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Solar Water Heating

Solar water heating systems have a good economic payoff, and are manageable systems to install and maintain. Some of the solar water heating designs are simple and low cost.

Some of the information below is for simple homemade batch style solar hot water heaters that make a simple, low cost DIY project. In cold climates, these batch heaters will need to be drained during the cold winter months, but still provide large savings during the rest of the year. Alternatively, a closed loop or drainback system can be operated year round in cold climates. These systems are a more ambitious projects, but still within the skill level of many DIYers.

Directory for this page:

Solar water heating basics
Batch solar water heaters
Thermosyphon solar water heaters
Drainback and Closed Loop solar water heaters
Evacuated Tube solar water heaters
Air Collector Water Heater
Grey Water Heat Recovery
Heating Water With Compost
Heating water for animals
Fun Solar Showers for the summer
Solar water heating system components
Glazing materials comparison
Maintenance and Troubleshooting for solar water heating systems
Used Collectors

See the Space Heating page of information on Thermal Storage ...

If ya wanna be a solar pioneer, take a look at the Experimental section as well.

!!NEW!! -- download the full content of a great book on solar batch water heaters!

Questions?
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Hands-on Basics The Home Power and FSEC articles listed below are the best way I have found to get up to speed with building a solar hot water heater. They are very well done, and very hands-on. Most of them will require paying a $5 fee to download the issue the article is in -- well worth it in my view.
Solar Site Survey ...	Before you embark on any of the solar projects listed below, you MUST do a solar site survey. This will ensure that you actually get enough sun on your collector to make it worthwhile. It only takes an hour, its fun, its easy and you will learn something about how the sun moves. Solar Site Survey...
Solar Hot Water Basics -- Simplified Hot Water, John Patterson http://www.homepower.com/basics/hotwater/	Overview of Solar Water Heating A good article explaining the various types of solar water heating systems with an the components that make them up. Once you have narrowed in on the type of system for you, you can get more detailed information on what's involved in building one from the articles below.
Solar Thermal Resources Florida Solar Education Center FSEC Solar Thermal Resources Page (very good): http://www.fsec.ucf.edu FSEC's main page on solar water heating http://www.fsec.ucf.edu	The Solar Thermal Manual provides a good description of the various types of solar water heating systems, as well detailed sections on installation and troubleshooting -- lots of detailed how-to. Very useful. Also, good Installation Pictorials for the entire solar water heating installation.
A Solar Hot Water Primer Ken Olson This article is currently available as a free download from the Arizona Solar Center here How to get articles from Home Power ... Search for Issue 84	Overview of Solar Water Heating Home Power magazine article, issue 84 A very good overview of the types of solar domestic hot water heating system that are available. Pro and cons of each. Some system sizing and installation information. This is similar to the article above, but with somewhat more detail in some areas.
SDHW Installation Basics -- Part 3: Drainback System Chuck Marken and Ken Olson How to get articles from Home Power ... Search for Issue 97	Drainback Systems Home Power magazine article, issue 97 Very Good description of the ins and outs of the drainback style solar hot water heating system. Good hands-on detail.
Solar Hot Water for Cold Climates, Parts I and II Ken Olsen and Tom Lane How to get articles from Home Power ...	Closed Loop Systems Home Power magazine articles, issues 85 and 86 Very good articles on selecting the components for a closed loop solar hot water heating system (suitable for cold climates). Lots on installation detail. Covers closed loop antifreeze systems and drainback systems.
Installation Basics for Solar Domestic Water Heating Systems, Chuck Marken and Ken Olsen How to get articles from Home Power ... Search for Issues 94 and 95	Installing Systems Home Power magazine article, issue 94 and 95 Good two part article on how to install the components of a closed loop solar domestic water heating system. Lots of construction detail -- no prior knowledge assumed. Very good explanation on how to put together and install a closed loop solar hot water system. Very detailed.
Build and Integral Passive Solar Water Heater David Bainbridge www.motherearthnews.com	Mother Earth News Article, Issue 85 Jan/Feb 1984 A primer on building passive solar water heaters that integrate collection and storage in one package – sometimes called batch heaters. A good overview, and just enough detail to be useful. David is also the author of "The Integral Passive Solar Water Heater Book", which is good, but hard to find.
Solar Water Heating Calculator http://www.infinitepower.org/calc_waterheating.htm	This is a good solar water heater calculator from InfinitePower.org It calculates what you are spending on heating water as a function of water heater type, fuel type, usage, ... And it estimates the savings for a solar heater.
