PV Gap

Darryl Said:

what is the best way to make a solar powered water heater?

We Answered:

look up solar thermal and homemade solar thermal.
many ideas there, the best will depend on your location and needs

Leonard Said:

Has anyone ever heard of a "floating pond heater" that is solar powered or battery operated?

We Answered:

go to that pet place on line.

Colleen Said:

when building a solar powered water heater where do you get the glazed glass?

We Answered:

"glazed glass"?

From a glass shop. Look in the yellow pages.

Beth Said:

Does anyone have any idea on how to make your own solar powered pool heater using thermo siphoning?

We Answered:

Although I believe it would be possible to create a thermo siphoning setup on a pool, I think it would be far less efficient than using the pool pump to move the water through a solar collector. Since you’re running your pool pump anyways, its still "free" heat. There are many on the market these days, but the first I ever saw, as a kid, was a home made one at my neighbor’s pool. Fairly simple in construction, it consisted of sheet of plywood painted flat black, propped up on an angle facing the sun. He then tapped into the return line from the pump to the pool, and detoured it into smaller black plastic pipes that crossed back and forth many times on top of the plywood. The pipes then re-converged and went back to the pool.

Some personal thoughts on designing the system:
-you would have to construct some kind of manifold, maybe a piece of pvc the same diameter as your return line that you glue a series of T fittings, then glue reducers on the right angle side of the T's for the smaller pipes. Remember you will need two, one to distribute the water and one to converge it back to a single pipe.
-I would keep the smaller tubes a 1/2" or less. Do some calculations to see home many smaller tubes are needed to keep the flow rate constant. Remember all the 180 deg. turns to make the tubes run back and forth will cause a lot of friction, so calculate that into your flow.
- I would make the surface I am attaching to (plywood) as large as I had room for (remember you can use more than one sheet of plywood) and pack as much pipe back and forth on it as I could.

Hope this helps
Good Luck

Oh and by the way, if you do install a heater like this, you would probably be eligible for a tax credit or other incentives.