How to make a solar collector with your own hands?

Now people living in their homes often have the question of how to save on heating and hot water. In search of these savings, they turn to the use of solar energy. Therefore, today you can so often hear the question of how to make a solar collector with your own hands. After all, this device allows you to partially release the central boiler in the house from the function of heating water. A solar collector is a device that absorbs solar energy and converts it into heat. This thermal energy is transferred to the coolant. Typically, a classic collector is a metal plate in a wooden or plastic case with insulation that absorbs solar radiation.

Before talking about how to make a solar collector for heating a house with your own hands, you need to explain the principle of its operation.

In any solar collector there are two working units - a solar radiation trap and a heat exchange accumulator. The latter is engaged in the conversion of radiation energy into heat. This energy is transferred to the coolant, the role of which in most cases is played by water.

By design, solar collectors are divided into tube, flat and vacuum. The greatest efficiency is in vacuum ones, which have a thermos-type design. Pipes are inserted one into the other. The space between them is filled with a vacuum, which provides excellent thermal insulation. Water acts as a heat carrier. This water can be used both for heating the house and for technical needs. It is not used directly as hot water for washing. She goes to the boiler, where she heats the water circulating in another circuit.

The solar collector does not consume fuel and does not produce emissions in environment carbon dioxide. At the same time, the efficiency of such collectors reaches 80 percent. If we talk about Russia, then in its greater territory, the production of solar energy from the beginning of spring to mid-autumn is about five kilowatts per square meter. This amount of solar energy makes it possible to heat about a hundred liters of water in a 2 by 2 meter collector.

If you are going to heat water in the collector all year round, you will have to use a larger solar collector. And best of all, if it is vacuum. Then it will be possible to receive heated water all year round, removing the load from the main boiler and reducing energy consumption.

Flat collector device

When people organize solar heating of a private house with their own hands, they are most often interested in flat-plate collectors for heating water. In such devices, the heat sink (a metal plate with a copper coil) is located in the housing. The latter can be both metal and made of wood. Some heat sinks are made not in the form of a metal plate, but from a tin profile. Instead of a copper coil, black pipes or PVC are used. Of course, such systems are less effective, but at home they are suitable.

The heat sink is painted black, and thermal insulation is laid between it and the back wall of the collector. From above, the collector housing is covered with polycarbonate or durable glass.

The receiver converts solar energy into thermal energy and transfers it to water (or antifreeze). Glass or polycarbonate is a must, as they act as protection for the heat exchanger from the outside atmosphere. At the same time, the glass must pass sunlight freely, which means that it needs periodic cleaning from dirt and dust. In addition, it is necessary to reliably seal all seams between the glass and the case. The efficiency of the solar collector depends on this. Otherwise, heat will escape through the cracks. In order to preserve heat, the rear wall of the case is thermally insulated.

So, flat-plate collectors attract those who make home heating with their own hands, with their simple design and attractive price-quality ratio. However, such a collector is suitable for use in regions with high insolation all year round. Or during the summer middle lane Russia. In winter, the efficiency of such a device drops significantly due to large heat losses through the body elements. There are examples when people make a solar air collector with their own hands for home heating, but we will not consider such devices because of their low efficiency.

How to make a solar collector for home heating with your own hands?

What materials are needed and how much does it cost?

• Capacity with a volume of 200-300 liters (the price range is quite large, from 4 to 12 thousand rubles);
• Glass 2─3 square meters(about 1 thousand rubles) and a frame for it (about 500 rubles);
• Boards for the body. The thickness should be at least 25 mm, and the width can be taken 100, 120, 140 mm (the price of 1 board 3 meters is approximately 300-500 rubles);
• Fasteners for the case: connecting corners, nails, self-tapping screws;
• At the bottom, you can use chipboard or hardboard to reduce weight (200-300) rubles;
• Galvanized iron (300─400 rubles). You can put a profile painted black;
• Pipes for the radiator. Here the price will depend on what you will use: iron, plastic, copper;
• Heat-insulating material (packaging 500-700 rubles).

The price may vary depending on what size you will maintain. The manufacturing process of the manifold will be described below. general case. It is possible that you will make your own amendments to it. If you are going to make a solar collector from polycarbonate with your own hands, then you need to include it in the price required amount. Options with this material can often be found on summer cottages and in private homes.

Solar collector manufacturing

First you need to make a box. In addition to the walls, it is desirable to make spacers from boards and timber to strengthen. The bottom is made of chipboard or hardboard. It is necessary to lay a heat-insulating layer on it. It can be mineral wool, polystyrene foam and similar materials. A tin sheet is laid on top. Next, a heat sink is installed and attached to the box. Before installation, all parts are painted black matte black red. Choose heat resistant paint. Tin sheet, radiator, connections, etc. need to be painted.

