If I understand correctly, you want to plumb this before the hot water tank, not in parallel? If so, then this will work only if you are using water during the whole day, else the stagnant water in the pipes will overheat and boil. What you want is a circulation pump taking water from the tank and returning it after it has gone through the solar collector. Also, make sure that it does not circulate when the sun doesn't shine, else you'll be losing heat.
Other than that, it'll work, but as Ryland mentioned, it's not the most efficient way of doing it. DIYing a better collector (box with glass on top and insulation all around) wouldn't be much more expensive.
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Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.
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