Building Solar Heat Panels

Aside from large commercial installations the most common application for solar air heaters seems to be supplemental heat for individual rooms like an addition a workshop garage or any other small outbuilding.

Building solar heat panels.

In a radiant floor system solar heated liquid circulates through pipes embedded in a thin concrete slab floor which then radiates heat to the room. You can build a very effective solar space heater for around 400 in parts. So i saved a large portion by building my own solar system since a commercial solar panel would have cost 400 on up for just the solar panel itself. Passive solar design takes advantage of a building s site climate and materials to minimize energy use.

The clear panels admit sunlight and an absorber suspended inside the collector captures. Since this solar heating panel would become a permanent fixture on the side of my house i covered the frame with a metal that matched the trim on the house. There are no pumps fans or moving parts. The thermosiphon collector consists of clear corrugated polycarbonate panels fastened to 2 by 6 inch studs.

The sun s energy can be captured by homemade solar hot air collectors and thermosiphoning panels to provide free heat. You can use a radiant floor hot water baseboards or radiators or a central forced air system to distribute the solar heat. A well designed passive solar home first reduces heating and cooling loads through energy efficiency strategies and then meets those reduced loads in whole or part with solar energy. Nail a piece of 1 2 plywood to the back of the frame.

Using 1 4 or 2 4 s build a frame that will fit the glass you found. The units direct air warmed by the sun through a window or wall opening. Because of the small heating loads of modern homes it is very important to avoid oversizing south facing. Over the course of a sunny day this system can heat a room at zero cost.