Then you need to equip the water tank. It must be put in a large container and insulated. To do this, some kind of thermal insulation material. The tank will require a water chamber with a float. The principle of operation is the same as in the toilet tank. It is usually located in the attic under the roof along with the drive. The location of the water chamber must be one meter higher than the storage tank. The solar collector itself is placed either on the roof of the house on the south side, or in another sunny place. If he stands on the site, then the pipes that go to him will have to be placed in thermal insulation.

After that, the connection is made to single system with pipes and connection to the water supply. It is desirable that the collector should fit maximum amount pipes. Try to place at least 10-12. Filling the system is done from the bottom, namely, from the radiator. This way there will be no air pockets. After filling the system with water, water will flow from the water chamber through the drain tube.

You need to fill the tank, the water will begin to circulate and heat up. The heated water will displace the cold water as it rises. As a result, cold water will again flow into the heat sink. When the float valve operates in the water chamber, cold water will again go to the bottom. This is how circulation occurs and there is no mixing of water with different temperatures. It is better to turn off the water supply to the storage tank at night to avoid heat losses.

Good owners of private houses are always looking for ways to save money on water heating and heating. This becomes especially relevant in Lately, when prices for utilities have a strong upward trend almost every quarter. Nature itself comes to the rescue with its inexhaustible source of energy - solar radiation. By putting the laws of physics into practice, craftsmen find interesting ways to save money by designing and assembling solar collectors, which, probably, any homeowner can do on their own - you just have to put a little effort and skill.

A do-it-yourself solar collector can be made in multiple ways and from the most various materials, sometimes even from those that simply “roll underfoot.” They are constructed from ordinary old beer cans, plastic bottles, hoses or pipes, using glass, polycarbonate panels and other materials.

Some of the collector manufacturing methods will be discussed below, but first you should study the connection diagrams - they, as a rule, are approximately common for any solar systems water heating.

Solar Water Collector Wiring Diagrams

The effective operation of the solar water heating system depends not only on what the collector is made of, but also how correctly it will be installed and connected. There are a lot of options for connection schemes, but you should not look for the most complex ones, since it is quite possible to use the basic ones that are accessible and understandable.

"Summer" version of hot water supply from a solar collector

This simple solar collector connection scheme is applicable for both domestic and domestic water heating. If hot water is needed outdoors in a summer building, then the tank for it is also installed outdoors. In the case when hot water is distributed around the house, and the storage tank is installed there.

"Summer" collector connection option

This scheme usually provides for the natural circulation of water, and in this case, the collector battery is installed 800 ÷ 1000 mm lower than the tank level, where hot water will flow - this should be ensured by the difference in density of the cold and heated liquid. To connect the manifold to the tank, pipes with a diameter of at least ¾ inch are used. To keep the water in the storage tank in a hot state, which it will reach from heating by the daytime sun, the walls must be well insulated, for example, with mineral wool 100 mm thick and polyethylene (if a roof is not built over the boiler). But still, it is better to provide a stationary shelter for the container, since if the insulation gets wet from the rain, it will significantly reduce its thermal insulation properties.

Natural circulation is not very good for use in a system with a solar collector, as it creates a slight inertia in the movement of water in the circuit. And if the battery and the tank are far enough apart, then the water, having passed this path, will gradually cool down. Therefore, to increase efficiency, circulation is often installed. This option is suitable for heating water only in the warm half of the year, and for the winter the water from the system will have to be drained, otherwise, freezing, it will easily break T tons of ruby.

"Winter" scheme for connecting solar water heating

If you plan to use the solar collector year-round, then so that the water does not freeze in the pipes in extreme cold, a special antifreeze, that is, an antifreeze liquid, is poured into the circuit instead of it. The scheme takes on a completely different look - an indirect heating boiler is installed. In this case, the antifreeze heated in the solar collector will pass through the coil-heat exchanger of the boiler, warming the water in the tank.

A "security group" is necessarily built into this system - automatic air vent, pressure gauge and safety valve, designed for the desired pressure. For the constant movement of the coolant, a circulation pump is usually used.

Solar heating option

When using solar thermal energy for home heating, an indirect heating boiler connected to the collector is also used, as well as for additional heating of the coolant - running on solid fuel or gas. On autumn or spring days, when the sun is able to heat the coolant to the desired temperature, the boiler can simply be turned off.

