how do you create a water heater from solar power?
94072
It depends on how hot you want your water. If you want only moderately heated water, suitable for bathing, you can use a box covered with glass that has a long winding pipe inside it. The pipe should be a small diameter and laid out flat on the bottom of the box with as many turns in it as possible to increas the length. This can go into a reservoir, like a hot water tank, and to make it more sophisticated you can put a circulating pump on the tank that constantly circulates the water through the heating panel. This is how commercial solar water heaters are made, with some sophisticated controls added. \n\nIf you want to boil your water using solar power this can be done with a parabolic mirror that focuses sunlight onto your cooking pot. These can be made from small pieces of mirror laid in a parabolic form (shaped like a satelitte dish) and cemented with plain grout. I have seen these used in some areas and they are quite effective. \n\nOne simple method that I use when camping: Lay a black colored bag of water on the ground or hang it in the sun and wait till it is warm enough for a shower.
708373
Take an old cardboard box and line it with aluminum foil. then cover the flaps of the box with foil as well. take this outside in the sun and use the flaps to shine all the rays on a biscut or cookie dogh. it will cook it, it may take a while but it is a solar cooker.\nLet me know how it works out.
720553
There are many ways to take advantage of the energy produced by the sun.  A good place to start is with a passive solar energy water heater.  They are inexpensive to install and easy to maintain.  The simplest ones use the radiant energy of the sun and convert that to thermal energy using a material that absorbs the light instead of reflecting it, in layman's terms, something black.  \n\nPhotovoltaic (solar cell) systems convert sunlight directly into electricity. A solar or Photovoltaic cell consists of semiconducting material that absorbs the sunlight. The solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms in a semiconductor, allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity.\n\nFor a more in-depth explanation of photovoltaic technology try this site.
914327
A fired heater will probably be the cheapest way.  You could try electric heaters (you can buy the elements from water heaters at appliance repair shops - they use 240V), but the electricity cost will probably be more than for the fuel (if you were thinking gas/petrol, maybe propane or natural gas will be cheaper).  I also don't know if I'd be comfortable putting electric elements in 3500 gallons of biodiesel - I've seen a few kitchen fires, and burning oil is never pleasant.\n\nYou could also consider solar heating - it would be cheaper in the long run, but any efficient installation would have to involve heating panels, piping, pumps, and a lot of water.  You could try painting your tank black, but that probably won't work very well unless you live in the desert or high plains.
18707
The answer depends on how big or how much each solar panel produces.  But you definetly need at least 1,200 Watts. You can either try to produce the energy Chemically or Mechanically.  Chemically you need Photo Electric Panels Large enough to produce 1,200 watts.  Mechanically you would use mirrors to focus the suns rays onto a boiler to create steam and then turn a turbine generator.
527012
It is not possible for usng slar energy directly. because the compresser operations want frequent input. ( Not continuose). In the form Solar electricity is possible. \n\nHow ever Vapour Absorption syastem is possible
348093
Electricity may be generated directly from solar panels (using the photo-electric effect) or from providing rotational force to an electric generator (just  wires moving across a magnetic field). \n\nAny form of energy that creates movement can be used for the generator -\n1. Apply heat to water to make steam to turn a turbine to turn a generator). The heat could be provided by fossil fuels, nuclear power, geothermal sources (eg hot springs), solar radiation.\n2. Use wind or water power to turn the generator (windmills & hydroelectric dams) \n3. Tidal power again to rotate a generator.\n\nAll these forms of electrcity generation require major capital expenditure that perhaps would be difficult for Ghana to afford. However, the windmills & solar panels are probably the easiest to implement since they could be implemented by an incremental approach. The disadvantage is the inability to match supply to demand.
790374
Not unless you can figure out a way to produce a semi-conductor at home.  Basically a solar cell (photovoltaic cell) is a couple of layers of silicon  P type and N type.  Electrons become excited when light quanta penetrates into the P layer. The excited electrons move to the N type and (very oversimplified) create electricity.\n\nI doubt you would have the facilities to create the materials at home.
522521
The cheapest PRACTICAL way of using solar energy at home is to make a solar cooker. \n\nThis is not a solar 'oven' with a big lens or mirror that broils things, it is a box painted black that gets hot as it sits out in the sun the same way your car does. They only cost a few bucks to make and they WORK! I made one and it works!\n\nYou will need two cardboard boxes that fit inside each other, some black paint, aluminum foil, glue or tape and a plastic oven- roasting bag like for a Thanksgiving turkey.\n\nIt is a slow cooker. You can't burn anything in it, because it only gets up to about 320 degrees F. in it. The beauty of it is that it saves you energy (and money) two ways: first, you don't need to run your stove on a sunny day to cook. Second, you don't need to run your air conditioning extra because you didn't heat up the house with the stove on!\n\nSearch on solar cookers. You will find sites with plans and step by step directions. Have fun!\n\nPS. Beckee, I have to admit, your idea is the cheapest and the easiest. I forgot!
