Brilliant Newfoundlander Invents the Solution!

Jim Meaney, owner of Cansolair Inc. displays how he converts pop cans into a powerful solar heating panel.

[@MichaelJohnson-jt5cu]

I worked for a solar company about 35 years ago that made a similar system, my father installed several of these passive type panels on his house and they are still operating today. Simple and reliable system, all you need is direct sun light.

[@stephenhall5430]

How much is a panel to ship to USA.

[@CaptainEverythingHumorandMore]

I seen these before but this guy got it down to a good system. Built really well. I wish him well.

[@martinemjt]

the solutions are often simple, this is brilliant.

[@eswainz]

"we wash them in warm soapy water - sunlight liquid detergent of course" LOL!!!

[@aaronvallejo8220]

I think he was speaking to all our Grandmother's with that statement hahaha. Nice guy doing brilliant projects.

[@BR549guy]

Very innovative. I liked the use of the cans' preformed edges for centering rings. My only concern would be the absence of a heat sink. Also, while this arrangement makes excellent use of waste soda cans, the resistance from the rough edges inside the cans doesn't make for a smooth flow of air. Large electrical conduit would eliminate that, although it wouldn't as inventive as this. The greater thermal mass of the EMT would keep the heat more consistent on a day with patchy clouds. Nice job.

[@baxalasse]

I was speculating that the rough edges would trap the air and give the cans more time to heat the air.

[@lpm67]

I believe we've had people doing this since the 80's (that I know of...probably longer) but is still well worth posting to inspire others. Thank you for sharing.

[@donaldhoover8095]

These were being sold as kits in the early 80s by a place called Solar Usage now Incorporated located in Bascom Ohio

[@jamesmariani984]

in the 70s a buddy and I created a shed for drying wood using a similar technique. It worked great.

[@davidpedder9048]

If it doesn't work , you can always return the cans and get a few bucks back.

[@13c11a]

Hahahaha!

[@veganvocalist4782]

😄

[@ItisanAdventure]

Thank you, we American's love our soda, and this looks like a simple way to lessen our carbon footprint. I hope this spreads around the world. All the best.

[@AXESMI]

They have had this for decades really.

[@invictussol]

yes a fellow in California green home in the 70s built inside a earth mound he was totally off the grid solar heat methane powered generator for lights.

[@GIJeaux1]

Yep, it seems like I seen this in Mother Earth News magazine or, Popular Mechanics or, some magazine back in the 80s or even earlier.

[@hpensive]

Great way to spread the concept regardless of who came up with it first, props from the U.S!

[@NwoDispatcher]

Obviously black people came up with it first

[@StudiohofSEO]

This is amazing, and once you see it, so obvious! Thanks

[@robinhunter8167]

BRILLIANT IS TO FAR FROM WHAT YOU HAVE DISCOVERED HERE LOVE WOW!!!!!, THIS IS THE MOST ENDLESS UNBELIEVABLE SOLAR PANEL I'VE SEEN YET.PLEASE KEEP UP THE AWESOME UNBELIEVABLE WORK . EVERY ONE NEEDS TO KNOW YOU. YOU ROCK IT HARD WOW!!

[@employed1000]

As a former heating contractor I have to say this is quite a promising system. But as a former union safety rep...........Please! Please! Never use gloves near any rotating power tools. That glove next to the hole saw made my stomach churn.

[@Nemoyers]

Thanks, there is another bit of common sense that I never thought about. :-)

[@the74rrhotline]

Thanks for the tip. I would instinctively grab gloves.

[@billnchris1]

Matthew Dies speaking as someone who has 28 seperate breaks in fingers due to a glove wrapping my fingers the wrong way round a 13mm drill bit, I cringed at the gloves on as well.

[@kriskizlyk]

HAHAH funniest thing I have heard all day thanks Employed 1000.

[@rubygray994]

Bill Wright And it's not only fingers that can get corkscrewed. Watch out for those shorts!

[@lumberjak5010]

We did this in the seventies...works great in areas where you don't need heat and only when the sun is shining.

[@hangfire5005]

these things are almost $3000 for a box full of used cans

[@Adrian-gs9er]

+Jarrod P We'll help you go green if you let us bend you over!

[@MikeSmith-rn8mj]

+joy happy Green is surely about green. $$$$$ kind of green.

