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Step 7: Make it Shiny! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Step 8: Test 1: Light things on fire! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Step 9: Add the Boiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Step 10: Make some Tea! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Author:ben.chapman
I'm passionate about combining engineering and sustainability through DIY technology. I'm a mechanical engineering student at Olin College and currently building things at TechShop in San Francisco as an intern for the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop team.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. It works! Tap water comes in one tube and boiling water comes out the other (fairly slowly).
Image Notes 1. This is what I wanted it to perform like. Just point it at the sun, open up the valve and fill up your mug for tea!
Step 1: Is it Possible?
My first step was to do a calculation to figure out if my idea was crazy. I started with my goal: Make the solar equivalent of the hot-water tap on a coffee machine. How much power do I need? Lets say I want to fill up my mug with hot water in about 15 seconds. That means I'll need to do about 1 liter per minute starting at room temperature (~20C) and ending at tea temperature (~80C). That's a 60C temperature change, and water has a heat capacity of 4.18 kilojoules per kilogram C. So, for 1 liter (one kg.) we need 250.8 kilojoules. To do that in 60 seconds, we need about 4.2 kilowatts of power. That's a lot! How big of a mirror is that? In most places, on a clear sunny day, there's about .8 kilowatts of sunlight per square meter. That means that we would need 5.25 square-meters of mirror, which would be a dish 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) across! That was a lot bigger than I could make, but it gave me an idea of scale. For example, if I could wait 1 minute instead of 15 seconds for my cup of water, I only needed a 4-foot dish. In the end, I decided to make a 36" dish because that was the biggest I could make on my laser cutter without slicing up my support rings into smaller pieces (which is certainly an option.)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. A graphing calculator is one way to visualise your curve. (Use "Zoom" "Square" to graph it undistorded)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. When aimed correctly, parabolas reflect incoming rays to one focal point.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
File Downloads
Parabola5S.stl (6 MB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5S.stl']
File Downloads
Parabola5-0.eps (710 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-0.eps']
Parabola5-1.eps (110 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-1.eps']
Parabola5-2.eps (130 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-2.eps']
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Parabola5-3.eps (220 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-3.eps']
Parabola5-4.eps (144 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-4.eps']
Parabola5-5.eps (171 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-5.eps']
Parabola5-6.eps (113 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-6.eps']
Parabola5-7.eps (106 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-7.eps']
Parabola5-8.eps (113 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-8.eps']
Parabola5-9.eps (43 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Parabola5-9.eps']
Image Notes 1. Here are the parts, ready to assemble. I cut a few extra radial supports, which came in handy.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. Start by lining up all of the circles using one radial support. You can use some hot-glue to hold them in place.
Image Notes 1. Continue adding radial supports, making sure the slots are all the way in. My slots were tight enough that I didn't need to use any glue, the structure holds itself together!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. Covering the lattice with masking tape. I painted a small amount of wood glue onto the surface of the lattice to help the tape stick. For this parabola I used 4" wide masking tape, about two or three layers thick.
Image Notes 1. Adding the first layer of spackle. Just enough to fill in the depressions. There are probably other filler-materials that don't have as high a risk of cracking, but spackle is pretty easy and safe to work with.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. Using the laser-cut profile to spread the 3rd layer of spackle. I put down a lot of spackle and revolved the wooden form around, scraping off the extra.
Image Notes 1. After it hardened, I drew lines on the surface using pencil. These help you identify the high-spots and low spots when you are sanding.
Image Notes 1. Sanding to the correct curvature using sandpaper glued to a wooden cut-out.
Image Notes 1. Finished surface ready for a coat of clear paint to seal it and make it even smoother.
Image Notes 1. I started at the center, trying to set the strips down without much overlap,
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. It gets trickier at the edges, but it's fine to use smaller pieces and overlap them a bit to match the curve.
Image Notes 1. Here's the final mirror, trimmed around the perimeter.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. This is my reflection. It's certainly not optically perfect, but it's quite reflective. If there are bubbles or folds in the mylar, take a knife and make a small cut, then rub it down flat.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. We successfully lit pieces of newspaper on fire and blackened pieces of wood. It was fairly windy, so a calm day might be better.
