Storm Window Solar Panels
(Page 2 of 4)
January/February 1984
By the Mother Earth News editors
Begin construction of the collector by laying a screenless and windowless aluminum frame mounting face up on a flat surface. Measure the width and height of the sash opening (where the framed glass panes normally go), and then cut your foil-covered insulation board to those dimensions, using a utility knife.
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Next, cut a 4-inch-diameter opening in one corner of the board (be sure to leave at least an inch or so margin from the edges), then remove a 4-inch-square plug from the sheet's diagonally opposite corner. By slicing three long, narrow strips (two 2-inch wide and one 6-inch wide) from your leftover insulation material and using aluminum foil tape to join those pieces together, you can then make a simple heat-retaining passageway between what will be the collector's lower (intake) duct and a point about 3 inches from its upper one. (We found that the easiest way to do this was to first determine the tunnel's necessary length, cut the strips to fit, join them in a three-sided channel, and then tape the entire assembly to the surface of the board after that insulation sheet had been installed within its aluminum frame.)
Before you do that, though, it'd be a good idea to put the square-to-round dryer-duct fitting you purchased in place over its upper corner opening and secure it with some silicone sealant. Then you can go ahead and coat the absorber surface with high-temperature flat black paint and complete the installation, again using a continuous bead of silicone sealant as a bond. With that done, it's a simple matter to secure the insulated channel— making sure the lower duct is covered — and trim out some end caps that'll fasten neatly over the tube's open tips. (A strip of foil tape placed over each 4-inch duct's cut edge will protect the foam insulation from the long-term effects of heat.)
The dryer vent kit you bought should contain about 10" of sheet-aluminum pipe. Cut several inches from it and install it in the upper end of the channel. The remaining piece of pipe can be cut in half and used later on.
At this point you can join the glass face to the collector frame. First, check to make certain the panes are, locked securely in their slots, then go ahead and seal all of the joints — including the one between the windows — with silicone. Run a bead of caulk (or lay sections of weatherstripping) along the frame's faces, then fasten the halves together at the top and bottom flanges with some bolts or self-tapping screws. Take care to orient the glass so the upper pane overlaps the lower and thus sheds rainwater rather than catching it.
The tubular framework that helps to hold the collector at the correct sun-catching angle is constructed of appropriate lengths of half-inch electrical metallic tubing (E.M.T.). Five-foot-long side rails were just about right for the 36-by-62-inch frames we were working on. With those bolted through the right and left edges of the storm fixtures so that about 2 inches of E.M.T. protruded above both top sides of the collector, it was easy to determine the length of conduit necessary to connect those two stubs. The joints were secured by cutting the heads from two 1/4-inch bolts and bending hooks in their shanks. These "claws" could then be slipped into holes drilled in the cross pipe, and their threaded ends could be passed through openings bored in the side rails and secured with nuts.
