Solar Collectors

Keeping the planet green seems to be a matter for those who are steeped in chemistry and in engineering. But there are solar kits being sold that claim even those whose memories of chemistry are only in memorizing of the periodic table and memories of engineering classes are non existent, who can still put together a solar collector that is cheaper to build and provides heat more cheaply than solar panels.

For those of us worried about the greenhouse effect, solar collectors feed of the greenhouse effect by storing the heat that is produced. In effect, solar collectors create a greenhouse effect and collect or harvest the solar energy as heat.
According to those selling these solar collector kits, a residential solar collector hot water system can be built for under $10,000 by paying for its installation. The kits claim that for $1500, you can put in your own solar hot water system collector and in less than three years, your hot water will be heated for free thanks to the sun and your solar collector.

There are two types of solar collectors. The flat plate is usually the method sold in solar collector kits and by most commercial solar collector installations. The other method is called the parabolic trough collector. Both of these solar collectors make use of the greenhouse effect to trap heat.

To order a solar collector is usually a very expensive proposition as their glass, copper, storage tanks and plumbing that would have to be shipped. With a solar collector book and kit, making use of products that can be found in hardware stores lets build your own solar collector. All of the techniques and supplies that you need are diagrammed and all you need is some basic building skills.

What could happen after you buy the kit and the supplies is that you might hire a professional solar collector installer to put it all together for you. A solar collector might be something to discuss with your builder if you are building a new home.