Image Notes
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
1. It's stuck on a pipe using spackle, which helps insulate, and painted with black high-temp paint.
Image Notes 1. The tubing coil turned out beautifully once I learned I needed to fill the tube with salt to prevent crushing.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. I drilled a hole through the center of the mirror and mounted the central pipe using a wood disc. 2. The boiler assembly is held in place using a set-screw so the height and orientation are adjustable.
Image Notes 1. Hook up a pipe to the tap or to a gravity-feed system and control the flow with the valve. I used my camelback reservoir.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
Image Notes 1. It works! Tap water comes in one tube and boiling water comes out the other (fairly slowly).
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123D Space Shuttle by 86 Cardboard Desk Lamp by PenfoldPlant 3D printed drunkard stamp by PenfoldPlant
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 74 comments
Mar 24, 2013. 2:00 PM REPLY
nsundqvist says:
Nice work!!! Whot do you think about my heater? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2b7c9WnRhA
nzqwack says:
Jan 5, 2013. 10:51 PM REPLY Using Copper pipe polish it then Just heat it up with a gas flame and surface will oxidise to copper oxide on air contact in seconds which is black saves having to paint! Aug 5, 2012. 6:57 PM REPLY How come you did not simply use a discarded satellite antenna for this project? Would have saved a ton of time and calculations. The receivers are already mounted at the focus point and the bracket is already made to the correct length.
M2Field says:
roccopeterbilt says:
Nov 12, 2012. 6:28 AM REPLY This was going to be my question. Be really cool to get one of the big old ones that had a diameter closer to what your data showed you needed, then swap out the copper coil for a magnifying glass and make a death ray!
straight says:
Oct 12, 2012. 7:14 PM REPLY I had an experience like you bt the biggest problem was the sun movement as you know after minuts you have to change the dish location .do you have any solution for this problem? Id like to know your idea .thanks
person% says:
awesome! i want to try that!
grt57 says:
Bacon is good!
rkrayer says:
Great instructable. Would love to see ideas for heating or supplementing a conventional tank-style water heater.
Buckshott00 says:
Aug 9, 2012. 6:41 AM REPLY The best way to do this would be to setup a thermal battery and recirculate a thermal fluid between a storage tank and the heating coils of your water tank. If you're on a budget try it with peanut oil. It has a decent heat transfer coefficient and can go to around 475F before it starts to degrade, plus it is way cheaper than a lot of other materials. You have to really insulate your tanks and lines. Again for the budget minded I would suggest Superwool and Dap or Great Stuff. There is better choices but those are pretty good and won't break the bank. The only trick is sizing your thermal battery to be large enough to meet your hot water demands given losses to inefficiency in the pumps, lines, and transfer. Although if you lived in the southwest US you could meet the US average quite easily. Aug 7, 2012. 5:39 PM REPLY
icej75 says:
ben for some ideas here is a professional solar cooker we make where I work. this is a write up on a customer's opinion on it. http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/andersen-solar-cooker-parabolic-with-optional-rotisserie-motor.html
Kold says:
hey, your video is private! i really wanted to see this thing work =D
Linksep says:
Wahoo! Video fixed (I like my bacon a little crispier than that though).
ben.chapman says:
Aug 7, 2012. 5:38 PM REPLY The dark part of the bacon cooks well. The white fatty part is harder to get cooked since it reflects more of the light beaming at it.
alcurb says:
You need to be in his inner circle :-)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
windshadow says:
Yeah dude what is up with the video ?
mikeputnam says:
Bump! Cannot view the video.
Linksep says:
Bump +1
mbainrot says:
Bump +2 :)
ben.chapman says:
Aug 7, 2012. 10:33 AM REPLY Hi All, The video should now be public. I forgot to hit save the last time I tried to make it public (and I've been backpacking for the last 4 days). Thanks for all the great comments!
rhino says:
Very worthwhile project. Can I accomplish the heater by gluing mirror tiles to a satellite dish?
ben.chapman says:
Aug 7, 2012. 10:30 AM REPLY Yes. I've seen a bunch of successful projects that do that. You can probably find the mirrors that they use for Disco Balls quite cheaply.