Get Into Hot Water -- Home Power's 2008 Solar Thermal Collector Guide, Check Marken with Doug Puffer How to get articles from Home Power ...	Good review of all SRCC certified flat plate and evacuated tube collectors. A rundown on construction and SRCC performance is provided for each collector. Good discussion on flat plate vs evacuated tube features and efficiency. Other related info: SRCC ratings info ... Our collector performance calculator ... Suppliers ...
B2E Expansion Tank Calculator http://www.b2epc.com/software/tank.shtml	A calculator you can used to size the expansion tank on your solar water heating system.
Empirical Investigations of Solar Water Heating Technology Dennis Scanlin How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power Magazine article, issue 58 Appalachian State University does side by side comparisons of several types of solar water heating systems. Good comparison data for several types of systems.
Batch Water Heaters Batch solar water heating systems are very simple. Easy to build and easy to maintain. Good Do-It-Yourself projects. These systems must be drained during the winter in cold climates to prevent freezing.
The Integral Passive Solar Water Heater Book, David Bainbridge Download this book This book is out of print, and difficult to get, but David Bainbridge has agreed to make it a free download.	This is a really fine book on all aspects of designing and building a wide variety of solar batch water heaters. The book has a great mix of how-to and engineering design information -- great for builders and experimenters. Thanks to David, the full content of the book is available here as a free download.
By Example Batch Water Heater www.byexample.com/projects/current/batch_collector/	This is a pretty detailed story on the building process for a homemade batch hot water heater. I think one of the most valuable things is it passes on some things NOT to do -- things they tried that failed. Here are some more things NOT to do on a batch heater.
Solar Oregon www.solaroregon.org/ ... If the link does not work, search the SolarOregon site for "Batch"	Detailed plans and performance data for a simple Do-It-Yourself batch solar water heater.
Rodale Batch Water Heater www.green-trust.org/2000/solar/sunontap/Default.htm	Very good write up and plans for a batch water heater. This one even looks nice. Good how-to detail.
CopperHeart Batch Collector http://www.sunearthinc.com	A commercial version of a batch solar water heater. Some useful downloads. There are several other manufacturers of batch systems -- installation of one of these systems is a good DIY project.
Florida Batch Water Heater Rovert Owens How to get articles from Home Power ..	Home Power magazine article, issue 93 Good description of installing a commercial solar batch water heating system. Good detail on installation process and experiences with the batch heater.
Maine Solar Primer Batch Water Heater Maine Solar Primer	A simple homemade solar batch water heater design suitable for summer use in a cold climate, or year round use in a warm climate. Courtesy of the Maine Solar Energy Association.
Simple Solar Water Heater for Developing Countries A. Jagadeesh How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power Magazine article, issue 76 Description of a very simple non-pressurized batch water heater intended for developing countries. Might be good for a cabin application.
Construction and Installation of a batch-type homemade solar water heater -- An inexpensive, Durable System http://solarcooking.org/bkerr/SWHeaterRev-1d.pdf	Pretty much just what the title says. Simple, cheap, durable, homemade.
Non-Pressurized $70 Batch Water Heater Build Your Own Solar Batch Water Heater Florida Solar Energy Center FS-36	This is a plan from the FSEC for a VERY simple batch water heater made from a 50 gallon barrel. It cannot be pressurized. You fill it from something like a garden hose, and use gravity feed to use the water. A system of similar, but lighter, construction might be mounted on the roof of a house/cabin to supply gravity feed hot water. Similar to the "pillow" systems in this book. Can't beat the price!
Beer Bottle Solar Water Heater, Ma Yanjun www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2360667.html	An unusual approach! I guess you work with what's available.
Thermosyphon Water Heaters Thermosyphon use the fact that heated water becomes less dense and rises to power the water circulation through the collector. No pump or controller is required. The storage tank must be above collector.
How to Build and Install Your Own Thermosyphon Solar Water Heater Perry A. Bocci How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power Magazine article, issue 58 Very complete design and construction detail for building a thermosyphon solar water heater. Includes building the collector panel, enclosure, plumbing… Only mystery is how did he bond the copper pipes to the corrugated metal absorber?
Solarhart Thermosyphon Water Heaters Website www.SolarHart.com	Solarhart is a major manufacturer of thermosyphon water heating systems. They provide a lot of information on their site that would be helpful to a person who wants to build a thermosyphon system.