Solar collector - a good help for home heating

If the winters in the region are very cold, then one should not expect great efficiency from the collector, since during this period there are few sunny days, and the star itself is low to the horizon. Therefore, additional heating of the coolant and hot water is simply necessary. The only way a solar battery will help save on fuel is that not cold, but already somewhat heated water will flow into the boiler, which means that to bring it to the desired temperature, it will take less gas or wood to burn.

You also need to know that the larger the solar thermal collector is, the more energy it will be able to absorb. Therefore, in order for such a system to be able to generate enough heat to heat the house, the size of the collector area must be increased to 40 ÷ 45% of total area Houses.

Option for hot water supply and heating from a solar collector

To use the solar collector for both heating and hot water supply, it is necessary to combine both previous options in the system, and use a special boiler for water with an additional tank having a coil through which the coolant heated by the solar battery circulates. Due to the fact that the inner tank is much smaller than the main one, the water in it heats up from the coil much faster and gives off heat to the general tank.

The collector can be included in common system"heating - hot water supply"

In addition, the boiler must be connected to an additional heating source - it can be either an electric boiler or a solid fuel heat generator.

The temperature instability created by the solar battery can contribute to overheating of the coolant or, conversely, to its too rapid cooling in the heating and water supply circuits. To prevent this from happening, the entire system must be controlled by automation. Installed in the wiring controller temperature, which can either redirect coolant flows, or turn on or off circulation pumps, or perform other control operations.

In the diagram above, such a temperature controller is designated as a regulator.

So, with connection diagrams (strapping), in general terms, there is clarity. And now it makes sense to consider several options for self-manufacturing solar collectors.

Prices for solar collectors

Solar collectors

Solar collector from hose or flexible pipe

Those who have a private house with a garden or a dacha, of course, they know that the water remaining in the temporary light mains after watering the beds heats up quickly. This is the positive quality of hoses or flexible pipes and was used by craftsmen, creating solar heat exchangers from them. It should be noted that such a collector will cost many times cheaper than bought in a store, but in order for the manufacturing process to be successful, some effort must be made.

On the roof - a whole battery of solar collectors

Such a collector may consist of one or more sections, in which hoses tightly coiled in a spiral “snail” are laid and fixed.

"Snail" - heat exchanger

This design can be called the simplest both in design and installation. Its main disadvantage can be called the fact that it is practically impossible to use it without the use of forced circulation, since if the pipe contours are too long hydraulic resistance will exceed the force of pressure created by the temperature difference. However, solving the issue of installing a circulation pump is not difficult at all. And such a system, installed in country house, will be an excellent help and will quickly pay off, including the costs (very insignificant) for the power supply of the pump.

Similar collectors are also used for heating water in pools. They are connected to a filtration system, which is necessarily equipped with a pump. Water, circulating through the pipes of the collector, has time to heat up before entering the pool.

In some cases, creating the entire system, you can do without installing a storage tank. This is possible when hot water is used only during the daytime and in small quantities. For example, in a circuit of 150 m of a pipe with an internal diameter of 16 mm, 30 liters of water can be accommodated. And if five or six of these “snails” from pipes are assembled into a single battery, then during the day each family member can take a shower several times, and there will still be a lot of hot water for household needs.

If someone still has doubts about the effectiveness of such water heating, we recommend watching a video that shows a test of a hose collector:

Video: the efficiency of a simple solar collector

Materials for manufacturing

To make such a solar water collector, you need to prepare some materials. It is not at all excluded that some of them can be found in a barn or garage.

• A rubber hose or a flexible black plastic pipe with a diameter of 20 ÷ 25 mm is, in fact, the main element of the system in which heat exchange will occur when water circulates. The number of hose will depend on the size of the solar battery - it can be 100 or 1000 meters. The black color of the hose is preferred because it absorbs heat more than all other shades.

It should be noted right away that metal-plastic pipes are not particularly suitable for the manufacture of a collector, even if they are covered with black paint. The fact is that their plasticity in this case is insufficient - they break at bends of a small radius and thus, even if the integrity of the walls is not violated, the intensity of the water flow will decrease.

Hoses are sold in coils of 50, 100 or 200 meters. If you plan to make a large volume battery, then you will have to purchase several bays. In the event that it is planned to use, for example, 50 or 100 m of hose in each section, then you should not buy a whole 200-meter bay, it is better to purchase a ready-made measured hose. This will save time during installation.

The hose can be laid not only in a round spiral, but also oval, as well as in the form of a coil.

As a good alternative, you can also try modern PEX pipes. They have good plasticity, but how to give them a black color if it is not on sale is easy to figure out.

