- #1
taylaron
Gold Member
- 397
- 1
Greetings PFers
I’m thinking about building a Tiny House similar to the one below, except outfitted with solar power.
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/products/weebee/#ad-image-0
A Tiny house is a small (~120 sqft) home on a trailer bed. I’m interested in designing one that is equipped with a solar water and air heater as well as power generator. Because solar thermal is not a complete solution to heating air, water or generating power, it should be able to be switched
I’m thinking about using an array of Solar Tubes (Glass evacuated thermal collectors) on the roof
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANL3OHC/?tag=pfamazon01-20
At the end of each tube is a brass cylinder where the heat is transferred. The question is what method is most efficient and practical for transferring heat to electricity to charge a battery in this application.
I’m not using Photovoltaics because they’re so expensive right now and it’s not worth the investment with more efficient panels coming out in the near future.
Conversion options that I see:
1. 12volt Peltier device (10-15% efficiency. Requires temp. differential). Direct conversion.
2. Sterling Engine connected to a 12 volt PM DC generator
a. 25% efficient Stirling * 75% DC generator = 19% overall efficiency
With these rough calculations, it looks like ~80-90% of the energy collected by the solar thermal tubes will be lost regardless of generation method. In the interest of simplicity, I would go with the Peltier device option to generate electricity.
To produce hot air or water, the oil which would circulate through the system would pass through a refrigerator radiator which has two tubes, one originally for coolant and one for cooling water going to the spigot. The hot oil and soon-to-be hot water would pass through the two tubes in the radiator and the water would go into an insulated container for later use while the oil is recycled.
Hot air would be produced by stopping the flow of water through the radiator and passing air through the radiator fins.
I also envision each solar tube having it's own parabolic dish along it's length if it would fit in the roof. The top of the solar collector would be covered in corrugated plastic to prevent glare off the roof.
If I've missed an alternative or have any corrections, I would appreciate your input.
-Tay
I’m thinking about building a Tiny House similar to the one below, except outfitted with solar power.
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/products/weebee/#ad-image-0
A Tiny house is a small (~120 sqft) home on a trailer bed. I’m interested in designing one that is equipped with a solar water and air heater as well as power generator. Because solar thermal is not a complete solution to heating air, water or generating power, it should be able to be switched
based on demand. The solar water heater would simply supplement the on-demand propane heaters. I’m thinking about using an array of Solar Tubes (Glass evacuated thermal collectors) on the roof
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANL3OHC/?tag=pfamazon01-20
At the end of each tube is a brass cylinder where the heat is transferred. The question is what method is most efficient and practical for transferring heat to electricity to charge a battery in this application.
I’m not using Photovoltaics because they’re so expensive right now and it’s not worth the investment with more efficient panels coming out in the near future.
Conversion options that I see:
1. 12volt Peltier device (10-15% efficiency. Requires temp. differential). Direct conversion.
2. Sterling Engine connected to a 12 volt PM DC generator
a. 25% efficient Stirling * 75% DC generator = 19% overall efficiency
With these rough calculations, it looks like ~80-90% of the energy collected by the solar thermal tubes will be lost regardless of generation method. In the interest of simplicity, I would go with the Peltier device option to generate electricity.
To produce hot air or water, the oil which would circulate through the system would pass through a refrigerator radiator which has two tubes, one originally for coolant and one for cooling water going to the spigot. The hot oil and soon-to-be hot water would pass through the two tubes in the radiator and the water would go into an insulated container for later use while the oil is recycled.
Hot air would be produced by stopping the flow of water through the radiator and passing air through the radiator fins.
I also envision each solar tube having it's own parabolic dish along it's length if it would fit in the roof. The top of the solar collector would be covered in corrugated plastic to prevent glare off the roof.
If I've missed an alternative or have any corrections, I would appreciate your input.
-Tay
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