[@EddieSportRoberts]

I see people asking the question - how do you heat your house at night with these heaters? I don't understand why someone would ask that question. At night you use the same heating system as you're using now. These solar pop can heaters has the word solar for a reason. Solar - Sun. They only work when the sun is shining on them. After sunset or cloudy days you use your existing heaters. Even when the sun is shining this heater won't heat an entire house. It just helps to heat it. I built one a couple months ago with 256 cans and it works better than i thought it would. When the sun strikes it in the morning the temperature starts rising. After about an half hour to 45 mins it reaches about 185 degrees on a day of about 15 degrees outside and it stays at 185 until the sun goes down. I use a fan of 100 cfm. I'm selling the one i built because i want to build a bigger one. If you're interested email me for photos. I live in Newfoundland, Canada. Asking $1200.00...

[@slrs3908]

Hook up the fan to a solar panel and the fan runs only when there is a need to move the heat that is being produced -when it is being produced. Perfect symmetry. All free energy that adds to the overall energy equation. ...and I know, this is just a part of the answer, but any way to chip away at my heating bills, the better.

[@EdmondDantesLeComte]

Also, if you could do it using a sterling engine to power the fan you would TOTALLY be set... there is never such a thing as free engergy, but the suns going to put it out regardless. :) Might as well take advantage!

[@slrs3908]

Maybe a sterling engine and a magnifying glass to maximise the suns heat?

[@gearhead5651]

Greg Green yoir right, what i did was removed glass from my unit and then used the plastic that was the screen from my rear projection tv. Put the glass back on and let it run, in 4hrs everything was melted and the center was chared. Looking for another screen to try this again.

[@nicolecondor5337]

EdmondDantesLeComte yes there is free energy all around you, you just have to find a way to use it

[@lookingforthemeaning]

the simplicity makes this a good idea :-)

[@bethanytheilman2091]

Kinda skipped the step where you seal the cans together into the tubes.

[@sk7172]

+Bethany Theilman He can't give away trade secrets lol

[@FakeNewsHunter]

Having the proof it works ten years would be better. I doubt that in case of a quick and dirty solution to seal the cans together.

[@aaronvallejo8220]

Why would you want the cans sealed together? The heat generated is trapped inside by the plexiglass lens and through convection the heat rises flowing into your house. Unneeded caulking products and chemicals that will break down and off gas being exposed to direct and intense solar radiation and heat.

[@robertgraybeard3750]

jBethany Theilman - as of 13 February 2021 the URL is for sale so you cannot ask him, he's probably no longer in business. *_bummer_* kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZynXqKQpMSCfJo has press fit and just says "a little glue" ? ? ? and "dries" them resting in an angle iron.

[@deepaksamanta]

Simple but useful! Built from scrap with brilliant idea. Great job!

[@digitized4u]

I love your idea...I'm wondering how you connect the cans ? are they welded or glued or is it a trade secret ! Keep up the good work !

[@NwoDispatcher]

Probably just pressure as they interlock. Could use high temp epoxy thou

[@catalhuyuk5525]

@@NwoDispatcher others are using high heat mortar

[@MEMRemodelingandmor]

I do believe to actually get the most optimization out of this free resource you would have to make a magnetically driven fan. Easy to make.

[@kevinlyons5314]

If I were homeless and collecting cans... I would totally make this!! People shouldn't be homeless...

[@mindsoulbody]

And homeless people have expensive drilling tools and good quality paint?

[@wedgelarity8727]

a lot of homeless people take their cans in to buy more beer/wine/malt liquor

[@gman21266]

Wedge Larity You've obviously never been homeless. That was a stupid comment.

[@yootoob2193]

Wedge Larity And many homeless people redeem cans and bottles for FOOD MONEY.

[@kevinlyons5314]

So people should be homeless then? If you think my comment is stupid... At least in Canada, there are many shelters in which we can get access to food. There a million and one support systems for people (so long as you don't vote conservative lol)

[@theslothmonkey]

My dad made one of these solar panels out of black painted aluminum cans and used it to heat the garage when I was a baby. I'm 27.

[@dominickdevito9613]

wow almost $2800.00 for exactly $12.00 worth of empty cans $20.00 worth of plywood and a $35.00 - $50.00 piece of plastic that's why so many of these little start up companies don't last long. they want make too much profit off each unit not a little profit from thousands of units. and for a free technology no less.

