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Step 3Where to put it?
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The best place to harvest sunlight on my property would be in the middle of the front yard. Nope... eyesore. The city Yard Nazi would have a stroke when he saw it. So I decided to build a small outbuilding on the edge of the driveway and mount the solar collection box on the "roof". But... if the collector was located on the roof... then thermal convection would not circulate the water. I'd have to use a pump and I didn't want that.
While making observations with the collector hooked up to the garbage can, it got later in the afternoon and a pesky tree shaded my project. I went in the house and grabbed a largish mirror off the wall and brought it out and reflected the sun onto the collector. Hey... it worked pretty good! So I grabbed another narrower mirror I had and watched the temperature rise higher.
That's when I decided where to mount the collector. Right on the corner of the house where the holding tank was inside, only about 3 feet away! Sure, that spot is in the shade for half the day... but I've got mirrors!
At first I just propped the mirrors against a concrete block. It was a pain to adjust the mirrors as the sun moved. They were top heavy and the edge resting on the ground was constantly on the verge of slipping. I eyed an old shipping crate that was scheduled to be converted into kindling and I chopped it up it to make two holders for the mirrors. I did say "quick and dirty" didn't I?
The best place to harvest sunlight on my property would be in the middle of the front yard. Nope... eyesore. The city Yard Nazi would have a stroke when he saw it. So I decided to build a small outbuilding on the edge of the driveway and mount the solar collection box on the "roof". But... if the collector was located on the roof... then thermal convection would not circulate the water. I'd have to use a pump and I didn't want that.
While making observations with the collector hooked up to the garbage can, it got later in the afternoon and a pesky tree shaded my project. I went in the house and grabbed a largish mirror off the wall and brought it out and reflected the sun onto the collector. Hey... it worked pretty good! So I grabbed another narrower mirror I had and watched the temperature rise higher.
That's when I decided where to mount the collector. Right on the corner of the house where the holding tank was inside, only about 3 feet away! Sure, that spot is in the shade for half the day... but I've got mirrors!
At first I just propped the mirrors against a concrete block. It was a pain to adjust the mirrors as the sun moved. They were top heavy and the edge resting on the ground was constantly on the verge of slipping. I eyed an old shipping crate that was scheduled to be converted into kindling and I chopped it up it to make two holders for the mirrors. I did say "quick and dirty" didn't I?
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