Power4Patriots Copper User manual
COPPER
Solar Water Heater–Copper Version
Instruction Manual
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Power4Patriots Solar Water Heater – Copper
Solar Water Heater – Copper Version Materials
K2 long aluminum profile
K2 short aluminum profile
Kcorrugated tin sheets to fit long x short frame
Kmineral wool insulation to fit long x short frame
K3/16 inch popping rivets
K24 copper Ts 1.25 inch to 1 inch (3/4 will work, too)
K24 pieces 1.25 inch diameter copper pipes cut 2.2 inches
K2 copper endcaps, 1.25 inch
K12 copper pipes 6 feet
K4 6 inch copper pipes (1 inch or 3/4 inch, depending on Ts)
K2 short hoses
K1 sheet copper (a bit larger than long x short frame)
K1 can heat-resistant black spray paint
K1 piece 6mm glass (to fit long x short frame)
K20 aluminum clamps
K6 corner support pieces
K1 tube heat resistant silicone
K1 piece Tee 3/4 inch
K1 valve 3/4 inch
K1 water controller
K1 water tank
K1 expansion water tank
K1 ventilation valve
K1 temperature sensor
Ktemperature sensor cable
Kcopper pipe and connectors to fit your space
KPVC pipe and connectors to fit your space
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Power4Patriots Solar Water Heater – Copper
Introduction
This manual is a walk-through construction of a olar Water Heater that uses a copper collector.
The solar hot water system we will build includes a tank to store heated water for distribution
throughout our house.
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Power4Patriots Solar Water Heater – Copper
When you open a hot water faucet, hot water is drawn out of the tank and is replaced by cold water
from your water source. Our tank has a copper heat exchanger inside (think 100 feet of copper
tubing loosely coiled inside the tank).
Water is heated by the sun in a solar collector and circulated through this coil to heat the water
around it inside the tank.
Just as “hot air rises,” so does hot water, which means that the hottest water is always at the top of
the tank and the top of the collector. Hot water is drawn from the top of the collector and piped to
the top of the heat exchanger in the tank. As the hot water passes through the coil, it gives up its
heat energy to the surrounding water in the tank, exits at the bottom and is returned to the bottom of the
collector. The tank we will be using also has an electric heating element for days without sun.
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Power4Patriots Solar Water Heater – Copper
We will need a pump – that you can power with solar panels – to circulate water in the solar collector
through the heat exchanger in the tank, and you need a controller to tell the pump when to operate,
so that it doesn’t run all the time. The controller senses the difference in temperature between the
water stored in our tank and the temperature of the water in the collector, and when the difference
is great enough, the controller turns on the pump to circulate water through the system. You can
adjust the controller to optimize your system operation. We found a unit that combines a pump and
a controller, so we will be working with one box instead of two.
Our solar collector consists of an insulated aluminum frame – which we’re going to build – to hold
a system of copper tubing, which is the guts of our collector and which we are also going to build.
The copper tubing and everything else inside the frame is painted with a heat resistant flat black
paint to maximize heat absorption. The whole thing will be covered with glass.
We have an air vent on the output side of the collector to allow any air that may build up in our
system to escape, so that our system is always fully charged with water.
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Power4Patriots Solar Water Heater – Copper
Your components do not have to be this close together – we’re showing them this way simply by
way of illustration – but the greater the distance between your tank and your collector, the more you
will have to contend with potential heat loss.
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Tools Needed
Before we get started, let’s take a look at the tools we’ll need to complete the project.
The first tool is the PVC tube cutter.
You will also need a tape measure,
An angle grinder for cutting the
aluminum frame,
A Phillips screwdriver and a flathead
screwdriver.
Other tools we’ll need are a metal file
for smoothing the edges of the frame,
A hammer
And a pair of pliers with a diagonal cutting
edge,
A riveting tool, which will be used to put the frame together. This tool needs to be able to
cut 3/16 inch rivets, so make sure it’s a heavy-duty one.
A pipe wrench, which will come in handy when
tightening the pipe joints,
And a utility knife or office knife.
The pipe-cutter will be used to make a
clean cut on the copper tubing.
You will also need a marker.
The blowtorch will be used to solder the joints in our copper
piping.
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Power4Patriots Solar Water Heater – Copper
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