I worked for a solar company about 35 years ago that made a similar system, my father installed several of these passive type panels on his house and they are still operating today. Simple and reliable system, all you need is direct sun light.
I believe we've had people doing this since the 80's (that I know of...probably longer) but is still well worth posting to inspire others. Thank you for sharing.
yes a fellow in California green home in the 70s built inside a earth mound he was totally off the grid solar heat methane powered generator for lights.
Very innovative. I liked the use of the cans' preformed edges for centering rings. My only concern would be the absence of a heat sink. Also, while this arrangement makes excellent use of waste soda cans, the resistance from the rough edges inside the cans doesn't make for a smooth flow of air. Large electrical conduit would eliminate that, although it wouldn't as inventive as this. The greater thermal mass of the EMT would keep the heat more consistent on a day with patchy clouds. Nice job.
As a former heating contractor I have to say this is quite a promising system. But as a former union safety rep...........Please! Please! Never use gloves near any rotating power tools. That glove next to the hole saw made my stomach churn.
Matthew Dies speaking as someone who has 28 seperate breaks in fingers due to a glove wrapping my fingers the wrong way round a 13mm drill bit, I cringed at the gloves on as well.
Hook up the fan to a solar panel and the fan runs only when there is a need to move the heat that is being produced -when it is being produced. Perfect symmetry. All free energy that adds to the overall energy equation. ...and I know, this is just a part of the answer, but any way to chip away at my heating bills, the better.
Also, if you could do it using a sterling engine to power the fan you would TOTALLY be set... there is never such a thing as free engergy, but the suns going to put it out regardless. :) Might as well take advantage!
Greg Green yoir right, what i did was removed glass from my unit and then used the plastic that was the screen from my rear projection tv. Put the glass back on and let it run, in 4hrs everything was melted and the center was chared. Looking for another screen to try this again.
So people should be homeless then? If you think my comment is stupid... At least in Canada, there are many shelters in which we can get access to food. There a million and one support systems for people (so long as you don't vote conservative lol)
Why would you want the cans sealed together? The heat generated is trapped inside by the plexiglass lens and through convection the heat rises flowing into your house. Unneeded caulking products and chemicals that will break down and off gas being exposed to direct and intense solar radiation and heat.
jBethany Theilman - as of 13 February 2021 the URL is for sale so you cannot ask him, he's probably no longer in business. *_bummer_* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7kD-oZo_OF8.html has press fit and just says "a little glue" ? ? ? and "dries" them resting in an angle iron.
This is brilliance at it's finest =) Am so interested in this for future as I'm contemplating building a container home in the future. Shame you're not in Norway, although I imagine this would be possible to make without toooo much trouble. Amazing recycling!
+Android Phreaker I have a few Mother Earth News magazines from the 1970s which describe solar heaters like it, but not quite - though they still used the same principles. And the idea goes back longer than that.
He might not have invented this, but he surely was one of the first movers. From Cansolair's homepage: "J.P. (Jim) Meaney first started experimenting with his solar heating panel idea back in 1977. It was more or less a hobby until 1989."
+Grimm Reapo Water takes a much longer time to actually heat up, which may null any return. I do think they do this for pools and such as my grandmother actually had her inground pool piping water onto her roof and back in.
Not like you're going to be hitting it with a hammer. It may become brittle, but that doesn't mean it will leak or break. ;-) As long as it's still and not disturbed it will be fine.
actually a five hundred ftlong black hose on your black roof will heat water. but in winter it s a bit more touchy.best way to heat outdoor pool water,no need for extra electricity.
+David Pedder Drilling the canS would take the average anyone a long time because anyone doesn't have two drill presses set up. That many cans drilled twice is one day itself. Your right though it could be done in a few days for 10% of their cost yet they are the experts & they finance! LOL
+Joe Schroeder Don't use pop cans!!!! Collect soup cans, or sauce cans. Use a can opener on both ends of the can. Soup cans a thicker, and hold heat better than a thin pop can. You could go out and buy all the tools you need to make one,( it would still cost you less than $3000 ) or give me $1000 and I will make one for you.
