I have two sections of expanded aircraft Aluminum Honeycomb material. Each one is 4″ thick by 40″ wide by 8ft. long.
I’ve thought about using them for solar collectors after painting them with a thermal black paint….
How would you make them work as hot air or hot water collectors?
Is there a solar website I could buy parts from to make them into solar collectors?
Thanks for your help,
Bill
Edited 5/9/2008 12:35 pm ET by BilljustBill
Replies
aluminum bee's?
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
If the honeycomb runs across the 4" dimension, I doubt that the material will be particularly useful for a solar collector. The idea of a solar collector is to get as much surface area as possible exposed to the sun's heat and transfer that into the water. For best efficiency, you probably want a large surface area and a moderate amount of water moving through it. If the honeycombs run the other way, then you could probably make it work but you would need to put a header on each end to introduce the water into the unit and collect it. You would probably want to rig a way of getting some sunslight to the back side as the water flowing there would probably not get too much thermal energy from the front if only the front receives sunlight.
I imagine with a sturdy frame underneath and glass on top, it would make a handsome conference table. Sell them and you could buy the solar collectors.
just a thot
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
Yea, I'd probably want to use it in the house...room divider? Coffee table?
They are popular with the modern art crowd.
Just don't paint em, they look like #### over night.