How can I capture solar heat in this ridiculous situation?
Question:
Without too much in the way of structural alterations how can I harvest the power of the sun for heating purposes?
Answer:
Hello,
(ANS) The most obvious option would be solar cells for either converting the solar energy into electricity (i.e. solarvotaic cells) these cells can be VERY thin & lightweight so you woudnt need to worry about the weight factor. And they work best when you have a relatively large surface area too. This option could either be stored for slow release purposes such as storage heaters which cuts your heating bills overall or stored into a large battery for other uses, or could even be put back into the national grid (but this last idea isnt very realistic unless you have a large excess capacity though).
Or you can have actual solar panels which consist of a series of small pipes that zigg zagg back and forth into something that looks abit like a panel radiator. These are usually painted black so as to absorb the suns energy (both its light & heat). These would be slightly bigger & have more weight (but still NOT much I think?) Solar hot water panels will also reduce your heating bills by providing hotter water by a few degree's each day. In the longer summer months you get alot of VERY hot water but less so at other times of the year.
But even on a cloudy day these panels will still increase the hot water temperature. You would save money on heating the remaining hot water (these solar panels suppliment your hot water NOT replace).
**There are many many companies offering this kind of solar technology across the UK and I'm confident a quick internet search would give you all the details you need.
Try searching yahoo or google on key words such as solarvoltiac cells or solar panels or solar panel technologies?
Best Regards IR
Sorry I cant give you a better address, but, try Builditsolar, it's a site, as the name suggests, on building solar projects.
Hope it helps.
for heating purposes?
I would hang solar panels on that wall and run the power through your house to reduce your energy costs. Or run thin copper tubing filled with water along the side of your house and use it for a hot water heater. it is even possible to put in a numerous layers that curve all around the wall, and run the tubing in under your floor boards and use the heat to heat your floor.
of course that depends on your neighborhood, your homeowners association.
if you want heat, then just paid the wall completely black, the black will cause the wall to heat up.
You do not harness the heat; it's the light. Get a solar panel (not from Rodney Blackstock on Emmerdale) and you will have a heat exchanger fitted to convert the light to heat. I don't know how much YOU might save but it would probably be more than here in Manchester North West England.
Solar air collectors your best bet.Check the internet
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