Background

Building of the Solar Compartment

Very small tubing will have to be found and coiled inside a to scale rectangular solar box. Also inside this box there will be insulation, and on the outside there will be transparent Plexi-glass like material to let light in, but keep the heat contained.

How The Electric Water Pump Works

Smaller electric water pumps, such as the kinds used in homes, usually have small DC motors. The DC motor is contained in a sealed case attached to the impeller and powers it through a simple gear drive. In the center of the motor is a rotor with coils around it. Around those coils are magnets, which create a permanent magnetic field that flows through the rotor. (Elliott, 1991) When the motor turns on, electricity runs through the coils, producing a magnetic field that repels the magnets around the rotor, causing the rotor to spin around 180 degrees. (David, 2009) When the rotor spins, the direction of the electricity in the coils flips, pushing the rotor again and causing it to spin the rest of the way around. Through a series of pushes, the rotor continues to spin, driving the impeller and powering the pump.

Our Solar Panel Design via a Decision Matrix 

Not-weighted

Type of Solar Water Heater	cost	construction	square footage	geografical	surface area	total
Closed Loop (active) (4)	3	3	2	3	4	15
Closed Loop (active)  (4)	2	3	2	3	3	13
Passive (4)	1	1	2	1	1.5	5.5

Weighted

Type of Solar Water Heater	cost	construction	square footage	geografical	surface area	total
Closed Loop (active) (4)	12	6	3	12	24	111
Closed Loop (active) (4)	8	2	3	12	18	43
Passive (4)	4	2	1.5	4	9	20.5

Our weighted decision matrix exemplifies what is important for the project, the weights are as follows: Cost (4X), Construction (2X), Square Footage (1.5X), Geographical (4X), Surface Area (6X). Cost was an important factor because materials are expensive and we couldn't afford to build some of the more efficient models. We wanted ease of construction, and for the final solar water panel to take up as small a space as possible for transportation and scale purposes. Different solar panels are made for different regions of the world, so because of our high powered light source, we heavily weighted a panel suited for such an environment. Finally, we wanted as much piping (area wise) to be in direct 'contact' with the light, the coiled copper panel was perfect to maximize surface area.

Work Cited

1. Elliott, G. Solar Water Pump Test Facility. Canberra: Energy Research and Development                    Corporation, 1991. Print.


2. Hautala, Richard R., R. Bruce. King, and Charles Kutal. Solar Energy: Chemical Conversion               and Storage. Clifton, NJ: Humana, 1979. Print.


3. David, Isaiah. "How an Electric Water Pump Works." EHow. Demand Media, 13 May 2009.                 Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

4. Solar Water Heater. Digital image. Build It Solar. N.p., 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.