RAYLOGAN5 says:
Aug 6, 2012. 1:44 PM REPLY I have gone thru all of the steps and now I am stuck. How about showing where the motor and tracking PHOTO LED'S STRUCTURE is made and where it is placed in order to make it work? Regards,
Ray E. Walters
maewert says:
Aug 6, 2012. 2:32 PM REPLY The author didn't show where to place the motor because his instructible didn't include a tracking motor. As is you have to manually point it. Shouldn't be too hard to add one though.
Wazzupdoc says:
Aug 6, 2012. 2:26 PM REPLY Sweet!. If you reversed the "mold" shape, you could do a gelcoat male mold and pop out fiberglass parabolas by the blimp-load!
godbacon says:
Aug 6, 2012. 9:12 AM REPLY covering the coil with glass would help it retain heat,block wind. Adding some thermal mass around the coil would allow it to store a bit of heat, for passing clouds and the like. If you were to put the coil into a block of concrete say inside a mason jar,using a black pigment to color the concrete I think you would get a more even heating of your water. Good luck with the application,it was a nice instructable. Aug 6, 2012. 6:35 AM REPLY You can make a very simple parabolic reflector by taking a flat sheet of Stainless Steel, and bend it in one plane, to conform with a couple of ply (or other) parabolic frames. Then, a straight piece of pipe across the focus, will harvest the heat and Bob's-your-uncle. This configuration also has the advantage that it does not need a tracking system, just maybe a weekly adjustment up or down, to follow the sun as it 'travels' around the ecliptic. Good shiny SS can be found in old clothes-dryer drums (the outer surface, the inner being shot-peened by the metal zippers and buttons), and SS appliances (the inner surface, the outer normally being brushed). This system will not deliver boiling water, unless you live in Mexico, but it's a very good heater for general hot water applications.
devonfletch says:
tabi says:
Could you post some pics? this sounds great (and I do live en Mexico hehehe)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
maewert says:
I meant a 3" concave mirror shiny side to the coils :-)
maewert says:
Nice instructable.
Maybe you'll want to add a convex mirror on the end of the boiler tube to focus any stray light back onto the boiler coils as it appears some light is missing the coils. See the image for a really bad attempt to show you where to add the convex mirror. Maybe you will want to add a solar array to generate electricity to run a small pump that would pump water from an insulated tank into the coils and back again. That way you'll be able to quickly fill your tea cup a few times a day so long as you let the system recharge (and you'll still have a cup of hot water after the sun goes down). Adding a tracking system should not be too difficult. You'll want even more solar PV cells to drive the electronics :-)
guruji1 says:
Great work my friend although if you had a satellite dish you would have half the job ready. Anyway thanks for sharing this. Regards
AllenInks says:
Aug 5, 2012. 9:20 PM REPLY re tracking: I remember an article fom Mother Earth News from back in the 70's tsome one had a dish he wanted to track the sun.. they had two ram actuators, plumbed to two flat black reservoirs. the reservoirs were mounted to rotate with the dish. the one on right had baffle shading it from sun rays from left, but could be warmerd by sun rays from right. similarly, the one on left was baffled to be shaded from right and warmed by sun rays from left. the reservoir on right was plumbed to actautor that extended to turn dish and reservoirs to right, and reservoir on left plumbed to actuator to extend to turn dish to left. thus when sun is to tp right of dish, iit warms reservoir on right and not the left, causing dish to rotate toward sun .dish stops when both reservoirs are warmed equally, and dish is pointing at sun. as sun moves, heating is unbalanced again, anf reultant difference in reservoir temps changes volume of fluids in each system, to cause actuators to work to rotate dish back into alifhnment with sun.... no electricity required. Aug 5, 2012. 2:48 PM REPLY
Bill WW says:
Great, Ben; I will be back to study in detail! Re: good comment from Rimar on Juy 2, he recommends 1 m^2 minimum area.
Incoming solar energy is max 1000 W at surface of Earth. So we have about 1 kW to work with, our challenge is to convert as much of this resource as p ossible to useable heat and electrical or mechanical energy.
