solar collector is made. As a result, you get full heating of the house, allowing you to independently regulate the temperature inside. Its main advantage is high degree autonomy.

But in order for the assembled home-made structure for heating a house to show sufficient efficiency, it still needs to be installed correctly. The panel should face south. A tilt of 15-20 degrees is considered normal.

Attention ! The ideal tilt angle is 35 degrees.

Regarding the installation location. The roof of a house is ideal for a homemade design. But alternatives are also possible, for example, panels can be installed on the site. But the efficiency of such heating will be much lower.

If you decide to install a homemade collector in the yard of the house, then you need to take care of inclined supports. Otherwise the heating will be ineffective. An angle of at least 15 degrees is needed to prevent precipitation from accumulating on the glass. Because of them, light is refracted, and the device works worse.

Results

Creating a homemade solar collector is not that difficult. Despite this, it allows you to provide heating to the house even in winter, provided that some technical modifications are made to the main device.

The concept of an energy efficient home involves the creation, implementation and operation of renewable energy sources. Do-it-yourself solar collectors, which were extremely rare not so long ago, have become increasingly common.

The constant improvement of solar systems and a significant drop in prices for them have led to their even greater appearance in everyday life. The cost of factory models today is comparable to the costs required to install a classic heating system. However, anyone can do this technology on their own.

The principle of operation of the solar collector

To briefly describe the principle of operation of the collector, it is necessary to capture solar thermal energy. Subsequently, it is concentrated and used by humans.

The collector system consists of the following components:

• Thermal accumulator (regular container for liquid)
• Heat exchange circuit
• Directly collector

Liquid or gaseous coolant circulates through the collector. The resulting energy heats it and, through a mounted storage tank, transfers heat to the water.

The heated liquid is stored in the tank until it is used. The scope of its application is very wide - from ordinary household needs to home heating. To prevent the water from cooling quickly, it is necessary to properly insulate the container.

Water circulation in the collector is done in one of two ways: or forced. An additional element that heats the liquid can be mounted in the storage tank, which will turn on when low temperatures are reached. environment and maintain the water temperature, for example, in winter, when the solstice is short.

Introductory video about the design of a water heater

Types of solar collectors

When planning to install a solar collector with your own hands in the house, you need to decide on the type of design:

Models in which air is the coolant are used extremely rarely. This is due to the properties of the liquid - it conducts heat much better than gas. Air collectors are often made flat in shape so that the air, in contact with the absorption device, naturally heats up.

air solar collector diagram

Vacuum solar collectors

Vacuum models are the most complex. Instead of a box that is covered with glass, it uses large glass tubes. Inside them there are tubes with a smaller diameter, in which there is an absorber that collects thermal energy. There is a vacuum between the tubes, it acts as a heat insulator.

Flat-plate solar collectors

The most common is a flat solar collector, inside of which there is a special absorbent layer placed in a glass box. It is connected to tubes through which the coolant liquid (usually propylene glycol) moves.

flat solar collector diagram

But when deciding to make a solar collector with your own hands, you need to understand that it is impossible to make such complex devices, similar to industrial ones. In addition, their efficiency will be significantly lower, less service life, but also material investments.

Structural drawings

Let's get started

Before building a solar collector, it is necessary to make the appropriate calculations and determine how much energy it should produce. But from homemade installation You shouldn't expect high efficiency. Having determined that there will be enough of it, you can begin.

The work can be divided into several main stages:

1. Make a box
2. Make a radiator or heat exchanger
3. Make a front camera and storage device
4. Assemble the collector

To make a box for a solar collector with your own hands, you should prepare an edged board of thickness 25-35 mm and width 100-130 mm. Its bottom should be made of textolite, equipped with ribs. It should also be well insulated using polystyrene foam (but preference is given to mineral wool), covered with galvanized sheet.