• If the slope of the roof on which the collector battery will be installed is steep, then special boxes are made for hose spirals - from bars, plywood or metal sheet. This will require bars 40 × 40 or 40 × 50 mm, plywood 6 mm thick, or a metal sheet 1.5–2 mm.

The blanks of the future module are processed (wood) or anti-corrosion compounds (metal). Then a box is assembled from them into one or more spirals.

By the way, as the sides of the box, you can use the old window frames, on which the bottom part is simply mounted.

• For pre-treatment of metal and wood, it is necessary to purchase antiseptic, anti-corrosion and priming compounds.
• Hoses (pipes) will experience considerable loads both from the mass of the coolant and from temperature extremes and internal pressure. Therefore, they will try to break the laying, deform, sag, so you need to provide special fasteners to maintain them in the initially set position.

It can be a metal strip, which is fixed between the pipes with self-tapping screws.

Another option is a loose bundle with a tight cord or plastic tie-tie with a cross or crossbar. But still, this fastening method is more suitable for a plastic pipe than for a hose, since it can sag on the cord when the rubber expands. If a reinforced rubber hose is chosen for the collector, then this method is quite suitable for fixing.

Another fastening option suitable for a plastic pipe or reinforced hose can be wide-head nails. They can be hammered either into the bottom of the box (in this case it must have a thickness of at least 10 mm), or onto a kind of cross made of a bar.

• It will be necessary to prepare the connecting elements for the hose or pipes. There are a lot of varieties of such fittings, but you need to choose exactly those that are intended for selected for manufacturing material collector.

In addition to these connectors, threaded fittings will be required to convert from plastic or rubber pipe to a common metal. Such a connection will be necessary if the collector will consist of several modules.

To know how much it will take connecting elements, you need to draw in advance a schematic diagram of the system being created and calculate their number on it.

• To combine all the modules into a single battery, two collector - cut metal pipe. Through one of them, fixed at the bottom of the battery, cold water will flow into the heat exchangers, and in the second, fixed at the top, warm water will be collected.

The upper pipe will be connected to the storage tank, that is, it will go to the consumer. It should have a diameter of 40 ÷ 50 mm.

Battery installation

Having prepared everything you need, you can get to work.

• First you need to treat all the wooden parts of the future structure with an antiseptic.
• Further, if the bottom of the modules is made of a metal sheet, it must be coated with an anti-corrosion compound. Usually, mastic is used for this purpose, designed to cover the bottoms of cars.

Known to all motorists "anticorrosive" - ​​what you need

• After the compositions have dried on the prepared elements, single or common modules are assembled from them.
• Then hoses are laid in them, for which holders are fixed.

• For free passage of pipes through the sides of the modules, holes are drilled for them - in its upper part and lower. Accordingly, a cold water inlet pipe is led into the lower hole, and a heated outlet is led into the upper hole.
• If several modules are mounted vertically, or one common one, into which several "snails" of the pipe are also placed, one above the other, then the lower end of each of the spirals is connected to the upper output of the underlying one - and the entire "column" is switched according to this sequential principle. The lowest end is connected to a common metal manifold through which cold water will flow. All adjacent vertical rows are mounted in the same way - with a common connection to the supply manifold.

• Accordingly, the upper ends of the hoses of the uppermost horizontal row of modules are connected to a metal collector pipe, through which hot water is drained for consumption.
• The spiral collector circuit can also be mounted on a metal sheet installed not on the roof, but near the house, on its south side, or near the pool, if it requires heating. In this case, the metal base will contribute to faster heating of water and heat retention in pipes, as it has good thermal conductivity and heat capacity.

• Another option for a thermal solar collector can be laying the circuit on the roof plane in special boxes in long parallel rows along the entire length of the roof.

Prices for XLPE pipes

XLPE pipes

Video: simple linear tube solar collector

Enhance the effect with plastic bottles

The figure shows a solar collector made of hoses (pipes), the efficiency of which is greatly increased by using ordinary plastic bottles. What is the "feature" here? And there are several of them:

The action of a plastic bottle as a casing - schematically

• Bottles play the role of a transparent casing, and do not allow air currents to take away heat during absolutely unnecessary mutual heat exchange. Moreover, the air chambers themselves become a kind of heat accumulators. There is a greenhouse effect, which is actively used in agricultural technology.
• The rounded surface of the bottle plays the role of a lens that enhances the effect of sunlight.
• If the bottom surface of the bottle is covered with a reflective foil material, then the effect of focusing the rays in the zone of the pipe passage can be achieved. Heating will only benefit from this.
• Another important factor. A plastic transparent surface will to some extent reduce the damaging negative effects of ultraviolet rays, which neither rubber nor plastic "like". Such a circuit should last longer.

