Natural, Solar Hot-Water Techniques

One of the easiest ways to get started using solar power without much upfront cost, is to start heating your water with the sun instead of using gas or electricity. There are many simple and primitive ways to heat water using the sun, but even the best approaches are still relatively simple and they're usually quite cheap too.

The most basic way to heat water from the sun is to sit the water in full sunlight. If you put water into a clear glass jar for example, then sit it in full sunlight, you will find it warmed up - if not downright hot - in just a short amount of time. How long this process takes will vary depending on where you live, how strong the sunlight is on the day you do this, and what time of year it is.

In the hotter parts of Arizona for example, the sun is quite strong and it will heat water to scalding temperatures within 15 minutes in the summertime. In the winter it may take 30-60 minutes. Areas of the United States which are more Northern and Eastern however, may need 2-3 hours of sunlight to get the water hot enough to scald them.

The same thing can be achieved using a simple garden water hose. If you allow the water to fill the garden hose and then sit in sunlight for a period of time, that water will become hot naturally. Then you simply turn the water back on and capture the heated water for whatever use you need. By emptying the hot water from the hose you've also added more water which can now start heating up.

This particular approach can be enhanced dramatically by running your garden hose through glass bottles. Carefully cut out the bottom of multiple glass soda bottles, then "thread" your garden water hose through them. Lay the arrangement in full sunlight, and the glass will help capture more of the sun's solar power which in turn heats up the water inside your garden hose more quickly.

A more popular approach to solar water heating allows you to continuously heat larger amounts of water at a time, and keep that hot water "on tap" similar to the way a conventional gas or electric water heater does. This type of solar water heater also involves using storage tanks.

One to three metal barrels or old water heater tanks are painted black. Black absorbs solar heat very effectively, and this helps the water inside your tanks to heat up that much faster. If one tank is used it is simply filled with water, and positioned in full sunlight where it will naturally become hot from the sun. Multiple tanks are often used though, so there can be water "on tap" in the household as needed. The first water tank will heat up in the sun naturally, and that warmed water will move to the next tank to be warmed even further. If a third tank is used, it generally takes the twice warmed water and heats it even further to make it very hot.

Solar water tank arrangements such as these are generally placed inside an insulated box of some kind which is covered with clear glass. The glass allows the solar sunlight to enter, and helps heat build up inside the enclosure. That build up of heat helps the solar water tanks to build heat themselves more quickly, and retain it for much longer periods too.