Doug's Thermosyphon Solar Water Heater ...	A description of Doug Kalmer's homemade thermosyphon solar water heater. A very simple and inexpensive setup. See all of Doug's solar projects ...
A Solar Water Heater That Has Stood the Test of Time, Lindsey Roke Full Details (pdf)	An interesting thermosyphon solar water heater from New Zealand. Built in the 60's, it has a long track record of good service. The collector has several unique and interesting features. The article refers to SILFOSSING -- this is: A silver-alloy solder containing 5-15% silver. It is used to weld copper to copper joints in refrigeration systems and able to withstand high pressures. Used to braze risers to headers.
Imported Thermosyphon Solar Water Heaters One example: www.siliconsolar.com/ ...	There appear to be a number of these imported thermosyphon water heaters with integrated storage tanks appearing for reasonable prices. This may prove to be a good option for cost effective solar water heating. If you have one of these, and could share your experiences, please let me know. Gary...
Closed Loop and Drainback Solar Water Heaters Drainback and closed loop systems provide freeze protection for year round operation in cold climates. They are more complex, but within the capability of many DIYers. Some of the articles listed below on closed loop and drainback systems are sufficiently detailed to use as plans to assemble a system from components (collectors, pumps, ...) that you purchase from suppliers. See the information below and in the Suppliers section for some potential sources.
Installing My Solar Domestic Hot Water Heating System, Guy Marsden http://www.arttec.net/SolarDHW/index.htm	This is a really excellent blog style article on installing a solar water heating system that uses the Butler "Solar Wand" heat exchanger. Lots of good pictures and details on the whole process.
Solar Hot Water Homebrew Style How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power magazine article, issue 88 Great article on designing, building and installing a drainback solar water heating system for less than $800. Good hands-on.
Solar Water Heating in Iowa Roy Tonnessen How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power magazine article, issue 91 Article describes an homemade closed loop, flat plate collector system for heating domestic hot water. Total system cost only $900 with some salvaged parts. Good detail.
Maine Solar Primer Closed Loop Water Heater Maine Solar Primer, Richard Komp	Plans for a closed loop water heater suitable for year round use on cold climates. Courtesy of the Maine Solar Energy Association
Large Drainback System for 16 Unit Appartment Full Details... From Alan: " I believe a lot of commercial SDHW applications can make more financial sense than residential applications with the increased economies of scale. I have adopted commercial solar DHW as a hobby, and would be happy to help anyone with questions."	A really nicely done large drainback domestic water heating system that serves a 16 unit apartment building in Philadelphia. A very simple, efficient, low maintenance, and economically sound system.
Doug's Solar Water Heating system ...	A detailed description and track record of the PV pumped solar water heating system that Doug built some 17 years ago. Still going strong! And, a 2nd PV powered system built for a friend. See all of Doug's solar projects ...
Kris's Collector Kris's Collector Pictures/Plans	Kris provides an extensive set of pictures of the solar water heating collectors and heat exchangers he is making. I doubt that most of us will ever achieve the high level of workmanship that Kris does, but there is much to learn from these picture plans. Beautiful work.
Solar Wand -- Hot Water Assist for Cold Climates Barry Butler How to get articles from Home Power ... Butler website -- good installation and design info: http://www.butlersunsolutions.com/index.html	Home Power magazine, issue 104 Describes a solar water heating system that uses only one conventional water tank. The innovative heat exchanger fits through one of the water tank plumbing connections. This system sacrifices some efficiency for a more compact system with fewer components -- this might well be a good trade depending on your situation. The article covers another innovative Butler product that prevents solar collectors from overheating. The Butler web site has pictures of several DIY installations, and the Documentation tab has full install and maintenance manuals for download.
SolarH20t -- Solar hot water http://solarh2ot.com Detailed information on the package as downloads a the bottom of this page: http://solarh2ot.com/solvelox.htm	The SolVelox packages everything needed for a solar water heating system into one unit, including pumps, heat exchanger, and valves. Add collectors and some connecting plumbing, and you have the full system. The system can be used to add solar water heating to your existing hot water tank, or can utilize a separate solar water storage tank -- the first option saves the cost of a solar storage tank, and the 2nd offers more efficiency.
ATON Flat Plate Collector http://www.imaginationsolar.com/index.shtml	This collectors glazing and sides are a 1 piece molded Polycarbonate pan -- seems like a good idea. Probably not available in the US.
