https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...6+13.45.52.jpg

Starting to attach the collector inlet pipes to the pumps. The ability to use leftover Pex-AL-Pex for a lot of these runs made everything much easier due to make all kinds of turns and hold the shape :thumbup:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I...6+13.47.33.jpg
A nice shot of all the piping going into and out of the tank.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y...6+18.54.48.jpg
Right collector finished and starting on the left. I used some of the flashing material leftover from the absorber fins to make a little "roof" over the right collector. The slope should keep rain and snow off.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z...3+18.32.33.jpg
Absorber run on the left collector. Spacing the runs got a little tricky towards the bottom but turned out fine. Cheap $1 spray paint was used on everything, I figured even under stagnation conditions it would never see temps high enough to make it worth considering high-temp paint.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...3+18.32.44.jpg
Starting to look like something!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p...3+19.52.05.jpg
Have to have a little fun :)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...0+12.46.22.jpg
The two trees in the backyard were starting to rot on the inside and big limbs hanging over the house, the neighbors and the garage. Not a safe situation, so they were removed. Oh and it just so happened to improve the solar exposure by like million percent :cool:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...0+12.47.00.jpg
There, much better.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...0+12.47.12.jpg

Beautiful.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...0+22.36.30.jpg

Shot of the Tank completed.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...0+22.36.43.jpg

Another angle. If you look closely you will notice the tank temperature sensors as well as the pump wiring. An additional note, the Grundfos pumps operate exceptionally well. What sound they make sound more like just rushing water. I have to get down near them to even know if they are running or not. Couldn't be more satisfied.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...1+16.22.25.jpg
The control setup. Two SunEarth (Steca) independently control each panel. Each has 1 temp sensor in the collector and 2 sensors (top & bottom) in the tank. Sensor wire has a layer of shielding underneath the coating to protect it from EM interference. Got everything from AltEstore.com without a hitch.

Wow, great updates!

How much area of collector do you have there? It seems like a pretty decent amount.

Is it fully operational now?

Are you tracking how often the pumps are running and how much power the setup is using?

Yes, this battle station is now fully operational. The "Left" (west) Collector is 100sqft (10'x10'), "right" (East) collector is 80sqft (10'x8') so 180sqft total. the frame is built with 2x4s so its about 3.5" deep. As far as I've been able to tell it collects a good amount of heat.

180 sq feet! Nice! Congratulations! Don't cha love it when a plan comes together? :)

It would take about a dozen large south facing windows to get that amount of heat gain.
But at night, the window losses/leakage would really hurt!

Good Luck this winter!

Hey Strider,

I'm not currently living in close proximity of the unit, so I don't think I'd be able to stay on top of tracking everything. Networking it would be further than I'd be willing to go. I might put a kill-a-watt on it though and check the cumulative kwh used whenever I'm around there. Simple enough right?

Other than that I'd say it has a fair amount of collector area, and It'll be interesting to see what kind of dent it can put in the bills, especially with the lower angle of the sun relative to the horizon. :thumbup:

One thought however is that I perhaps should have used 3/4" pipe to carry the preheated water from the tank to the water heater instead of the 1". Even with the insulation, it would take less time for "fresh" hot water to reach one of the water heaters... For a 10ft or so run, I'm wondering what kind of impact it has...