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View Full Version : Thinking of a solar heater project, need input.



kelemvor
10-12-2012, 12:43 PM
I've been thinking (as many have) with the cooler weather that I want a solar heater. Plenty of sun here in FL, right? I decided I've got some spare time and want to take a shot at a DIY project. I found a site with some links to a few other folks DIY projects and I found this one intriguing.

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/PoolHeating/OpenFlow/OpenFlowCollector.htm

I'm not sure galvanized steel will be a great idea for the collector material with my salt water (currently 3800ppm). Any opinions here?

Among a few other changes to the design I'm contemplating are, I would like to find a way to plumb this in directly with the existing piping. I'm far from competent with hydraulics. Is it reasonable to try and pursue installing a T connector in my existing plumbing with some sort of check valve? Like this design already includes, I definitely want to incorporate the PV panel and dedicated pump.

BigDave
10-17-2012, 05:02 PM
At first glance, I'd think you'll get better performance from putting up commercially available solar panels yourself. While the free pumping you get from this may seem like a win, 8W is not going to move much water.