[@GBEdwards]

...ducting, forced air fan... and then there's the hundreds of hours to collect, clean and process the cans and put it all together. He is generously letting you in on how it's done so you can make one yourself!

[@GBEdwards]

***** There is a great amount of painstaking work to put these together, I have just finished a 40 can panel. It's true PV cells have come down in price and are cost effective by comparison in the short term; in the long term, however, reliable simplicity wins as the thermal panels should last almost indefinitely. There is also the issue of efficiency, creating energy in the form that it's to be used...

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

Grahame Edwards Absolutely correct. The best way to use solar energy is for space heating and water heating.

[@indioside376]

Materials are not the only cost.

[@indioside376]

Start ups don't have the benefit of mass production, scales of economy.

[@sethwarner2540]

as most brilliant thoughts, this one has come after thousands of ideas to use what we already have at our finger tips, and merges all of them into(vouilla!!!)the siplest most versatile,most inexpensive (this actually solves the mounting problem of what to do with litter,as well as allowing the homeless a way to get cash legitimately)and least dangerous way toi get heat!BRAVO TO THIS MAN!!!

[@grimmreapo655]

run water pipes through the panels, and you could heat your water too.

[@player911m]

+Grimm Reapo Water takes a much longer time to actually heat up, which may null any return. I do think they do this for pools and such as my grandmother actually had her inground pool piping water onto her roof and back in.

[@mrzorg]

+Brian Crail Some people use BLACK pvc pipe inside of a wood and glass housing. Works really well for heating water.

[@mrzorg]

Not like you're going to be hitting it with a hammer. It may become brittle, but that doesn't mean it will leak or break. ;-) As long as it's still and not disturbed it will be fine.

[@mountnman3609]

PVC has bad heat transfer properties. Copper would be much better.

[@martinemjt]

actually a five hundred ftlong black hose on your black roof will heat water. but in winter it s a bit more touchy.best way to heat outdoor pool water,no need for extra electricity.

[@sacredromeo]

This is pretty cool! He takes old soda cans, removes their tops and bottoms, cleans them, paints them, and then uses them as solar panels.

[@androidphreaker5105]

He didn't invent this! I saw this invention in a power mechanics magazine from the mid 80's!

[@blueberrymaster01]

is call pop can solar heater he didn't invent it. search youtube there a tone of it.

[@101Volts]

+Android Phreaker I have a few Mother Earth News magazines from the 1970s which describe solar heaters like it, but not quite - though they still used the same principles. And the idea goes back longer than that.

[@Jazzznbluezzz1]

Great observation! Funny how nobody did not do anything with the invention. Did you? At least he did!

[@jeromeguerra7355]

he is using it and it works, it's green and it works, brovo

[@meinert91]

He might not have invented this, but he surely was one of the first movers. From Cansolair's homepage: "J.P. (Jim) Meaney first started experimenting with his solar heating panel idea back in 1977. It was more or less a hobby until 1989."

[@MessyMeep]

This is brilliance at it's finest =) Am so interested in this for future as I'm contemplating building a container home in the future. Shame you're not in Norway, although I imagine this would be possible to make without toooo much trouble. Amazing recycling!

[@davidpedder9048]

This is a weekend project . Any one can build one for less than $200 ( that size ) Pay $3000 and it will take 3000 years to pay for its self.

[@joeschroeder5682]

+David Pedder Drilling the canS would take the average anyone a long time because anyone doesn't have two drill presses set up. That many cans drilled twice is one day itself. Your right though it could be done in a few days for 10% of their cost yet they are the experts & they finance! LOL

[@davidpedder9048]

+Joe Schroeder Don't use pop cans!!!! Collect soup cans, or sauce cans. Use a can opener on both ends of the can. Soup cans a thicker, and hold heat better than a thin pop can. You could go out and buy all the tools you need to make one,( it would still cost you less than $3000 ) or give me $1000 and I will make one for you.

[@mountnman3609]

Though soup cans are thicker and also made out of a denser material, that retains heat longer, the object IS NOT heat retention, it is heat transfer. Aluminum can QUICKLY absorb the heat of the sun and QUICKLY transfer that heat to the air in the cans.