Though soup cans are thicker and also made out of a denser material, that retains heat longer, the object IS NOT heat retention, it is heat transfer. Aluminum can QUICKLY absorb the heat of the sun and QUICKLY transfer that heat to the air in the cans.
+mountnman3609 There are 2 small computer fans, 1 takes air from the house, the other blows the heated air back into the house, doesn't really matter if you use pop cans or soup cans, they both do the same thing, I'm just saying, soup cans do not need to be drilled, just opened with a can opener, that every household has., but if you do use a thicker can you will get longer periods of heat from them , compared to a pop can that will cool off faster..
You will get a small amount of heat retention if the sun suddenly goes out, but they won't hold a massive amount and will cool down fast anyway. Steel cans are easier but beware of rust. Aluminium cans don't have that problem . But mainly it is about recycling old materials into new things. Otherwise, use copper or aluminium pipes or make some kind of heatbank using water and storage instead of air ;p
wow almost $2800.00 for exactly $12.00 worth of empty cans $20.00 worth of plywood and a $35.00 - $50.00 piece of plastic that's why so many of these little start up companies don't last long. they want make too much profit off each unit not a little profit from thousands of units. and for a free technology no less.
...ducting, forced air fan... and then there's the hundreds of hours to collect, clean and process the cans and put it all together. He is generously letting you in on how it's done so you can make one yourself!
***** There is a great amount of painstaking work to put these together, I have just finished a 40 can panel. It's true PV cells have come down in price and are cost effective by comparison in the short term; in the long term, however, reliable simplicity wins as the thermal panels should last almost indefinitely. There is also the issue of efficiency, creating energy in the form that it's to be used...
The can will heat up even when it is -25° (F or C) but perhaps not quite enough to get a whole house to +20° C. The cans are inside a polycarbonate box that insulates them somewhat.
It's the sun's light that heats the cans, not the sun's heat although the warmer it is the better they perform. Get a little box and cover it with glass and put a piece of metal inside painted flat black and you'll see just how hot that it gets and yes even on a very cold day...
How is light different from heat? What do you mean that the light heats it but not the heat? Do you know what those are? Does the light from burning oil heat a house? In the winter when heating is needed most, renewables are convientetly much less effective. Shorter days and longer nights are a crippleing blow to solar heating systems. So is the ambient tempurature when it is below freezing. Thats why water boilers are not located in your back yard, or in a tree or something. Long story short this stuff is not as effective as you wish for it to be, or else it would be competing with oil and gas burners for home heating systems, but it doesn't because it can't.
Ilir Kumi The flat black paint absorbs light and converts it to heat. I just made one of these with 256 cans. December 21 (the shortest daylight of the year) it was -10 celsius (14 Fahrenheith) outside and my heater was putting out 85 Celsius (185 Fahrenheit) with a 100 cfm fan. Those things are amazing. I have it up for sale for $1200.00 because i'm so amazed with it that i want to build an even bigger one...
***** I am sorry, my friend, but it IS possible. I was with them since Orr was playing, but they finally blew one too many series leads to the Habs, and I could take no more. Just a few seasons before they won the Cup, too. My timing stinks. :( Perhaps I should have chosen: DamnTheHabs?
Peter AUSTIN You can use it to heat up that rock you've been living under. These have been around since... well... 2008. Plus, if you're talking heating then you mean to say the OIL companies.
+Peter AUSTIN Solar heating has been around since, well, forever. There are articles from Mother Earth News (Magazine) in the 1970s and 1980s which show things like it - great stuff. There's an article in one of them from that year range about a whole house built on this, though I imagine you can find articles through Google searches; "House Built on Solar Heat", etc. There are lots of awesome ways to go green, which can be fun - no pun intended.
