Solar Water Heater Using Copper Pipe

The key to good performance in this design is a good thermal connection between the aluminum fin and the copper pipe a lot of attention is given to providing this good thermal bond.

Solar water heater using copper pipe.

Using a set outer diameter for the total coil 4ft will result in the same area of pipe in the coil being exposed to sunlight. Solar heaters are fully powered by solar energy. The larger diameter pipe will put less back pressure on the pump. In hawaii with a solar hot water heater we had pvc melt and sag because of the temperature of the water running through the system.

In addition pvc is usually not uv stabilized and will become at the very least brittle in the sunlight. Maximum pressure up to 17 5 bar rated burst pressure 200 bar 1050 high temperature annealing heat treatment food grade. If you have a well and find out from testing that the water is acidic you may want to use the thicker wall type l pipe. Acidic water with a ph of 7 or less can be hard on copper pipe.

I would not use pvc in anything directly plumbed to the thermal collector. The larger diameter pipe x 4 coils will have a better flow rate than the thinner pipe thereby giving better thermal transfer to the water. Better yet use plastic cpvc pipe and fittings. No soldering clamps crimp rings glues unions or that expensive crimping tool.

Resembles corrugated flexible stainless steel pipe used in gas lines it has recently found its way into solar water heating application. Pex solar water heater. Comparing the performance of two diy solar water heating collectors cpvc vs copper sometime back i had a brief go at a solar water heating collector made from cpvc with aluminum fins. Flexible high grade stainless steel tube 316l or 304.

These pages cover an experimental solar collector for heating water that uses aluminum heat absorbing fins and copper pipes for conveying the heat transfer fluid. This means that power cuts and power cuts have no effect on their function. At the time it seemed interesting but not as good as some of the other options for building collectors.