To make such a solar collector you will need:

1 - Rubber hose, black metal or plastic pipes - as a heat exchanger.

2 - Plastic bottles that will become a casing around the pipes of the circuit.

3 - In the bottles, in their half, which will be adjacent to the base, foil or other reflective material may be inserted. The reflective part should look towards the sun.

4 - It will be quite easy to mount the stand from a bar or a metal pipe.

5 - Storage tank for heated water, which must be connected to the intake point - faucet, shower, etc.

6 - Cold water tank that can be connected to the water supply system.

Installation of a solar collector

The assembly of the version shown in the upper diagram is as follows:

• To begin with, a stand is mounted from a metal pipe or bar. If it is made of wood, then it must be coated with an antiseptic composition, but if it is made of metal, then it must be treated with an anti-corrosion agent. It is necessary to calculate the length so that an even number of bottles is installed between the two racks.
• On racks, at a distance the width of the bottles, horizontal strips are fixed, on which it will be possible to make additional fastening for the coil. In addition, they will betray the frame additional rigidity.
• Next, the required number of plastic bottles is prepared - the bottom part is cut off from them so that one bottle with the side of the neck fits snugly into the resulting hole.

• A hose (pipe) of the required length is taken, which will be enough for laying coil circuit on a ready-made frame-stand.

Stepping back from the edge of the hose 100 ÷ 150 mm, make a mark of the place of its fastening. Then, through this edge, the required number of prepared bottles is put on the pipe, which will be enough to completely close the area to the opposite rack. The bottles are installed tightly one to the other, so that the neck of the second one enters the hole cut in the bottom of the previous one.

• When the pipe section for laying the upper section of the coil is completely covered with a bottle box, its edge is fixed on top of the left rack of the frame. Clips can be used for fastening plastic pipes with a latch, the right size.

• If necessary, the position of the bottles is adjusted so that their foil half is at the bottom, near the collector frame.
• Then the pipe is given a smooth turn, and it snaps back onto the clip.
• The next step is to put bottles on the pipe again, and it is already fixed on the left rack. This follower is continued until the entire frame is filled with a collector coil.
• Now it remains only to “pack” the fittings through which the resulting collector will be connected to the cold water supply and to the hot storage tank.

Here's what can happen in the end - you can't imagine it easier!

Such a collector, as you can see, absolutely not difficult in manufacturing, but it can become a good "helper" in a private house, taking on the functions of heating water.

By the way, solar energy can be used not only for heating water, but also for supplying heated air to rooms. For example, how to make it yourself, you can find out if you follow the link to a special publication of our portal.

Video - do-it-yourself solar power plant assembly

This solar collector was designed by the author independently on the basis of an old heating radiator. The solar collector allows summer time use hot water, which is heated by natural heat from sunlight. Such a design will be especially useful in a country house, where hot water is usually not supplied.

The following materials were used to create a solar collector:

1) Old flat heating radiators in the amount of two pieces.
2) sheets of metal or tin
3) metal-plastic pipes
4) taps
5) fittings
6) window glass
7) two barrels with a capacity of 160 liters

Consider the main stages of creating a solar collector based on an old heating radiator.

First you need to get acquainted with the basic principle of operation of this model of water heater. Cold water is pumped into the tank from a well; for this, the author installed a pumping station. Water is supplied to the tank through a tap, which allows you to adjust the water level in the tank.

After heating, hot water goes directly into the bath without a faucet, since the water in the tank is not under pressure. Thus, hot water itself flows into the bath when the tap is opened.

On the roof of the house, the author installed two radiators so that the top of the radiator was one level lower than the storage tank. Also, for the purpose of natural circulation of water, the pipes for its supply from the storage tank are installed at an angle, towards the radiators.

Due to the fact that the tube through which heated water enters the tank was connected just above the middle of the tank, the most heated and hot water always accumulates at the top of the storage tank.

So in the summer when average temperature air in the shade is 25+ degrees, the water in the tank can heat up to 50-60 degrees per day.

The author also made a simple manipulation with the barrel so that it retains heat throughout the night and in the morning the water is still warm. To do this, the barrel was wrapped in mineral wool and foil, after which the storage tank became a kind of large thermos.

Now about the design of the water heating system itself.
Two flat radiators were placed on the roof of the author's house.

For the convenience of fastening, two metal boxes were made of their tin and sheets of metal, in which the radiators were placed. From above, the radiators in the boxes were covered with glass to protect them from wind and dirt. The author used two radiators at once in order to reduce the water heating time, respectively, the more radiators, the faster the water will heat up from solar heat.

