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Step 5Mounted and working Solar Collector
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Here is the collector mounted and plumbed to my holding tank which is just inside the wall, right beside where the pipes go in. Both mirrors are reflecting on the collector and the probe thermometer went as high as 170 degrees F even though the box itself is in the shade of the house!
Kinda close to the 180 degree rating of the cpvc though! Of course, 180 degree air temperature in the box does not mean the pipe is that hot. The water is sucking the heat out of the pipe. If I get the pipe itself up to 180 degrees, then I'm doing something awfully right!
The original glass pane had an unfortunate accident and got replaced by another pane that was not quite the same size. The lady at the local recycling center is on the lookout for more glass panes and mirrors for me.
A one inch thick piece of styrofoam has been glued to the rear of the box to help insulate. Double-paned glass would no doubt be an improvement too.
It is a pleasure to put my hand on the feed pipe and then on the return pipe and feel the temperature difference. From initial tests, the water appears to get a temperature rise of 20 degrees F on each trip through.
I realize that copper would transfer the heat better than cpvc. But copper is expensive and this is just a test box. If the cpvc holds up to the heat of 3 large mirrors, I may stay with it. Otherwise, I will probably go to copper with a future collector.
Here is the collector mounted and plumbed to my holding tank which is just inside the wall, right beside where the pipes go in. Both mirrors are reflecting on the collector and the probe thermometer went as high as 170 degrees F even though the box itself is in the shade of the house!
Kinda close to the 180 degree rating of the cpvc though! Of course, 180 degree air temperature in the box does not mean the pipe is that hot. The water is sucking the heat out of the pipe. If I get the pipe itself up to 180 degrees, then I'm doing something awfully right!
The original glass pane had an unfortunate accident and got replaced by another pane that was not quite the same size. The lady at the local recycling center is on the lookout for more glass panes and mirrors for me.
A one inch thick piece of styrofoam has been glued to the rear of the box to help insulate. Double-paned glass would no doubt be an improvement too.
It is a pleasure to put my hand on the feed pipe and then on the return pipe and feel the temperature difference. From initial tests, the water appears to get a temperature rise of 20 degrees F on each trip through.
I realize that copper would transfer the heat better than cpvc. But copper is expensive and this is just a test box. If the cpvc holds up to the heat of 3 large mirrors, I may stay with it. Otherwise, I will probably go to copper with a future collector.
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