Having prepared the box, it’s time to make the heat exchanger. You should follow the instructions:

1. It is necessary to prepare 15 thin-walled metal tubes 160 cm long and two inch pipes 70 cm long
2. In both thickened tubes, holes are drilled with the diameter of the smaller tubes into which they will be installed. In this case, you need to ensure that they are aligned on one side, maximum step 4.5 cm between them
3. The next stage is that all the tubes need to be assembled into a single structure and welded securely
4. The heat exchanger is mounted on a galvanized sheet (previously attached to the box) and fixed with steel clamps (metal clamps can be made)
5. It is recommended to paint the bottom of the box in a dark color (for example, black) - it will absorb better solar heat, but to reduce heat loss, external elements are painted white
6. To complete the installation of the collector, it is necessary to install a cover glass near the walls, while not forgetting about reliable sealing of the joints
7. A distance of 10-12 mm is left between the tubes and the glass

All that remains is to build a storage tank for the solar collector. Its role can be played by a sealed container, the volume of which varies about 150-400 l. If you cannot find one such barrel, you can weld several small ones together.

Like the collector, the storage tank is thoroughly insulated from heat loss. All that remains is to make a fore-chamber - a small vessel with a volume of 35-40 liters. It must be equipped with a water-falling device (a swivel valve).

The most responsible and important stage remains - to assemble the collector together. You can do it this way:

1. First you need to install the front camera and storage. It is necessary to ensure that the liquid level in the latter is 0.8 m lower than in the front chamber. Since a lot of water can accumulate in such devices, it is necessary to think about how they will be reliably shut off
2. The collector is placed on the roof of the house. Based on practice, it is recommended to do this on the south side, tilting the installation at an angle of 35-40 degrees to the horizontal
3. But you need to take into account that the distance between the storage tank and the heat exchanger should not exceed 0.5-0.7 m, otherwise the losses will be too significant
4. At the end, the following sequence should be obtained: the front camera must be located above the drive, the latter - above the collector

The most important stage is coming - it is necessary to connect all the components together and connect them to the finished system water supply network. To do this, you will need to visit a plumbing store and purchase the necessary fittings, adapters, sockets, etc. shut-off valves. It is recommended to connect high-pressure sections with a pipe with a diameter of 0.5 inches, low-pressure sections with a diameter of 1 inch.

Commissioning is carried out as follows:

1. The unit is filled with water through the bottom drainage hole
2. The anterior chamber is connected and the fluid levels are adjusted
3. It is necessary to walk along the system and check that there are no leaks
4. Everything is ready for everyday use

Solar collector from a refrigerator coil

You can make a solar collector with your own hands from an ordinary coil taken from an old refrigerator. To work you will need to prepare:

1. Directly coil
2. Slats and foil for the frame
3. Barrel or water tank
4. Rubber mat
5. Shut-off valves (valves, pipes, etc.)
6. Glass

After washing the coil of freon, you need to knock down the rack frame around it. Its exact dimensions will depend on the size of the working unit that was removed from the refrigerator. The rug must be adjusted to the slats, among which the coil must be positioned freely.

A foil layer is placed on the rubber mat (bottom of the frame). Then the coil is fixed using screw clamps. Holes are made in the walls through which pipes will pass. Productivity can be increased by sealing joints with sealants.

The bottom is also reinforced with slats. Glass is mounted on top and secured with tape. To avoid worry, you can cut out several aluminum plates and make clamps from them.

Video about technical device and testing of the solar collector:

In custody

A structure such as a do-it-yourself solar collector can significantly increase the level of comfort in country house or at the dacha. Although insignificant, it reduces the cost of consumed energy generated by classical energy sources.

The rise in price of traditional energy sources encourages private home owners to look for alternative options home heating and water heating. Agree, the financial component of the issue will play an important role when choosing a heating system.

One of the most promising methods of energy supply is the conversion of solar radiation. For this purpose, solar systems are used. Understanding the principle of their design and the mechanism of operation, making a solar collector for heating with your own hands will not be difficult.

We will tell you about design features solar systems, we offer simple diagram assembly and describe the materials that can be used. The stages of work are accompanied by visual photographs, the material is supplemented by videos about the creation and commissioning of a home-made collector.