[@davidpedder9048]

+mountnman3609 There are 2 small computer fans, 1 takes air from the house, the other blows the heated air back into the house, doesn't really matter if you use pop cans or soup cans, they both do the same thing, I'm just saying, soup cans do not need to be drilled, just opened with a can opener, that every household has., but if you do use a thicker can you will get longer periods of heat from them , compared to a pop can that will cool off faster..

[@RennieAsh]

You will get a small amount of heat retention if the sun suddenly goes out, but they won't hold a massive amount and will cool down fast anyway. Steel cans are easier but beware of rust. Aluminium cans don't have that problem . But mainly it is about recycling old materials into new things. Otherwise, use copper or aluminium pipes or make some kind of heatbank using water and storage instead of air ;p

[@LoisWetzelWorldTeacher]

The idea is simple, and it is out there. You could make this yourself. No one can stop him now.

[@Cyproterjoan]

Does this guy remind anyone of Zefram Cochrane?

[@lp115lp]

I'd be worried if he got his hands on a warp-drive.

[@airforcefun]

Lt P It took me six months to scrounge up enough aluminum cans just to build a four-metre cockpit!

[@GregJoshuaW]

This is also a great looking product - very cool. Off grid, efficient, renewable, and attractive. That's a business!

[@John-ih7gp]

2:18 That one dent in the can is frustrating me to no end....

[@adamsfunnyfilms]

Another really cool vid. Heat rises so, the ceilings will be really hot when that heat could be in the air.

[@selin8912]

Oh people, you are misunderstanding the importance of this. The main idea is not just getting your house warmer for free. It is recycling, saving few energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions. Obviously it wont work at night, but it will save you few bucks during the day. Also you reuse the cans and contaminate less, Thats the point!

[@slrs3908]

Sorry, but no. It is about free heat.

[@jessemercury5238]

Yeah I have to agree with Greg Green on this one... see the electricity it would take to recycle the cans into say Aluminum Foil ... well it is nothing compared to the energy savings in the HEATING... so... recycle the cans (to which you get paid for the Aluminum) by some wide aluminum foil .. use some clothes hangers (wire) on either side of the foil sheet as "ribs" periodically..... paint one side (the outer side of the foil BLACK .... then... do not use a fan... hole at the top to let the hot air in the house... hole at the bottom to allow cooler air from the house to enter into the plenum you have created cheaply.... and you know I know it doesn't sound green.. but a Fresnel Lens (plastic square one) used as the glazing on the front.. would REALLY boost performance.... see it's about not using electricity and using the recycled materials correctly.... aluminum foil mostly is made from recycled aluminum... and the increased output with less power input (the fan *hint*) ... well since you work it on convection.. you don't need to use electricity to run it...

[@selin8912]

jajaja wow, I study ecological economics and I know environmental issues like greenhouse gas are real because of physical evidence, I don't listen to government I don't even believe in politicians but that's another problem. All these opinions depend of the point of view of each one, calm down tough guy!

[@torba4u]

SmoothRide Scooter pnjjnhgnmm jkjnkjj

[@jessemercury5238]

Ahhh vitality B. I have been there.. I simply remember is one I bottle of bourbon ... one bottle of whiskey... and one case of beer... how the lawn gnome wound up in the backseat of the mayors car with me with us under the flag of Peru I will never know....

[@TheDidiM]

Super - Absolutely Brilliant - Bravo - Bravo - Bravo Jim Meaney !!

[@totszwai]

So do you install this outside of the house? How do you use it in winter? Even with sun, these cans aren't going to heat up when is -25 outside...?

[@GregorShapiro]

The can will heat up even when it is -25° (F or C) but perhaps not quite enough to get a whole house to +20° C. The cans are inside a polycarbonate box that insulates them somewhat.

[@EddieSportRoberts]

It's the sun's light that heats the cans, not the sun's heat although the warmer it is the better they perform. Get a little box and cover it with glass and put a piece of metal inside painted flat black and you'll see just how hot that it gets and yes even on a very cold day...

[@troyBORG]

Well he did call them "pop" cans. So he must be mid-west (like me). So he probably gets the same cold weather as I get.