JC Solar Homes and Solar Collectors http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/	John Canivan's book $30 "How to Build a Solar Hot Water System" has plans for building a solar water heating collector. I have not reviewed these plans myself, but they are reported to produce a good product -- and, you get email help from John! John can also be found at the Solar Heat Yahoo Discussion group.
A Homemade “Factory” Solar Collector Mother Earth News www.motherearthnews.com	Mother Earth News Article, Issue 93 May/June 1985 A fairly hands-on article on building a solar collector using water at the heat transfer medium.
Evacuated Tube Water heater This system uses evacuated tube collectors. It is a closed loop system, similar to the systems described just above.
Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heater from AnotherURL.com http://www.anotherurl.com/therm/solar.htm	Good detail on a solar water heating system using Thermomax evacuated tube collectors. Don't miss the extensive set of installation photos.
Large Drainback System for 16 Unit Appartment Full Details... From Alan: " I believe a lot of commercial SDHW applications can make more financial sense than residential applications with the increased economies of scale. I have adopted commercial solar DHW as a hobby, and would be happy to help anyone with questions."	A really nicely done large drainback domestic water heating system that serves a 16 unit apartment building in Philadelphia. A very simple, efficient, low maintenance, and economically sound system.
Solar Air Collector Water Heater -- A bit unusual, but may be a good fit for some circumstances.
Solar Air Heating Systems -- Water Heating, Steve Kornher and Andy Zaugg Solar Water Heating With An Air Collector (1.2 MB pdf)	This is a somewhat unusual scheme for Do-It-Yourself domestic water heating with a solar air collector. This may work out particularly well if you are already building an air collector for winter space heating, and want to make use of its heat output in the summer, or if you just like the trouble free operation of air collectors. This is the Water Heating chapter from the book "Solar Air Heating Systems" -- download the full book here.
Gray Water Heat Exchanger Grey water heat exchangers offer a way to recover the heat energy in the hot water that goes down the drain, and use it to help heat water.
GFX Gray Water Heat Exchanger www.gfxtechnology.com/ DOE Inventions & Innovations report: DOE report on GFX (pdf)	A well designed gray water heat exchanger can recover a large fraction of the heat that would normally go down the drain in your shower, and some other hot water uses. In a normal shower, you spend a lot of energy heating water from 50F or so up to 110F. It flows out the shower nozzle, over your body, and down the drain taking 95% or so of the energy you just spent heating it. The gray water heat exchanger uses the heat in the drain water to heat the incoming water.
Water Heating with Compost
Composting Greenhouse with Straw Bale Foundation, From Experiments in Sustainable Urban Living http://ersson.sustainabilitylane.com/greenhse.htm The author provides more information and an even simpler scheme here: http://ersson.sustainabilitylane.com/composti.htm	This is a pretty slick idea for heating water with heat generated from compost, as well as providing greenhouse space. The thing that intrigues me is that you can apparently have working greenhouse space above the heat generating compost pile? I'd like to hear from anyone with composting experience on how workable this all seems? Gary
Heating Water for Animals
Bar-Bar-A Horse and Cattle Drinker http://www.horsedrinker.com/index.html	Pumps water out to the waterer when the animal presses a paddle. Water is drained from bowl to a dry well before it freezes.
Corbett Waterers http://cobett.com	Uses a combination of insulation and ground heat to keep water line from freezing.
Sun Tanks http://www.horsesonly.com/amesco/info.htm	This is a commercial product to keep water tanks for stock from freezing. Seems like a build-it-yourself one would be pretty easy? Dark colored tank, insulation under and around back, Lexan for glazing, plywood housing? Elevate it, and you could make a nice summer shower out of it?
CANARM Insulated Stock Watering Tanks www.canarm.com/comm/livestock_waters/waterers.html www.canarm.com/agricultural/pdf/dwaterers.pdf	Several heated stock watering tanks with R15 insulation and float valves to add water. Said to cut heating expense by 75%.
Experimental DIY Solar Stock Watering Tank Details to date ... Gary	This is a first cut at a simple insulated stock watering tank that has an integrated solar collector on the south side to provide heat and prevent freezing. The tank basically a plywood box lined with pond liner, and with a glazed sout side for solar collection. Details to date ...
