This is a simple solar water heater/preheater built using a $125 above ground swiming pool heater laying on top of a house or in a sunny spot in the yard. I have one laying on top of my RV & connected with commercial water hoses. It provided all my hot water needs from mid April till Mid September.
This drawing is of a little sort of all purpose Solar utility & space heater. It is a very easy project for the beginner or for someone who just needs to heat a small space. with a small enough glass & smaller piping they make a great little display of how solar heating works. ( the glass from an 8x10 picture frame and 1" pipe makes a great classroom model or project)
I have made several of these over the years and they have been used for everything from space heaters for rooms, vans, RV's & tents to plant bed and Bio-Diesel preheaters. I even made a pair that are used as solar wax melters for bee keepers.
The way it works is sun comes through the glass and strikes the flat black painted metal plate heating it up. Hot air rises so it naturally flows out the 2 top pipes and cold air is drawn in through the bottom ones. This is called a passive solar design since it uses nothing but the suns energy and natural air movement to produce usable heat.