[@Bloated_Tony_Danza]

How is light different from heat? What do you mean that the light heats it but not the heat? Do you know what those are? Does the light from burning oil heat a house? In the winter when heating is needed most, renewables are convientetly much less effective. Shorter days and longer nights are a crippleing blow to solar heating systems. So is the ambient tempurature when it is below freezing. Thats why water boilers are not located in your back yard, or in a tree or something. Long story short this stuff is not as effective as you wish for it to be, or else it would be competing with oil and gas burners for home heating systems, but it doesn't because it can't.

[@EddieSportRoberts]

Ilir Kumi The flat black paint absorbs light and converts it to heat. I just made one of these with 256 cans. December 21 (the shortest daylight of the year) it was -10 celsius (14 Fahrenheith) outside and my heater was putting out 85 Celsius (185 Fahrenheit) with a 100 cfm fan. Those things are amazing. I have it up for sale for $1200.00 because i'm so amazed with it that i want to build an even bigger one...

[@papa54321]

I love Newfoundlanders... Smart ass dudes

[@indianajonesguy100]

NEWFIES FOR THE WIN!!!!

[@SaZooCaballero]

Only Newfoundlanders can use the "N" word. No lol

[@indianajonesguy100]

I am a Newfie so, it's fine.

[@aspdotnetdeveloper]

That is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!

[@mrzorg]

No he didn't. This was invented by an Apache youth, to help heat their home in Arizona... Since then, everyone else is saying they invented it.

[@mrzorg]

+GrandOldPuba It was on the news years ago. The Indians were having a hard time heating their homes in the winter, northern Arizona. I'm not going to go through years of google search to find it for you. I think it was about 95 or 96?? I may be wrong on the date, but I do remember him doing this FIRST.

[@PyleZAP97]

+Larry Burks Apache?.....do you mean Navajo?

[@mrzorg]

Maybe, I'm old. LOL

[@brianmatthews2299]

Solar water heaters can store heat in a bank that can be used at night to heat your homes or what ever you desire. The sky is the limit with this Tech. Take advantage of it while you can.

[@peteraustin4077]

The energy companies won't like this at all.

[@bullshyte8345]

Peter AUSTIN You can use it to heat up that rock you've been living under. These have been around since... well... 2008. Plus, if you're talking heating then you mean to say the OIL companies.

[@101Volts]

+Peter AUSTIN Solar heating has been around since, well, forever. There are articles from Mother Earth News (Magazine) in the 1970s and 1980s which show things like it - great stuff. There's an article in one of them from that year range about a whole house built on this, though I imagine you can find articles through Google searches; "House Built on Solar Heat", etc. There are lots of awesome ways to go green, which can be fun - no pun intended.

[@bullshyte8345]

Austin Lucas Good post. I haven't read Mother in years. It is a must have. I will look them up online. Thanks mate.

[@409novaman]

Doesn't work without a standby coal or nuke power plant, next.

[@teknotoast]

+409novaman Huh? It doesn't generate power, it collects heat from the sun... I don't understand how you think that requires another power source?

[@brentjodrey5114]

I seen this being done at a college years ago, cool inventive stuff

[@ExBruinsFan]

That by sure don't *_sound_* like a Newfie.

[@High_Caliber]

I was going to +1 you until I saw ExBruinsFan. I could see ExLeafsFan or ExPhillyFan, but ExBruinsFan??!? Unpossible! :)

[@ExBruinsFan]

***** I am sorry, my friend, but it IS possible. I was with them since Orr was playing, but they finally blew one too many series leads to the Habs, and I could take no more. Just a few seasons before they won the Cup, too. My timing stinks. :( Perhaps I should have chosen: DamnTheHabs?

[@High_Caliber]

That's one I would have +1'd The Habs just blew the bank on keeping Subban, we got his brother for next to nothing. See what the future brings :)

[@ExBruinsFan]

***** It will work out for them. They are the spawn of Satan. You're a Spudlander, right? I am a Bluenoser, myself.

[@High_Caliber]

Nah mainlander ;)

[@PeteVanDemark]

What holds the cans in a tubular configuration? You pulled two tubes out of a shelf as though they were each a single piece of pipe. Is there a pipe running inside? Children around the world should create these as a school project to supplement the heating of their schools. They they will take what they learned home. I applaud you for your creation. Nicely done!