Solar Showers -- A fun summer project
Nice Outdoor Shower http://www.kidsfromkanata.org/~kfk/files/solarshwr.html	A really well thought out outdoor shower that uses roof collected water. The solar heated pipe coil is gravity feed from rain collection barrels. (I found this at: http://www.homegrownrevolution.org/ a good site on urban homesteading)
Solar Shower Solar Shower User	This is a little write-up from a satisfied user of the solar shower. You put it out in the sun for 3 hours, and get a 5 gallon hot shower.
And, yet another solar shower http://manuka.orcon.net.nz/solarh2o.jpg	A $10 DIY solar shower from New Zeeland
And, yet another solar shower From PB Floyd and the Slingshot newspaper Plans	A simple homemade solar shower made from a few lengths of 3 inch ABS plastic pipe.
Economy Solar Shower Bob Battagin How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power Magazine article, issue 43 If you are looking for simple, this is it. Here is an even simpler one -- the hot hose shower.
A Portable Solar Water Heater (Shower), Raymond Meloy, Mother Earth News https://www.motherearthnews.com	Mother Earth News, Issue 62. S simple homemade shower made from a car inner tube.
The Hot Hose Shower A very simple one: the hot hose shower. And another one with more capacity: Black plastic pipe shower ... And another very nice one: http://dervaesinstitute.org...	Schemes to use the hot water from a garden hose or plastic pipe coil left in the sun for a shower.
Components (Tanks, collectors, heat exchangers, ...) See the References->Suppliers section for more
Heat Exchangers for Solar Water Heating Chuck Marken How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power magazine article, issue 92 Good overview of the various types of heat exchangers. Pro and cons of each. Not a lot of sizing information.
Heat Exchanger how-to Bert Echt How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power magazine article, issue 97 Very Good description of how to build a pipe inside a pipe style heat exchanger for water/space heating installation.
SunEarth http://www.sunearthinc.com	Manufacturer of batch water heaters, collectors for closed loop water heaters, heat exchangers, absorber plates.... Good technical information provided.
Heliodyne http://www.heliodyne.com	Supplier of solar collectors and full packages for water heating, space heating, and pool heating. Good technical information.
One-Tank SDHW Storage With Electric Backup Marken and Olsen How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power magazine article, issue 96 Complete description of how to modify a conventional electric hot water tank so that it can be used as both a solar hot water storage tank and the backup tank.
Thermomax Industries www.solarthermal.com/products.asp	Supplier of evacuated tube collectors. They provide a lot of design and installation data on their "downloads" page Including a DIY installation guide).
http://www.consolar.co.uk	A unique design solar thermal heat storage tank. Some of the features might be incorporated into a tank you build.
For larger, homemade hot water storage tanks see the Thermal Storage section on the Space Heating page ...	Larger capacity, non-pressurized tanks to store larger quantities of heat.
Heat Dissipater http://www.apricus-solar.com/html/solar_heat_dissipator.htm	This Heat Dissipater by Apricus prevents overheating of collectors under summer conditions of high solar incidence and low demand. There are homemade versions of dissipaters, including ones that look like this, loops of pipe in the ground, hot tubs, ...
Soft Copper Coil Heat Exchangers From Kris's website http://users.telenet.be/hagim/zonne_energie/heat exchanger.htm	Some good pictures on Kris's website showing how to make heat exchanger coils from soft copper tubing.
DIY Heat Exchanger http://www.bio-power.co.uk/exchanger.htm	Build it yourself heat exchangers. Not all double wall-- be careful.
See also the suppliers list for collectors and components	Some suppliers include design and installation information on their sites that can be helpful.
Collector Glazing Materials
Comparison of Solar Collector Glazing Materials... Gary	A comparison of glass, corrugated polycarbonate, sheet polycarbonate, and other potential glazing materials for DIY solar collectors.
Maintenance and Buying Used Collectors
Secondhand Solar -- Choosing A Good Used Hot Water Collector Chuck Marken How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power Magazine article, issue 112 April 06 Good article on how to select and test a used solar water heating collector. Used collectors if in good shape, can have 20 or so years of life left in them. Some of the high points on how to check a collector
Solar Water Heater System Maintenance and Repair EERE site www.eere.energy.gov	Information on Diagnosing solar water heating system problems.
Troubleshooting Solar Water Heaters, Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) See the Troubleshooting section of this guide: http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en	This is a checklist to go through if you are having problems with your solar water heating system.
GoSolar Repair Guides www.solarexpert.com/Repair.html#anchor13854	Some helpful troubleshooting information for solar water heating systems.