103404
Just how much Hydrogen do you want to produce?\nI could tell you several ways to make small amounts for next to no cost, but if you want to step up production, it will involve increase the price too.\n\nElectrolysis of water is probably the cheapest method, especially when the energy your using is cheap/free too.  The cheaper the energy, the cheaper the over all price.  The energy from a battery is much more expensive than the energy "out of the wall" which is much more expensive than energy from the sun (free).\n\nYou could also produce Hydrogen by reacting a more active metal in an acid.  Metals like Iron, Zinc, Magnesium, (you could use the Alkili metals, but I woulnt advise it), ...\nCopper (in a penny) wouldnt work since it is less active than Hydrogen, but the zinc inside the penny would. [we ignore the cost of the penny you have to destroy]
993273
Process Electrolysis\n\nYou will need two ordinary glasses, A pan , a DC electrical source and some supports to support the glasses in the pan with the rim below the water level.\n\nYou can find a simple experiment  and details here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysis
51965
Hmm...  If I remember the physics right, it goes like this: Take two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen and mix them in a chamber with a catalyst and a proton exchange membrane and you get water and electricity.
1040483
runs with solar energy
456924
http://www.bigginhill.co.uk/solar.htm\n\nhttp://www.jc-solarhomes.com/how_to.htm\n\nhttp://www.jc-solarhomes.com/solar_heating.htm\n\nhttp://www.solar-components.com/SOLARKAL.HTM\n\nhttp://www.motherearthnews.com/top_articles/1984_January_February/Build_an_Integral_Passive_Solar_Water_Heater\n\n\nGood Luck!
64337
All power plants convert heat into electricity using steam. At nuclear power plants, the heat to make the steam is created when atoms split apart.
1144729
(m)\n\nMake a solar cell in your kitchen\n\nWe found this article on http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/echem/echem2.html \n\nIt was super, super, super cool, so we thank them for allowing us to post it at TheSolarPlan.com!  This is nifty!\n\nA solar cell is a device for converting energy from the sun into electricity. The high-efficiency solar cells you can buy at Radio Shack and other stores are made from highly processed silicon, and require huge factories, high temperatures, vacuum equipment, and lots of money. \n\nIf we are willing to sacrifice efficiency for the ability to make our own solar cells in the kitchen out of materials from the neighborhood hardware store, we can demonstrate a working solar cell in about an hour. \n \nOur solar cell is made from cuprous oxide instead of silicon. Cuprous oxide is one of the first materials known to display the photoelectric effect, in which light causes electricity to flow in a material. \n\nThinking about how to explain the photoelectric effect is what led Albert Einstein to the Nobel prize for physics, and to the theory of relativity.\n\nMaterials you will need \n\nThe solar cell is made from these materials: \nA sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store. This normally costs about $5.00 per square foot. We will need about half a square foot. \nTwo alligator clip leads. \nA sensitive micro-ammeter that can read currents between 10 and 50 microamperes. Radio Shack sells small LCD multimeters that will do, but I used a small surplus meter with a needle. \nAn electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won't work -- mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot. \nA large clear plastic bottle off of which you can cut the top. I used a 2 liter spring water bottle. A large mouth glass jar will also work. \nTable salt. We will want a couple tablespoons of salt. \nTap water. \nSand paper or a wire brush on an electric drill. \nSheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nHow to build the solar cell \n\nMy burner looks like this: \n\nThe first step is to cut a piece of the copper sheeting that is about the size of the burner on the stove. Wash your hands so they don't have any grease or oil on them. Then wash the copper sheet with soap or cleanser to get any oil or grease off of it. Use the sandpaper or wire brush to thoroughly clean the copper sheeting, so that any sulphide or other light corrosion is removed. \n\nNext, place the cleaned and dried copper sheet on the burner and turn the burner to its highest setting. \n\nAs the copper starts to heat up, you will see beautiful oxidation patterns begin to form. Oranges, purples, and reds will cover the copper. \n\n\nAs the copper gets hotter, the colors are replaced with a black coating of cupric oxide. This is not the oxide we want, but it will flake off later, showing the reds, oranges, pinks, and purples of the cuprous oxide layer underneath. \n\n\n\nThe last bits of color disappear as the burner starts to glow red. \n\nWhen the burner is glowing red-hot, the sheet of copper will be coated with a black cupric oxide coat. Let it cook for a half an hour, so the black coating will be thick. This is important, since a thick coating will flake off nicely, while a thin coat will stay stuck to the copper. \n\n\nAfter the half hour of cooking, turn off the burner. Leave the hot copper on the burner to cool slowly. If you cool it too quickly, the black oxide will stay stuck to the copper. \n\nAs the copper cools, it shrinks. The black cupric oxide also shrinks. But they shrink at different rates, which makes the black cupric oxide flake off. \n\n\nThe little black flakes pop off the copper with enough force to make them fly a few inches. This means a little more cleaning effort around the stove, but it is fun to watch. \n\n\nWhen the copper has cooled to room temperature (this takes about 20 minutes), most of
308968
if you are referring to creating electricity from uv light then any standard photovoltaic panel will do the job.  Depending on what photovoltaic material you use the efficiency will change, but because much UV is fairly close to the visible spectrum most will give you decent collection.