The rough design in my head is as follows:
- Wooden box with glass on the front.
- Box is insulated with foam or some sort of insulation
- reflective surface at the back of the box
- copper pipes in the air space (painted mat black)
- insulated pipes to and from the tank
- an old hot water tank
Thermal Siphoning Setup (the water circulates itself around)
- tank needs to be above the solar panel
- cannot be used in areas that drop below freezing
Pumped Setup
- an electric pump circulates the water, so a power source is required
- a microcontroller would check the temperature of the panel. If it's above a certain temperature then it will circulate (protects the copper pipes when in freezing temperatures, stops the panel acting as a cooling device and stops the pump at night).
- the temperature of the hot water in the tank is also checked and if above a certain amount the pump will stop also to prevent over heating. Temperatures of 90 degrees C are possible in hotter climates. 50 degrees C would probably be all that's required.
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