[@blaze6210]

i live in newfoundland

[@facundojp10]

So?

[@papa54321]

He's name is blazed...

[@blaze6210]

papa54321 no its just blaze

[@Char1es316]

Well done brother! I am going to invest in these for sure!

[@howtogogreen-ky4hz]

great.. thank you for showing how you do it.. I'm working on my own solar water heater and cant wait to see the result..

[@TheSADVeeto]

Yes indeed an elaboration on the technology, how to install, and DIY video's/webpage w.e would definitely increase many people's standard of living.

[@diysolar6469]

True, because I think that cans are likely he same on some parts of panels that is needed to make it on.

[@NirrumTheMad]

The loss of energy from friction is easily overcome by the amount gained, not to mention the cans have more surface area for a more compact area. This means there's more energy for the amount air.

[@1971mgb]

Thermal mass storage. Takes the heat and channels it into a dense thermal mass and passively lets it return into the house during the evening.

[@MoanikaLewinsky]

I also just love it when the maker of this projects are asked: What made you think of using soda-cans?....And they always answer as if they were the ones who invented this....We all know the inventor is german profesor who died in 1997!

[@yektir01]

It is a brilliant idea I love creative people like you Loved it

[@simplesolid9454]

Thank you for doing something positive for this planet. Good solutions keep them coming

[@leakyleeks159]

Finally a person that mentions thorium lol. Lets hope that a fusion plant would be in operation in very near future.

[@26point1]

I love this idea! If there were an idea that would be as efficient as this system for night time.

[@NwoDispatcher]

You would need to pass this air through a thermal battery, like jugs of water

[@keshaborja8564]

Great to see that Avasva has new instructions to save my money and energy to build it.

[@SkyKing101010]

The nice thing is it will work on sunny days, even in winter because it's enclosed.

[@walkingego]

Oh, I see where you got the idea about photon bombardment. I was talking about how all fission reactors harvest energy through turbines heated by gamma rays. So if we make a fission reactor of any sort, it's always going to be spitting out a lot of stuff that'll need shielding when in operation.

[@1971mgb]

The air from the room is sent through the cans and gets heated from the greenhouse effect of the chamber and plastic window . Also absorbs heat from the sun directly via the black paint on the cans. Sort of like a black hose filled with water on a sunny day,only using air.

[@Pendula82]

Great job man, you are really amazing!

[@billjuhasz3875]

Without a low emissivity coating on the cans you will be limited to relatively warm climates and/or clear skies for any useful heating. The radiative heat losses will become very large as the temperature increases. But, experimenting is fun.

[@Hatorah]

GOD has blessed the Newfies. WOW. Impressed is not the WORD. Look at how humble he is...and confident to tell the WORLD....

[@phrygiandan]

This is old tech to me, I know a guy that made a solar can heater in 1973. He attached it to the top of his house to heat the upper floors on sunny days. It was said also that he invented and improved many inventions electronic and otherwise.

[@imapwnie]

Simple and brilliant! Well done sir.

[@trevortrevortsr2]

oh man this is amazing - we need people like this to cutt down energy use - insperational - thanks for posting

[@theresabu3000]

Metal and also aluminum is one of the few things thats really good to be recycled - with magnets it can be fished out. But looks interesting - to build a heating pump that's affordable for many people. Those with more money can buy ones that are more efficient - there are even ones underground that still work in winter.

[@peterbogardus1560]

Aluminum is nonferrous, so magnets won’t work.

[@215alessio]

This guy is a genious the shape of every can improves the spinning of the air inside or else there was no (no significant) metal to air heat transfer if the air goes straight trough it. The can's are very thin so there is no loss the box provides insulation so it is usable when it is cold outside

[@kevinlyons5314]

What?! Is this totally legit? This guy was definitely convincing me of the potential.. I've got to see more of the exact science behind it. Very cool

[@JoyIsKey]

Very Cool. Newfoundlanders are pretty smart. Maybe it's all the wild blue berries and fish.

[@warpighammer3760]

I built my own solar system and with a little tweaking have completely done away with my central air and hot water tank heater. Now here’s something you’ll really like.

[@youmeian]

If you take the air in at the roof vent and expel it at the bottom vent you will improve the heating in the house. This only works if it is fan driven. You can make an air cooler system using evaporation, the tubes are porous and coated in fabric placed on the shady side of the house.