The top of the radiators installed on the roof is below the level of the storage tank, so the water heated by the sun naturally enters the tank. As expected, the water supply pipes from the tank are made with a downward slope towards the radiators.

Here you can see photos of the manufacture of metal boxes for radiators:

This is how the radiator was placed in the box itself:

And here is a photo of the tank located in the attic of the house:

Since the author used rather old heating radiators, which had been lying idle for a long time, when the system was first started, rusty water flowed for a long time, but after the radiators were washed, the water quality returned to normal.

The author of the collector of this design also recalls that in winter time water from the heating system must be drained. Therefore, it is worth providing special drainage taps at the bottom of the radiator. The best way to drain the water from the storage tank is to turn off the pumping station, and then open the cold water supply valve. Thus, all the water in the tank will drain itself. If you do not drain the water from the solar collector for the winter, then in cold weather the structure will deform and become unusable. Although the collector itself is made of fairly cheap materials, with proper maintenance it can work for quite a long time.

Energy resources. Free solar energy will be able to provide warm water for household needs at least 6-7 months a year. And in the remaining months - also help the heating system.

But most importantly, a simple solar collector (unlike, for example, from) can be made independently. To do this, you will need materials and tools that can be bought at most hardware stores. In some cases, even what is found in an ordinary garage will be enough.

The solar heater assembly technology presented below was used in the project "Turn on the sun - live comfortably". It was developed specifically for the project by a German company Solar Partner Sued, which is professionally engaged in the sale, installation and service of solar collectors and photovoltaic systems.

The main idea is that everything should turn out cheap and cheerful. For the manufacture of the collector, fairly simple and common materials are used, but its effectiveness is quite acceptable level. It is lower than that of factory models, but the difference in price fully compensates for this shortcoming.

The sun's rays pass through the glass and heat up the collector, while the glazing prevents heat from escaping. The glass also impedes the movement of air in the absorber; without it, the collector would quickly lose heat due to wind, rain, snow or low outside temperatures.

The frame should be treated with an antiseptic and paint for outdoor use.

Through holes are made in the housing for supplying cold and removing heated liquid from the collector.

The absorber itself is painted with a heat-resistant coating. Conventional black paints at high temperatures begin to peel off or evaporate, which leads to darkening of the glass. The paint must be completely dry before you set the glass cover (to prevent condensation).

A heater is laid under the absorber. The most commonly used mineral wool. The main thing is that he endure enough high temperatures during the summer (sometimes over 200 degrees).

The frame is closed at the bottom OSB slab, plywood, boards, etc. The main requirement for this stage is to make sure that the bottom of the collector is reliably protected from moisture getting inside.

To fix the glass in the frame, grooves are made, or strips are attached to the inside of the frame. When calculating the dimensions of the frame, it should be taken into account that when the weather (temperature, humidity) changes during the year, its configuration will change slightly. Therefore, a few millimeters of margin are left on each side of the frame.

A rubber window seal (D- or E-shaped) is attached to the groove or bar. Glass is placed on it, on which a sealant is applied in the same way. From above, all this is fixed with galvanized tin. Thus, the glass is securely fixed in the frame, the seal protects the absorber from cold and moisture, and the glass will not be damaged when the wooden frame "breathes".

The joints between the sheets of glass are insulated with sealant or silicone.

To organize solar heating at home, you need a storage tank. The water heated by the collector is stored here, so you should take care of its thermal insulation.

As a tank you can use:

• non-working electric boilers
• various gas cylinders
• barrels for food use

The main thing to remember is that pressure will be created in a sealed tank depending on the pressure of the plumbing system to which it will be connected. Not every container is able to withstand a pressure of several atmospheres.

Holes are made in the tank for the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger, the inlet of cold water, and the intake of heated water.

The tank houses a spiral heat exchanger. For it, copper, stainless steel or plastic are used. The water heated through the heat exchanger will rise up, so it should be placed at the bottom of the tank.

The collector is connected to the tank using pipes (for example, metal-plastic or plastic) drawn from the collector to the tank through the heat exchanger and back to the collector. Here it is very important to prevent heat leakage: the path from the tank to the consumer must be as short as possible, and the pipes must be very well insulated.

The expansion tank is very important element systems. It is an open reservoir located at the highest point of the fluid circulation circuit. For the expansion tank, you can use both metal and plastic containers. With its help, the pressure in the manifold is controlled (due to the fact that the liquid expands from heating, pipes can crack). To reduce heat loss, the tank must also be insulated. If air is present in the system, it can also exit through the tank. Through the expansion tank, the collector is also filled with liquid.