Bill WW says:
Aug 5, 2012. 9:10 PM REPLY Oops! Sorry Ben, should have read your Step 1 more carefully. You said : "In most places, on a clear sunny day, there's about .8 kilowatts of sunlight per square meter. " That is more realistic than my 1 kW per square meter. Aug 5, 2012. 9:00 PM REPLY
profpat says:
nice one, very nice for the environment! now if could just recycle those old satellite disk in the dumpster!
breeeez says:
Why would you heat hot water?
spencer2710 says:
to make it hotter! duh...
JAMEJO says:
Aug 5, 2012. 11:19 AM REPLY Exactly right !!!! People always tell me they want a new hot water heater, and I make the same comment: It's "water heater". It could be called a hot water tank, but it's definitely NOT a "hot water heater". Pet peeve.
AllenInks says:
Aug 5, 2012. 8:58 PM REPLY actually, most water heaters ( tank water heaters) here in US are hot water heaters. even at rhe moment that heaters turn on, the water is hot, heaters just turn on to make it hotter. otherwise, if the water were cold before thermostat would turne on heters, then sometimes when you open hot water faucet, you'd get cold water, and sometimes you'd get hot water. Of course, a tankless water heater is another matter... sorry to rain on your pet peeve....
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
rdavis184 says:
Good job. BTW, it's a water heater, not a hot water heater. Hot water doesn't need to be heated ;-)
spencer2710 says:
It does if you want it hotter!
kev1n1956 says:
Shoulda said up front it would cook bacon..........Mmmmmmm bacon...
newbeatle says:
Aug 5, 2012. 2:23 PM REPLY so interesting your work , i have a parabola from a operating room that i have buy once some years ago then i have the mayor part of the work made it. i allways have tinked about how to build the heater, you gave me a great idea. btw i like to know hoy to see the video you attached beacause only says that is private...... so ? thankis in advance you can contact me at newbeatlee@gmail.com best regards Alex, from mexico
Grimshack says:
could you do this with a tv dish?
Gilo says:
Aug 5, 2012. 1:58 PM REPLY I did. I used a discarded sat dish. Took out the receiver pod and replaced it w a soda can to heat water. I can start a charcoal briquette w it in less than 3 minutes. When I was a kid, i stole my Grandma's washing machine lid (circa 1963) and used it as a solar heater using aluminum foil as the reflective material. I used a mlar sheet for the sat dish version. Nice work there Ben. BTW, you can cut out a parabola outline on a plywood piece. Use it to shape a sand or dirt right on the ground by rotating it on center on the sand/dirt pile. Pour concrete to make the template (negative). or just mold the dish right out of it.
ArrowRoSA says:
Some idea recomendation for dish solar tracking system.Video is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tekVzmQx6qo electronics here: http://s017.radikal.ru/i420/1203/e0/4fe708ce3ab2.jpg components are here: * U1/U2 - LM339 * Q1 - TIP42C * Q2 - TIP41C * Q3 - 2N3906 * Q4 - 2N3904 * R1 - 1meg * R2 - 1k * R3 - 10k * R4 - 10k * R5 - 10k * R6 - 4.7k * R7 - 2.7k * C1 - 10n ceramic * M - DC motor up to the 1 * photo LEDs - 5mm 563nm board of components are here:http://s019.radikal.ru/i639/1203/f4/25cd527e2a44.jpg structure of sensor is http://radikal.ru/F/s019.radikal.ru/i627/1203/f9/017b5b71d341.gif
totszwai says:
Your video is private...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/
batmat says:
Very good. I have a satellite dish plate, old and unused. Can I use this your idea? I would like to see the video that you made, this time as this video is private. You can show me working? I could use the mirror in place of foil, what do you think of the idea?
swilchek3 says:
Aug 5, 2012. 11:13 AM REPLY Indeed you could! Using satellite dishes as a parabolic reflector is common practice in creating high powered home built lights! The benefit is you have the backing of a million dollar fabrication method to ensure a more perfect surface - with his masking tape technique the efficiency of his design is unfortunately a lot less than the conceptual model on his computer.
frollard says:
Awesome ible - your embedded video is tagged as private however :(
ben.chapman says:
Thanks! All fixed!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Parabolic-Solar-Hot-Water-Heater-using-/