Construction

Hello followers (our few)! We have made great progress over this reading break as prototype construction is almost finished. We first began by building the frame from treated wood, and then began soldering of the piping system for the collector.

Insulation was carefully cut and glued to the constructed frame, the absorber plate (fins) were then attached to the copper piping and given one coat of flat black high heat-resistant enamel.

All that remains to be completed is sealing the glazing and testing of the prototype. We hope to begin testing our collector within the next couple of weeks.

Update

After intense scrutiny of the solar water collector, the team has chosen to not proceed with the current design. The decision was made under recommendations from solar expert Dr. Tang Lee and have delayed the project schedule.

Prototype construction has been postponed, but the design team remains optimistic despite these set backs. Guidance and advice from solar expert Dr. Tang Lee have provided the team a new opportunity to prototype an even more energy efficient and effective solar water heating flat-plate panel.

Stay tuned for the new and improved CalgarySWC design. Follow us on twitter at:

http://twitter.com/UCalgarySWC

Assembly Plan

To our followers!

Status update - As the semester progresses, we have made some significant decisions around construction and assembly of our energy efficient solar collector. All main components and materials have been selected, as well as methods of fastening for joining sub-components of our design.

Also, further thermodynamic and heat transfer analysis was completed by team members Chris May and Halley O'Byrne. Utilization of f-chart which is a common industrial technique for calculating solar availability.

The next steps to the design process would be material procurement, further forecasting and planning of assembly costs, and prototype construction.

Welcome

What is driving energy demand? What are the challenges in meeting this demand? People have always used energy to improve their quality of life and to create economic opportunities – from the first farmers in the Fertile Crescent, who harnessed the energy of the sun to grow their crops, to steel producers who ushered in the Industrial Revolution. Today, the global population is increasing and economies around the world are expected to experience significant growth over the long term. What do these fundamental changes in population and incomes mean for energy demand?

-Chevron

The University of Calgary Solar Water Collector team has taken upon itself to design a sustainable device to help offset energy consumption and green house gas emissions through utilizing natural solar energy from the sun.  This unique approach to a low cost solar collector has been furthered by the passionate students involved with this design.  Please join us in our design and quest for a more energy efficient future.  We will posting weekly updates of our design status and chosen criteria.