MTD Solar Collector Kit

MTD Solar Collector Kit

Entire solar collector kits are expensive to ship so I decided to develop a low cost partial kit for Do-it-Yourselfers. Home owners with basic carpentry skills should have no problem. Most of the materials needed to build my solar heating system are available from local building suppliers. These materials are outlined here. My Solar Collector Kit consists of parts not commonly available. They include the TDM and a few modified drip spigots. To keep the price down and the quality up I decided it would be prudent to only ship these difficult to get or difficult to find materials.

COLLECTOR MATERIALS

1. One (1 x 6 x16') per collector.                                                       $ 15
2 . 1/4"x 2" CDX plywood strips                                                           $   3
3. One .5" x 4x8 isocyanurate insulation (Tuff R)                              $ 12
4. Paint & screws                                                                                $  2
5. 26" x 96" corrugated polycarbonate glazing (Suntuf)                      $ 17
6. "Trickle Down Matt"  (TDM)                            $ 50           (16 for $600)

TOTAL ............................................................................................. $99 per 2' x 8' collector
After you learn how to build your own TDM you'll be able to save a little $ by building it yourself, but your best bet is to start with the (MTD Solar Heating book + collector kit special offer). The kit contains a TDM, a 3/4 L connector and two drip spigots. The other materials needed for the MTD collector are listed above and are commonly available from construction suppliers such as Home Depot..

What else will I need to collect solar heat besides an MTD Collector?
Besides the MTD collector you'll need a plumbing system, a heat storage system, mounting lumber, insulation, a pump a differential thermostat and a power supply.

PLUMBING MATERIALS

1. 3/4" and 2" connectors                                                                      $ 80 for a typical 16 collector 500 gallon system
2. 2 " X 28" PVC GUTTER                                                                    $ 50 worth of 2" PVC for16 collector system
4. 3/4" heater hose   and drain pipe                                                      *$10 - $200 I use a heater hose and 2" PVC
5. PUMP                                                                                                 *$20 - $400 I'm now using a $20 RULE 500 pump
6. Trickle Down Distributor   (3/4 x 28" heater hose + drip spigots)   $ 40 for 16 collectors ( I supply modified drip spigots)

This 7 foot long Trickle Down Distributor (TDD) has 6 modified drip spigots and feeds 3 collectors.
The TDD is easy to make by inserting modified drip spigots into a 3/4" heater hose.

The modified 1/4" drip spigots cost $.25 each and you'll need two per collector, but don't worry I'll throw in a few as part of the special offer. They are used to insure a predictable flow rate.

HEAT STORAGE for 500 gallon system

TEN 55 gallon recycled plastic drums............................ $ 0 OR
FIFTEEN 36 gallon plastic tanks .................................... $ 200
Mounting Lumber, Insulation, Wire, Differential Thermostat etc *($10 - $300)

So how much for an entire system?

Well this depends on:
    1. The size of your system
    2. The distance between the heat storage and the MTD collectors
    3. The height that you'll be pumping. (high head pumps can get expensive)
    4. The amount of insulation used. The more the merrier.

What would be the typical cost of a 16 MTD collector system with 500 gallons of heat storage tanks,
a 12 volt DC pump, a 12 volt DC differential thermostat and a 12 volt DC power supply?

Taking the average value of the *(variable cost factors) for a 16 collector system we have a total cost of all the materials close to $1800. Add $200 for beer and call it $2,000. Extracting heat from barrels of hot water is not difficult, but we won't be getting into this here.

OK let's call it $2000. How much heat will 16 of your collectors save me on heat and hot water in a year?

Well of course this depends on where you live and how much heat and hot water you use. It will also depend on your differential thermostat settings, insulation, orientation, tilt angle etc, but if you live in an area like Long Island you'll have about 1000 hrs of direct sunlight available per year. At an efficiency of 50% 16 collectors will harvest: 3,000 BTU/m² x 50% x 24m² x 1000HR = 36,000,000 BTU's per year. This is the fuel oil equivalent of 240 gallons if we assume that oil burners are 100% efficient. HOWEVER, even efficient clean burning oil burners lose close to 50% of their heat through the chimney. The best way to check the efficiency of your oil burner is to measure the fuel used to raise a given amount of water to a specific temperature. Burn efficiency is one thing, heat transfer efficiency is another. The actual heat transfer efficiency of the MTD collectors is approximately the same as most oil burners. Anyhow a 16 collector MTD system would save about 480 gallons of oil per year. At $3/gallon that's a savings of $1,440/yr on Long island. I don't want to get your hopes up too high. I'm sure there are a few things I forgot, but I'd say if you can't make your investment back in three years you're doing something wrong.

This MTD collector frame is not part of the KIT since the cost of shipping the frame would be excessive. If you feel comfortable building a frame like this with a table saw and drill go for it. If not you may require the assistance of a handyman. As a last resort you could always find a licensed plumber to install a commercially equivalent system for about $10,000. What ever you take advantage of FREE energy from sunlight. It will only be available for the next 5,000,000,000 years.

The Trickle Down Matt is the heart of the MTD collector. It replaces conventional copper flow tubes and conventional copper absorber plates with a specially designed sealed absorbent matt. The TDM is only 24" wide and very light so it's easy to ship. Conventional $500 solar collectors weigh about 90 pounds and cost about $175 to ship. This TDM facilitates MTD collector construction and the low cost provides a viable alternative to fossil fuel.

Unrolled this 2' x 8' TDM may not look like much, but when you discover how much time and money and heat it saves it will look better. The inner reinforced polypropylene strips give edge durability to the clear polypropylene. Sunlight energy that passes through the clear film gets trapped by a dark water dispersing matt to maximize the heat harvest with a minimal flow rate.
The TDM fits inside the MTD collector frame and makes the process of building a collector as easy as making a bed. I know this may sound a little too good to be true but believe me it works. Soon you'll have your entire roof covered with MTD collectors. You paid for your roof. Now it's time for your roof to pay you. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (Lao-tzu)

Build one MTD collector correctly and your journey of a thousand miles will lead you towards energy independence.

What do MTD collectors look like when they're installed on a roof?
What would you like them to look like? My friend Richard used metal trim on his.
The collector on the left still needs some work, but this is the basic idea.

Start small. Think big. Do more with less. Get started.

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