[@powersaverwasted]

I still need to get 50 more cans to fit on my box.. thanks for sharing this video..

[@nickwilliams1065]

Probably way too late but if you need empty cans go visit your local bikers club house, I'm sure they'd have a few you could have.

[@paladin876]

I'd like to see it in action. In the winter. There's not a lot of sunshine in the winter.

[@brendanmaclennan6373]

How does this system perform in Canada's harsh winter conditions? does the Plexiglas containment allow it to absorb heat from the sun and be less effected from the -30 degree temperature and winds, or is there a noticeable performance difference with temperature change? Regardless great idea and I will defiantly be looking into this more!

[@kielmeister]

Awesome. That's the greenest thing I've ever seen

[@RPMX4]

Air isn't the best, but not entirely a bad medium if it is controlled and contained. That is exactly how glass fibre insulation works in your walls. It traps air. The air voids insulate, the same way the space in your glass panes in double and triple sealed units do. Albeit, now you're moving the air, but it is from a sealed plenum that is building up the heat, and then moving it.

[@meechellla]

Thank you for sharing this :)

[@abirdynumnum9612]

Very nicely made indeed!

[@Thomassteeg]

Excellent idea, and love the vortex concept, far more effective! Thanx.

[@sousamartins59]

great idea thank you so much for sharing with us

[@extramaster]

So, my mountain of soft drink cans can help save the world - This guy truly is a genius...

[@Odb718]

If you pause the video at 1:47 you can see into a can that's been cut. It looks like it's been drilled out, then sliced. Pretty simple to do with good tin snips.

[@kght222]

this is an old video so this is likely a stupid comment, but you can "de-tab" a can much quicker by turning it around and popping it off 1:19 . a decent idea, but i think in the relatively short term (10 years or so, maybe longer) more energy would be saved by recycling the aluminum back into other products than making this a big thing, aluminum takes allot (not just allot, insanely massive amount. until electricity was a big thing aluminum was a more precious metal than gold because extracting it took so much energy) of energy to extract from the ore sands, but it doesn't take even a quarter as much energy to remelt it.

[@thorbart7279]

you got it ... aluminum is very expensive and polluting to make ... recycle it. you can essentially do the same thing with pvc pipe

[@kght222]

SmoothRide Scooter your post doesn't compute, you buy them both man. aluminium is a better thermal conductor than the steel cans that campbel's soup for example come in. but yeah, either work, but having them all be the same size is kinda needed.

[@1989Chrisc]

Jim is so Irish looking. he looks like a comedian here in Ireland and meaney is a common Dublin name. I know newfies have Irish heritage and he certainly fits the bill

[@steveng8706]

By placing a fan on the inlet (cold air coming in) you pressurize the panel. This will push the heated air coming out the top of the panel to a lower level. I had an engineer calculate how much it would cost for the electricity to run the fan and he said it will run up my light bill by around fifty cents per month. Imagine that...Heat a two-car garage for less than the cost of one can of pop per month! BTW...Solar panels do work on cloudy days, just not as efficiently.

[@hedwig85]

I sense this may be combined with a "passive thermal storage" system, to distribute the heat over a longer period during the course of the day.

[@supressorgrid]

Get two 2x6 sheets of corrugated tin mate the pieces together with the ridges touching and pop rivet together. This will make the solar heat exchanger tubes and takes about 30 mins to make. Put in a box with insulation on one side and glass front. works for me.

[@Savingwaysofhomeelec]

thanks for this video, my new research is in progress because of this.. great job.

[@sabriath]

The problem with solar heat is that the only time that the sun is at a point where it gives enough energy, it's summer day. It's colder at nights and winters where the sun is the furthest away. I could see this used along with a stirling engine to create power, and the power can be "stored" for use to create heat on downtimes, but not as direct.

[@Kemonokami]

Good thing I got all those Pallagrino, Canada Dry and Diet Dr. Pepper cans laying around in my studio! XD Come to think of it...I really should get that place cleaned...

[@TheGEODEAHOLIC]

very clever & well built

[@c.c.1557]

Wow, This is amazing! I love that recycled cans can be put to such great use...

[@sqhschief]

You mean when it's summer. I live in TN too and it rarely snows anymore.