The homemade solar water heater is an easy DIY project that uses solar energy for heating water. In this project, we will make a solar water heater by using homemade things like wood, aluminum pipe, aluminum sheet, thermcool and transparent sheet.
In winter we generally need warm water for bathing and washing which is usually done by electric or gas geyser. The usage of these geysers not only increases the utility charges but also have a negative impact on our environment. In Pakistan, we generally face gas load shedding in winters due to its increased consumption in residential areas. The traditional geysers are not only expensive but their running cost is also high. Solar heating is one of the promising solutions which can be found with varying capacity (400-100 liters per day) but they are very expensive i.e. about 30,000 PKR which is not affordable to many. The homemade solar water heater is not only cost-effective but it is also energy efficient.
Watch Video Tutorial of homemade Solar Water Heater (Urdu) @pakscienceclub
The specifications of it as per the experiment are as following:
Working Principle of Homemade Solar heater
Unlike other solar geysers, it does not contain solar panels for its working. It simply concentrates solar radiation on the metal pipe in which the water is flowing. The temperature also escalates due to the metal sheet at the backside of the pipes. Transparent plastic sheet cover at the top provides a greenhouse effect to trap the heat inside and consequently increasing the temperature of the water. The metal surface is rough and dull so to avoid reflection and of black color to maximize the absorption of heat energy from the sun. Aluminum pipes are also painted black as they can absorb all types of radiation and best suited for increasing temperature.
General Specifications of Home made Solar geyser
Average capacity: Approximately 720 liters per day
Temperature range: 30-60 degree Centigrade
Cost: PKR 3500
Best time to use: 10 am to 2 pm
Experiment Conditions
Ambient temperature: 25-degree Centigrade
Initial Water temperature: 16-degree Centigrade
Final temperature: 60-degree Centigrade
The flow rate of water: 2 liters per minute
Required Material for Homemade Solar heater
Wooden strip (2×3/4 inch) for making frame: 12 ft
Wooden strip (1×1 inch) for support: 6 ft
Aluminum metal pipe (10 mm): 48 ft
Hard sheet (3 mm): 48 ft
Thermocol sheet: 2×4 ft
Aluminum metal sheet: 2×4 ft
Rubber pipe (10 mm): 5 ft
Transparent plastic sheet: 2×4 ft
Metal wire
Iron nails: 1/2 inch
Screws: 1.5 inch
Tube bender
Cementex glue
Black matte paint
Steps of Construction
First, we will make the rectangular wooden frame of 2×4 ft using 2×3/4 inch wooden strips. The frame is then supported at three different places using 1×1 inch wooden strip.
the wooden frame of Solar water heater
The wooden hard sheet is fixed over the frame so to provide a firm base.
Fixing wooden hard sheet to the frame
We will fix the thermocol sheet over it as insulation so to avoid heat losses.
Fixing thermocool to base
The next step is to fix the metal sheet on it.
fixing metal sheet
The second part of the geyser is it's heat exchanger, we will make it using aluminum pipe and tube bender to bend the pipe in U shape.
Rubber pipe joins the two parts of exchanger since we have to join four aluminum pipes.
aluminium heat exchanger
We will fix exchanger to the frame using metal wire hence keeping it at one place.
Fixing Exchanger to the base
Paint all the surface with black matte paint including exchanger pipes.
Finally we will fix transparent plastic sheet over frame with cementex glue firmly.
Fixing Transparent sheet to the frame
The Home made Solar water heater is now ready, the whole schematic may seems like following:
Teacher, Innovator, Love to create, explore new ways to view & imagine things and then make them real
View Comments
Can we use plastic dip pipe instead of alluminimum pipe
yes you can use
AOA, this is a very useful project but can't throw away the old geyser. Best would be to feed its output to the existing geyser and let geyser continue to provide temperature controlled water supply. Here are some thoughts to improve the design by brainstorming together.
1. Water that enters it will take certain time to reach the desired temperature, so need to control the in-flow. Allow more cold water in when the heated water exits out.
2. When the water reaches certain temperature, it should flow to the geyser. need a temperature controlled gate (exit gate). We do not want cold water leaving this heater at night time.
3. How should this water go into the Geyser? need to provide a T to the existing cold water inlet at the geyser?
.. more thoughts??
View Comments
Can we use plastic dip pipe instead of alluminimum pipe
yes you can use
AOA, this is a very useful project but can't throw away the old geyser. Best would be to feed its output to the existing geyser and let geyser continue to provide temperature controlled water supply. Here are some thoughts to improve the design by brainstorming together.
1. Water that enters it will take certain time to reach the desired temperature, so need to control the in-flow. Allow more cold water in when the heated water exits out.
2. When the water reaches certain temperature, it should flow to the geyser. need a temperature controlled gate (exit gate). We do not want cold water leaving this heater at night time.
3. How should this water go into the Geyser? need to provide a T to the existing cold water inlet at the geyser?
.. more thoughts??