This project was for Senior Design and our group was in charge of creating 3 systems for use by the Engineers Without Borders in Mexico. They wanted to help a rural community to have some more luxuries without breaking the bank. The system that I worked on was the Solar Water Heater.
Design
For our preliminary design, we determined 3 alternatives and weighed several important criteria. Cost was weighed most heavily on the scale and was the most important factor for determining which design to use. Another important criteria was the manufacturability. This had to be easily constructed and maintained by the local community.
We decided on a wooden frame and PEX tubing with fiberglass insulation and an acrylic cover.
Testing:
We tested the system by leaving it in the sun for several hours and then testing the temperature at the outlet to determine the difference. The system performed incredibly well and we were able to get upwards of 190°F.
Challenges
The problem with the prototype system was that it needed to supply at least 20 gallons of hot water, but only produced about 2. This was due to the limited amount of tubing that could be placed inside the frame. To make the system capable of delivering the necessary amount of water, it would need to have a tubing diameter of 1 inch instead of 1/2 an inch. This would produce 3 showers of 10 gallons of 90°F water or hotter. For the price tag of $200, this system is a cost effective way at having a warm shower in a community that desperately wanted to avoid freezing showers.
Read the full report and detailed analysis here.
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