Sun-Heated Solar Outdoor Shower

The sun-heated solar shower is a perfect accompaniment to any outdoor pool and an interesting alternative to the regular outdoor shower. This cool solar device can heat up to 8 liters of water to 140° Fahrenheit in as little as two hours. Just place it in a sunny spot and connect to your garden hose to fill the tank at the bottom to its 8-liter capacity. The shower's base acts as a greenhouse to heat hose water; sunlight penetrates the transparent lid and the trapped solar radiation heats the water as it courses through the internal collection tube.

This particular solar shower mixes the 140° water with cool water from the garden hose to a pleasant 86-90°F, giving you plenty of toasty warm water at just the right temperature. You and your family can take several showers consecutively before the tank needs to reheat.

The sun-heated solar outdoor shower is useful device as it will definitely save you electricity costs.

Solar Pool Covers/Blankets

Solar pool accessories such as solar covers or blankets can help you maintain the temperature in your outdoor swimming pool comfortable, extend your swimming pool season, and save money. Solar swimming pool covers made of heavy-duty polyethylene material are specifically designed to capture the sun’s free heat, transmit it to the pool water and prevents night time heat loss.

A solar pool cover is the least expensive kind of swimming pool cover. For about $75 - $150, it can raise water temperature anywhere from 10-15 degrees F, by absorbing sunlight during the day and retaining the heat at night. A solar pool cover can reduce heating costs by up to 75%.

The new generation of solar swimming pool covers let the sun’s rays to pass through to warm the water. They resemble giant colored sheets with tiny air pockets or “bubbles”. The absorbent coloring increases solar heating, while the tiny 'bubbles' magnify the sun. It is most popular to get clear or blue pool covers, but there are also black, silver and gold.

Solar swimming pool covers are classified by the thickness of the plastic they are made from. The thickness is measured in microns. The bigger the micron count the longer the cover will last.

Solar cover float freely on top of a pool without tie-down or anchor to hold it in place. You can remove a solar cover just by pull it off and store it. However, folding a giant wet blanket by yourself can be a difficult task, especially if you have a very large swimming pool, so a helper or the aid of a solar pool cover reel makes the task much easier. Solar covers are usually folded and stored or rolled-up on a large reel and wheeled out of the way.

Solar pool covers/blankets have some other benefits as well:

• they prevent water from evaporation from the pool
• reduce the amount of expensive chemicals consumed by 35 to 60 percent
• they can also help to keep the water clean and reduce cleaning time

But is important to keep in mind that although any cover will reduce some of the debris that enters a pool, solar pool covers are not specifically designed for cleanliness, nor to be used as safety covers, and access to the pool must be restricted for young children and animals. And they should be completely removed before swimming because the solar covers clings to the surface and could trap a swimmer under water.

Solar pool cover/blanket are the most practical and economical way to save on your swimming pool heating costs. They might actually be thought of passive solar heating for your pool and can be used on their own as well as in addition to a pool heating system. Solar pool covers work equally as well on both above ground and in-ground swimming pools.

Solar Pool Heater
VORTEX 4x12 Panels
Standard System Kit

Passive Solar Space Heating

Picture: westernwashingtonsolar.com

Space heating means heating the space inside a building. Passive solar space heating relies on incorporating building features that absorb heat and then release it slowly to maintain the temperature within the home. These building features, known as thermal mass, may include large windows, brick walls, and stone flooring. Passive solar heating techniques generally fall into one of three categories: direct gain, indirect gain, and isolated gain.

Direct gain is solar radiation that directly passes through the home's windows and is traped in the living space. Direct gain uses classic passive solar design strategy - the sunlight falls directly into the space and is absorbed by an abundance of thermal mass materials.

Indirect gain collects, stores, and distributes solar radiation using some thermal storage material (e.g., Trombé wall or a thermal storage wall). Conduction, radiation, or convection then transfers the energy indoors. Sunlight is absorbed by the wall, which heats up slowly during the day. Then as it cools gradually during the night, it releases its stored heat over a relatively long period of time indirectly into the space.

Isolated gain (e.g., sunspace) collect solar radiation in an area that can be selectively closed off or opened to the rest of the building. That heat than can be distributed into the living area in a variety of ways. The sunspace has the same characteristics as a direct-gain system - extensive south-facing glazing and thermal mass, and it should be well constructed, with low infiltration and high insulation levels.

In the case of passive solar space heating the whole house operates as a solar collector (passive solar home). A passive solar home is designed to let in as much sunlight as possible. It is like a big solar collector.

Sometimes for passive solar energy to be utilized effectively there must also be a means for the heated air to circulate throughout the home. Usually, the natural circulation of air is enough as long as doors are left open throughout the home, however, sometimes fans are also incorporated into the design to facilitate this.

Passive solar heating features can reduce heating bills by almost 50 percent and it requires little or no investment of external equipment. Building a passive solar home may even cost the same as building a conventional home, especially if you're working with a builder who is familiar with the processes of passive solar heating systems.