Using free solar energy for heating and hot water at home is quite tempting. This can be done with the help of a solar installation, the main element of which is a solar collector. But one of the limiting factors in the use of solar plants is their relatively high cost. But you can make them yourself. Therefore, in this article we will talk about the principle of their work, types, as well as how to assemble and make a solar collector with your own hands for heating a house and providing it with hot water from various improvised materials.

The principle of operation and types of solar collectors

Solar collectors are heat exchangers that capture the energy of the sun and convert it, depending on their type, into the thermal energy of the liquid or air circulating in them. The liquid or air heated in the collector is used for hot water supply or home heating directly or through additional heat exchangers, for example, through indirect heating boilers. The main task of any such collector is to "catch" as much solar energy as possible and transfer it to the coolant circulating in it with the least loss.

Types of solar collectors

By the type of coolant circulating and heated in them, solar collectors can be:

• liquid;
• Air.

By design features and the type of heat exchange surface, they can be:

• in the form of a container;
• Pipe;
• flat;
• Vacuum.

liquid solar collectors, as their name suggests, are filled with a liquid that circulates and heats up in them. It can be ordinary water or non-freezing liquid (antifreeze). In the first case, heated water can be supplied directly to the hot water supply system, to a storage tank or to an indirect heating boiler, and in the second case, only to the boiler. Such collectors can be used both for providing the house with hot water and for heating it. It all depends on the power of the solar plant.

Air solar collectors are mainly used for home heating. Cold air from the room is supplied to such a collector, heated there and fed back into the room using natural or forced circulation.

Most of these types of solar collectors can be made by yourself. Having shown your imagination, you can use various improvised materials for their manufacture: plastic or metal containers, pipes, hoses, used radiators and even beer cans. Below, we will look at several designs of solar collectors that you can make yourself using these and other improvised materials.

Solar collector made of metal or plastic container

The simplest solar collector can be made by hand from a metal or plastic container with a volume of 50-100 liters. This is the so-called summer shower, which is quite common in rural areas and cottages.

Solar collector for heating water from metal barrels

The best metal version of such a collector would be a stainless steel container painted black on the outside. True, the cost of such a new capacity is quite high. Therefore, you can use used containers. For example, weld a tank from two stainless containers from old washing machines. You can also use ferrous metal containers, galvanized or painted with waterproof paint. Plastic containers are good because they are lightweight and do not corrode, but they are short-lived, as plastic does not tolerate ultraviolet radiation.

The barrel is installed on the south side of the roof of the house or directly above the outdoor shower. If the barrel is not hermetic, then the supply of cold and the intake of heated is carried out from below. The pressure of warm water at the point of intake will be determined by the installation height and the water level in the barrel. She fills up cold water, which is heated for some time, and then used.

If the barrel is airtight, then cold water is supplied from below, and warm water is taken from above. Such a container is connected to a cold water supply system (pumping station) and when heated water is taken into the barrel, cold water enters from the system, displacing the warm water to the upper part.

The advantage of such a solar collector is its simplicity. It is easy to do it yourself. If the barrel is cylindrical, then it is well lit by the sun's rays throughout the day.

The disadvantages of this design:

• It can only be used in the warm season;
• ineffective in windy weather and when the sun is covered by clouds;
• Large inertia - relatively long-term heating of water;
• Water heated during the day cools down at night.

How to make and assemble a solar collector from metal pipes

A simple and effective solar collector can be made by hand from thin-walled metal tubes: steel, copper or aluminum. It is a tubular heat exchanger (radiator), which is placed in a heat-insulated box made of boards, plywood or chipboard.

The best material for the manufacture of a solar collector radiator is certainly copper. It has excellent heat transfer and is not subject to corrosion. But this material is quite expensive. Aluminum tubes, although cheaper than copper tubes, can be difficult to weld.

The cheapest and easiest way to make a heat exchanger is from steel pipes. They can be welded using conventional welding machine. For the manufacture of such a radiator, steel pipes with a diameter of ½ - 1 ″ can be used. At the same time, pipes of a larger diameter and with a greater wall thickness are used to supply cold and discharge heated water, and for the heat exchanger itself, pipes of a smaller diameter and with a smaller wall thickness are used.

Scheme of a solar collector radiator from pipes

The dimensions of the solar collector radiator, and therefore the length of the pipes, depend on the required power. But if you make it too big and bulky, then it may be difficult to assemble and install it. Therefore, it is best if its dimensions are within: width - 0.8-1 m, and height 1.5-1.6 m. The power of such a collector will be in the range of 1.2-1.4 kW. If you need to increase the power of the solar plant, then you can make several of these collectors and connect them together.