Oh people, you are misunderstanding the importance of this. The main idea is not just getting your house warmer for free. It is recycling, saving few energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions. Obviously it wont work at night, but it will save you few bucks during the day. Also you reuse the cans and contaminate less, Thats the point!
Yeah I have to agree with Greg Green on this one... see the electricity it would take to recycle the cans into say Aluminum Foil ... well it is nothing compared to the energy savings in the HEATING... so... recycle the cans (to which you get paid for the Aluminum) by some wide aluminum foil .. use some clothes hangers (wire) on either side of the foil sheet as "ribs" periodically..... paint one side (the outer side of the foil BLACK .... then... do not use a fan... hole at the top to let the hot air in the house... hole at the bottom to allow cooler air from the house to enter into the plenum you have created cheaply.... and you know I know it doesn't sound green.. but a Fresnel Lens (plastic square one) used as the glazing on the front.. would REALLY boost performance.... see it's about not using electricity and using the recycled materials correctly.... aluminum foil mostly is made from recycled aluminum... and the increased output with less power input (the fan *hint*) ... well since you work it on convection.. you don't need to use electricity to run it...
jajaja wow, I study ecological economics and I know environmental issues like greenhouse gas are real because of physical evidence, I don't listen to government I don't even believe in politicians but that's another problem. All these opinions depend of the point of view of each one, calm down tough guy!
Ahhh vitality B. I have been there.. I simply remember is one I bottle of bourbon ... one bottle of whiskey... and one case of beer... how the lawn gnome wound up in the backseat of the mayors car with me with us under the flag of Peru I will never know....
+GrandOldPuba It was on the news years ago. The Indians were having a hard time heating their homes in the winter, northern Arizona. I'm not going to go through years of google search to find it for you. I think it was about 95 or 96?? I may be wrong on the date, but I do remember him doing this FIRST.
Thank you, we American's love our soda, and this looks like a simple way to lessen our carbon footprint. I hope this spreads around the world. All the best.
BRILLIANT IS TO FAR FROM WHAT YOU HAVE DISCOVERED HERE LOVE WOW!!!!!, THIS IS THE MOST ENDLESS UNBELIEVABLE SOLAR PANEL I'VE SEEN YET.PLEASE KEEP UP THE AWESOME UNBELIEVABLE WORK . EVERY ONE NEEDS TO KNOW YOU. YOU ROCK IT HARD WOW!!
Solar water heaters can store heat in a bank that can be used at night to heat your homes or what ever you desire. The sky is the limit with this Tech. Take advantage of it while you can.
I see people asking the question - how do you heat your house at night with these heaters? I don't understand why someone would ask that question. At night you use the same heating system as you're using now. These solar pop can heaters has the word solar for a reason. Solar - Sun. They only work when the sun is shining on them. After sunset or cloudy days you use your existing heaters. Even when the sun is shining this heater won't heat an entire house. It just helps to heat it. I built one a couple months ago with 256 cans and it works better than i thought it would. When the sun strikes it in the morning the temperature starts rising. After about an half hour to 45 mins it reaches about 185 degrees on a day of about 15 degrees outside and it stays at 185 until the sun goes down. I use a fan of 100 cfm. I'm selling the one i built because i want to build a bigger one. If you're interested email me for photos. I live in Newfoundland, Canada. Asking $1200.00...
as most brilliant thoughts, this one has come after thousands of ideas to use what we already have at our finger tips, and merges all of them into(vouilla!!!)the siplest most versatile,most inexpensive (this actually solves the mounting problem of what to do with litter,as well as allowing the homeless a way to get cash legitimately)and least dangerous way toi get heat!BRAVO TO THIS MAN!!!
Metal and also aluminum is one of the few things thats really good to be recycled - with magnets it can be fished out. But looks interesting - to build a heating pump that's affordable for many people. Those with more money can buy ones that are more efficient - there are even ones underground that still work in winter.
