Re: Sup Engineers
I like it.
How much did it cost you?
I would be concerned about cleaning. The example of seawater on the website at 35,000 ppm TDS being reduced down to 1-2 ppm leads me to believe that what isn't in the final product is going to accumulate somewhere. If you don't regularly scrub it, you will wind up with scale all over your black surfaces, limiting efficiency. I know they say "very little cleaning" but I think this is going be something requiring constant attention.
Also, that inlet hose might clog up with goo from the growies you are going have from available sources in the bush. You may want to back flush it when you scrub your solar panel.
In terms of improving it, I would be tempted to play with the angle of the incline on the panel, thinking that smaller drops will flow off the interior faster, letting more light through to the cells without refracting off the drops, evaporating off more water. Although, in the end, you might end up finding you get the best efficiency by just keeping the thing pointed directly at the sun.
If you really want to up the heat, try using some reflective material, like tin foil, to direct more sunlight at the array. Be careful you don't exceed the melting point of anything, though.
|