# Home made Solar Hot water Panel



## Kevingr (Mar 10, 2006)

Now that I've talked about my solar storage tank and my underfloor radiant heat it's time to talk about the solar collector itself.

I was going to buy 5 4x10 panels from SolarSkies.com. With mounting hardware they run about $1200 each. I've decided to make my own. I'm leaning towards the 4x10 abosrber from Sunraysolar.com. The cost for the absorber, crating and shipping comes out to $350 each. I checked around on glass prices and after I got back up off the floor I did a little more research on the net with other options. (by the way, a 4x10 low iron tempered glass 1/4" thick was $600). For the cost of building my own I can probably put up 10 panels for the same cost as the 5 from SolarSkies, granted, they won't be as good, but at the cost/btu over time I'd think I'd be way ahead.

So, who has made there own? What have you used as a glazing material and how has it stood up?

SolarGary, how do you like the Twin Wall Polycarbonate now that you've had it in for a while? I was leaning towards the Corrugated polycarbonate since more light gets through, but not sure about it being wavy, if that's good or bad.


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

Kevingr said:


> Now that I've talked about my solar storage tank and my underfloor radiant heat it's time to talk about the solar collector itself.
> 
> I was going to buy 5 4x10 panels from SolarSkies.com. With mounting hardware they run about $1200 each. I've decided to make my own. I'm leaning towards the 4x10 abosrber from Sunraysolar.com. The cost for the absorber, crating and shipping comes out to $350 each. I checked around on glass prices and after I got back up off the floor I did a little more research on the net with other options. (by the way, a 4x10 low iron tempered glass 1/4" thick was $600). For the cost of building my own I can probably put up 10 panels for the same cost as the 5 from SolarSkies, granted, they won't be as good, but at the cost/btu over time I'd think I'd be way ahead.
> 
> ...


I used a "Freecycled" sliding glass door-------built a frame to fit the glass-----used a heavy gauge 5 V tin in the back with insulation board behind it-------took rolled copper and zig-zaged it back and forth inside the box----attached this pipe to the 5 V tin--slow moving water pump--------got the water to 137 degree's on a 84 degree day-------Cost of this-------About nothing-----Worked good but I got it in storage till I get my cabin built!!


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

I've not built a unit so I can only give my opinion. I expect we all know that the low iron glass is much more efficient. However using alternatives just as you wrote about or even adding more panels would be a way to get around the higher cost of the glass.

A number of years ago I contacted a glass company to learn what used store frontage glass would cost me, what normal sizes were, etc. I don't remember the quote now but they would cut it to any size I wanted. 

I really like the clear corrugated polycarbonate especially due to the low cost of it. Add a frame over it with shrink plastic top glazing for heat retention and my opinion is that it would work well. I'm looking at an air heater rather than water heater--wish the rolls of aluminum roof flashing were a little wider.


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## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

Windy in Kansas said:


> I've not built a unit so I can only give my opinion. I expect we all know that the low iron glass is much more efficient. However using alternatives just as you wrote about or even adding more panels would be a way to get around the higher cost of the glass.
> 
> A number of years ago I contacted a glass company to learn what used store frontage glass would cost me, what normal sizes were, etc. I don't remember the quote now but they would cut it to any size I wanted.
> 
> I really like the clear corrugated polycarbonate especially due to the low cost of it. Add a frame over it with shrink plastic top glazing for heat retention and my opinion is that it would work well. I'm looking at an air heater rather than water heater--wish the rolls of aluminum roof flashing were a little wider.


If you want wider rolls of aluminum check with a local sheet metal shop I know it comes in widths to 4 ft 2-3ft rolls can be ordered through most lumber yards


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Kevingr said:


> Now that I've talked about my solar storage tank and my underfloor radiant heat it's time to talk about the solar collector itself.
> 
> I was going to buy 5 4x10 panels from SolarSkies.com. With mounting hardware they run about $1200 each. I've decided to make my own. I'm leaning towards the 4x10 abosrber from Sunraysolar.com. The cost for the absorber, crating and shipping comes out to $350 each. I checked around on glass prices and after I got back up off the floor I did a little more research on the net with other options. (by the way, a 4x10 low iron tempered glass 1/4" thick was $600). For the cost of building my own I can probably put up 10 panels for the same cost as the 5 from SolarSkies, granted, they won't be as good, but at the cost/btu over time I'd think I'd be way ahead.
> 
> ...



Hi Kevin,
The collectors that I made using twinwall polycarbonate glazing are holding up fine. I don't see any signs of problems after two seasons.
The twinwall is easy to work with and gives you a slight performance boost by providing both high transmission and double glazing, which reduces heat loss.
I think the single wall corrugated polycarbonate glazing (e.g. SufTuf) is also quite good. It has very high transmission (90%). Its not quite as nice to work with as the twinwall.
Both require a support grid under them to prevent warping as they warm up and cool down. These two links show the support system I used -- both working well, and the panels stay flat as a pancake. 
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarShed/collectors.htm
and
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/solar_barn_project.htm

I very much like vertical collector orientation for space heating panels. For winter space heating vertical panels with a snow field in front of them collect more heat than panels tilted at latitude +15 degrees, and you don't have to worry about overheating in the summer. I think that panels tilted at something like lat +15 run on the hot side when stagnated in the summer for polycarbonate glazing. If you are going to have tilted rather than vertical panels and use polycarb glazing, then single wall is probably a better choice.

Gary


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