In this case, for the manufacture of a solar collector radiator, we need two thick-walled pipes with a diameter of ¾ - 1 ", 0.8-1 m long and 12-18 thin-walled tubes with a diameter of ½ - ¾" and a length of 1.5-1.6 m.

In thick-walled pipes that will serve to supply and drain water, holes are drilled for thin-walled pipes of smaller diameter in increments of 3-4.5 cm. One end of such a pipe is muffled, and a thread is welded or cut into it to the other.

The pipes are welded into one radiator design and painted with black matte paint.

Now you need to make a heat-insulated box for the radiator. To do this, you can use moisture-resistant plywood, chipboard, OSB or edged boards. But waterproof plywood (FSF) would be best.

The dimensions of the box are calculated taking into account the dimensions of the radiator, the insulation layer and the gaps between them. The height of the sides of the box should take into account the thickness of the insulation, the pipes themselves, as well as their distance from the bottom and the glass or polycarbonate covering the box (10-12 mm). In the upper end of the sides, a selection (groove) is made for glass or polycarbonate. Holes are made in one of the side boards for water inlet and outlet pipes. The elements of the box in one design are connected using self-tapping screws.

As a heater, you can take expanded polystyrene, ordinary (polystyrene) or extruded, as well as mineral wool with a density of at least 25. A layer of insulation (at least 5 cm) is mounted on the inside on the bottom and on the sides of the box. A sheet of galvanized metal or a layer of thick foil is laid on top of it, which are also painted matte black.

The radiator is fixed in the box with the help of clamps or clips, the presence of which must be provided at the stage of manufacturing the box. The location and dimensions of the clamps depend on the design of the radiator and the size of the pipes.

From above the box is covered with glass or polycarbonate. The cover is placed in the grooves (sample) and securely fastened. All joints are sealed.

The solar collector is ready. It must be installed on the south side of the house with a slope of 35-45 ⁰ to the horizon. On its basis, it is possible to manufacture a solar plant, which includes a heat-insulated warm water storage tank with a capacity of 100-200 liters or an indirect heating boiler.

Installing a prefabricated solar collector

Collector made of plastic or metal-plastic pipes

A do-it-yourself solar collector can also be made using plastic HDPE or PP pipes. Although the heat transfer of plastic is 13-15% less than that of metal, it is much cheaper than copper and does not corrode like black steel.

To make a simple do-it-yourself solar collector, HDPE pipes with a diameter of 13-20 mm can be laid in a box in the form of a spiral, fixed with clamps and painted black.

Variant of a solar collector made of plastic HDPE pipes

Polypropylene pipes bend poorly, but they are easy to connect by soldering using special fittings. Underwater pipes (horizontal collectors) can be made from PP pipes with a diameter of 25 mm, and the heat exchanger itself from pipes with a diameter of 20 mm. We paint the finished radiator of the solar collector black and mount it in a box, which is made in the same way as in the version with metal pipes.

You can also make a radiator for a solar collector from metal-plastic pipes. At the same time, they can be connected using fittings, in the same way as PP pipes, or laid in zigzags ("snake") or in the form of a spiral. The second option is easier. But it must be remembered that the bending radius of metal-plastic pipes should not be less than 7 pipe diameters.

Variant of a solar collector made of metal-plastic pipes

Solar collector from refrigerator radiator

If you have a radiator from an old refrigerator, then you can also use it to make a solar collector with your own hands. To do this, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse it to clean it of remnants of freon. During flushing, you should also check its tightness - for leaks. If they are, these places must be sealed with cold welding or soldered.

Radiator from an old fridge

The radiator itself must be painted with black matte paint.

It is also necessary to provide a way to connect the inlet and outlet pipes to the solar storage tank or other elements, depending on its type. To do this, for example, you can solder threads of the required size at the ends of the tubes or stretch rubber hoses, securing them with clamps.

The thus prepared solar collector radiator is fastened with clamps in a heat-insulated box, made according to its dimensions. The box itself can be made in the same way as in the previous cases.

Air solar collectors for home heating

In addition to the solar collectors described above, in which the liquid is heated using solar energy, you can make your own structures in which the air is heated. Such a solar collector can be used for additional heating of the house. Cold air from the room is fed into its heat exchanger, heated there and fed back into the room.

The heat exchanger for such a solar plant can be made of sheet metal, thin-walled metal pipes, and even cans of beer or other drinks. We will consider the designs of such collectors in another article of this section.

How I made a solar collector with my own hands: Video