SOLAR WATER HEATERRoss King, Mark Luke

Understand The purpose of this project was to heat

water by using the sun’s rays. We are able to use any material

necessary to create a water-tight container to keep the water from leaking, while being heated.

We decided to use copper tubes to help heat up the water faster while it is in the container.

Material List Cardboard box Empty gallon

jug Newspaper Packing

peanuts Aluminum pan Plastic lid Plastic Tubing

• Black Spray Paint• Copper Tubing• Temperature Gauge• File• Sealant

ExploreIdeas: Bendable copper tubes Straight copper tubes Aluminum container (hold the water) Have the water flow through the tubes Have the water flow around the tubes Box filled with newspaper and a gallon of

water to supply the container with water Instead of a gallon of water use a large jug

to contain the water

Explore Example of a solar water

heater

DefineWe found out the most efficient solution for

the container was to have the box full of newspaper and have two gallon containers for the water. We also decided to use straight copper tubing, instead of bendable copper, so the heater wouldn’t cost as much.

IdeateWe decided to use straight copper tubes and spray paint it black

Prototype

Prototype

PrototypeContainer with Insulation Water Heater

Refine• Added lots of sealant around the copper and plastic tubes, to keep it from leaking.

• We also decided to add another gallon jug to have more water stored.

Solution

Time (minutes) Temperature (F)0 72 Degrees30 80 Degrees

30 Minute Test

5 Hour TestTime (hours) Temperature (F)0 70.31 78.82 89.53 92.24 92.55 93.1

Analysis of Test The water heater was successful in

heating the water The heater could have worked better if the

sky did not become cloudy around hour 4 The heater continued to heat the water

after it became cloudy Some of the heating may be due to the fact that the heat was trapped inside the heater because of the lid.

Solution Overall, the heater was a success but

both parts together failed as the water leaked through the entrance to the heater.

The heater did work, but it was not very efficient and would not work large scale.

The insulated container worked by it self as well, but the connection between the two parts failed.

Solution If we could do this differently, then we

would have made the pan more watertight.

We also would have made the copper bars lower to the bottom of the pan.

If we had more of a budget, we would have

bent the copper tubing to make an S shape in the pan and have the water flow through that.