Modern solar systems are one of the sources of heat. They are used as auxiliary heating equipment that converts solar radiation into energy useful to home owners.

They are able to fully provide hot water supply and heating during the cold season only in the southern regions. And only if they occupy a sufficiently large area and are installed in open areas not shaded by trees.

Despite the large number of varieties, their operating principle is the same. Any one is a circuit with a sequential arrangement of devices that supply thermal energy and transmit it to the consumer.

The main working elements are solar collectors. The technology on photographic plates is somewhat more complicated than that of a tubular collector.

In this article we will look at the second option – a solar collector system.

Solar collectors still serve as auxiliary energy suppliers. It is dangerous to completely switch home heating to a solar system due to the inability to predict a clear number of sunny days

Collectors are a system of tubes connected in series to the output and input lines or laid out in the form of a coil. Process water circulates through the tubes, air flow or a mixture of water with some kind of antifreeze liquid.

Circulation is stimulated by physical phenomena: evaporation, changes in pressure and density from the transition from one state of aggregation to another, etc.

The collection and accumulation of solar energy is carried out by absorbers. This is either a solid metal plate with a blackened outer surface, or a system of individual plates attached to tubes.

For the manufacture of the upper part of the housing, the cover, materials with high transmittance are used luminous flux. This can be plexiglass, similar polymer materials, tempered types of traditional glass.

In order to eliminate energy loss, thermal insulation is placed in the box on the back side of the device

It must be said that polymer materials do not tolerate the influence of ultraviolet rays. All types of plastic have a fairly high coefficient of thermal expansion, which often leads to depressurization of the housing. Therefore, the use of such materials for the manufacture of the collector body should be limited.

Water as a coolant can only be used in systems designed to supply additional heat in the autumn/spring period. If you plan to use the solar system all year round, before the first cold snap, change the process water to a mixture of it and antifreeze.

If the solar collector is installed to heat a small building that has no connection with autonomous heating cottage or with centralized networks, a simple single-circuit system is constructed with a heating device at the beginning of it.

Not included in the chain circulation pumps and heating devices. The scheme is extremely simple, but it can only work in sunny summers.

When a collector is included in a double-circuit technical structure, everything is much more complicated, but the range of days suitable for use is significantly increased. The collector processes only one circuit. The predominant load is placed on the main heating unit, running on electricity or any type of fuel.

Home craftsmen have invented a cheaper option - a spiral heat exchanger made of.

An interesting budget solution is a solar system absorber made of a flexible polymer pipe. Suitable fittings are used to connect to the devices at the inlet and outlet. The choice of available materials from which a solar collector heat exchanger can be made is quite wide. This could be the heat exchanger of an old refrigerator, polyethylene water pipes, steel panel radiators, etc.

An important criterion for efficiency is the thermal conductivity of the material from which the heat exchanger is made.

For self-made the best option is copper. It has a thermal conductivity of 394 W/m². For aluminum, this parameter varies from 202 to 236 W/m².

However, there is a large difference in thermal conductivity parameters between copper and polypropylene pipes does not mean at all that a heat exchanger with copper pipes will produce hundreds of times larger volumes of hot water.

Under equal conditions, the performance of a heat exchanger made of copper pipes will be 20% more efficient than the performance of metal-plastic options. So heat exchangers made from polymer pipes have a right to life. In addition, such options will be much cheaper.

Regardless of the material of the pipes, all connections, both welded and threaded, must be sealed. The pipes can be placed either parallel to each other or in the form of a coil.

The coil-type circuit reduces the number of connections - this reduces the likelihood of leaks and ensures a more uniform flow of coolant.

The top of the box in which the heat exchanger is located is covered with glass. Alternatively you can use modern materials, such as an acrylic analogue or monolithic polycarbonate. The translucent material may not be smooth, but grooved or matte.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Manufacturing process of a basic solar collector:

How to assemble and commission a solar system:

Naturally, a self-made solar collector will not be able to compete with industrial models. Using available materials, it is quite difficult to achieve the high efficiency that industrial designs have. But the financial costs will be much lower compared to purchasing ready-made installations.