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Step 6Testing water pump and pipes
Photo 1: Testing the water system. Note that pump (12 V, bought on ebay for ~ $10) is powered by one half of the solar panel (generating ~ 9 V). The plastic pipes were recycled from an old medical condition!
Photo 2: Water is circulating! This day was cloudy and 1/2 of the PV panel was only generating 4 V (should be over 9 V on a sunny day!).
Photo 3: cool guy in the "mirror" :-)
Photo 4: water circulates between the panel and a small cooler, will do some calorimetry later to check the thermal output of the system. (not enough sunlight this day...)
Photo 2: Water is circulating! This day was cloudy and 1/2 of the PV panel was only generating 4 V (should be over 9 V on a sunny day!).
Photo 3: cool guy in the "mirror" :-)
Photo 4: water circulates between the panel and a small cooler, will do some calorimetry later to check the thermal output of the system. (not enough sunlight this day...)
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Nov 27, 2010. 11:49 AMbethehammer
says:
nice... solar power and heat exchanger... the water is not only heated but carries heat away from the solar cells, theoretically making them more efficient. this is a great start however you may want to put more "loops" of copper... perhaps using fittings rather than bending, or utilizing the pre-moulded panels used for solar water systems..
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May 13, 2010. 9:29 PMden316a
says:
why not just raise the water tank above the panel add a angle and allow convention currents to move the water and allow reheating to a usable temp
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May 8, 2010. 10:00 PMtweeterorhs
says:
I do not understand exactly what the output of the thermal portion is. Hot water? If not what and where did you link the two systems (PV and thermal) to produce energy?
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