Highlights
- This system stores heat instead of hot water.
- The stored heat can be used in several different ways – to heat water, to heat the house, or it can be converted to electricity.
- It was not expensive to build (about $100)
- The author gives detailed, step by step explanations for each stage from start to finish.
The Negatives - The negatives were few, but I was a little disappointed as I expected more pictures of the installation process and of the final installation. It would have been much better to see what was going on if pictures had been provided. Also, I was hoping to find specific information on several different systems, but this guide was only about how to specifically install one type of system.
The Positives - Fortunately, the disappointments were few, so I felt like it was a good purchase in the end. The reason I felt this way is that the author was very specific about each step of the installation process. He gave clear instructions on the materials needed, on how to prepare for and execute each step, and also on things to be careful about. It was nice to be told at each stage what things to watch out for. I had no problems understanding what to do for the installation.
What I found most unique is the way he uses the energy he collects. For him, he mounted his solar collector on his roof and then built a reservoir to catch and retain the heat. What I like about his system is that he is storing the heat to be used at a different time for two different purposes. One purpose was to heat his water and the other purpose was to heat his house. The reason I like this is because heat is energy which can be converted to electricity even though he is not using it this way.
If you live in a really sunny area, I feel that the author’s system could provide you with not only hot water, but also electricity and heating all from one system all year round. This system would also be very good if you live in a cloudy area as long as you had effective solar collectors.
System Overview - The heat captured from the author’s solar collector heats up antifreeze flowing through copper piping and is fed to his “heat reservoir” where it is stored. The author built his heat reservoir in the ground as he wanted to hide it. If you wanted to build a similiar one and have it above ground in some kind of container, I am sure that you could.
The copper piping is coiled inside his well insulated reservoir and the piping is buried with 2 inch rock. Rock is actually a good transducer and holds heat well and gives off heat just as quickly. Have you ever used for cooking or seen cooking shows where rocks are heated in a fire and then either buried with a pig (Hawaiian Luau) or put in soup? The heat is transferred from the rock to the food and causes the food to cook. This is the same principle being used here. The collected solar energy heats up the antifreeze which is then carried down to the "heat resevoir." The rocks in the reservoir heat up and retain their heat until it is used to heat the house or the water. As his reservoir is buried and well insulated, the rocks do well to retain their heat.
I acutally like the idea of storing heat instead of directly only heating water as the heat can be used for other purposes. This type of system could be built on a larger scale and could be used for hot water, heating, or electricity, and this would help a family become more self reliant especially as the cost for building this system was very reasonable (about $100).
If you are interested in this book, please go here for more information. I think that it definitely a good system to consider if you are going to build your own hot water solar system or a simlar solar system.
