When it is hot outside, the amount of such garbage as plastic bottles increases significantly in the world. These are bottles from mineral water, from juices, beer and much more. One author suggested a way how this material can be used to create very useful homemade. We are talking about such a device as a solar collector, which allows you to get free hot water from solar energy.
The author of this homemade became a Brazilian named Jose Alano. Its peculiarity is that such a collector is able to actively work both at sunrise and sunset. The thing is that the sun's rays penetrate through the bottle and heat the water. If we talk about collectors with glass, then the sun's rays are reflected from the surface, if it does not pass at an angle close to 90 degrees.
Materials and tools for homemade:
- plastic bottles (their quantity depends on the scale of the collector);
- Tetra Pak from juice or milk;
- PVC pipe with an external diameter of 20 mm and tees (you can use a copper pipe, but this is expensive material);
- cardboard;
- stationery knife;
- black heat-resistant paint;
- scissors;
- storage tank.
Collector manufacturing process:
Step one. Bottle preparation
To create a collector, you need bottles of the same shape, so you need to try a little and find their suitable amount. This is necessary so that you can insert the bottles into each other, thus forming a chain of bottles.
When the bottles are found, you need to wash them and remove the labels. Next, cardboard is taken and a template is made from it. Subsequently, using this template, the bottles need to cut off the lower part at a given level. This is convenient to do with a stationery knife.
Step Two We make an absorber
To make an absorber you will need containers from milk or juices (tetra packs). The bags must be thoroughly washed, as the contents become acidic when heated, and will emit an unpleasant odor.After drying, the material is cut as indicated in the pictures. After that, it must be painted with black paint (heat-resistant).
Step Three We collect the collector
The heat exchanger is assembled from PVC pipes, the diameter of which is 20 mm. For these purposes, you need to use only those pipes that are designed for hot water supply. Corners and tees in the upper part are connected using PVC glue. To increase the collector efficiency, the pipes must be painted black.
The design is assembled as follows. First you need to take the bottle and put it on the bottle with the neck forward. Then an absorber (tetra pack) is taken and inserted into the bottle until it stops. The length of the pipe is about 105 cm, while the number of bottles on it collected in this way should not be more than five.
Step Four Collector installation
To install the collector, you will need a wooden or metal support. It needs to be deployed so that the sun falls on it, you need to navigate in a southerly direction.
In order for the water to circulate naturally, the tank must be placed at a level above the collector. Now cold water will sink down, as it is heavier, and hot water will expand and enter the tank. The distance from the collector to the tank should be at least 30 cm, then the circulation will take place with the desired intensity. Thanks to this approach, no pumps will be needed. The tank must be insulated to reduce heat loss.
Another system can be equipped with a turbulent gearbox. It is needed so that hot water enters the tank smoothly and without pressure, while smoothly mixing with cold. It is made from a bottle with a closed bottom, a number of holes must be made in it.
That's all, the system is ready. Now, from spring to autumn, you can enjoy the free extracted warm water. The design flaw is that after about 5 years, the plastic begins to fade, and therefore, the bottles need to be changed for several years.
