Author: Emmanuel Henry, Outdoor Shower Group
Ever took a cold bath in an outdoor shower with no heat nor electricity? If you had to and the only method of energy was the sun, wouldn’t you want to optimize the source? This is the task we are faced with, as a group of students in a Capstone, Kean University course, in conjunction with Springstone Farm.
Ever took a cold bath in an outdoor shower with no heat nor electricity? If you had to and the only method of energy was the sun, wouldn’t you want to optimize the source? This is the task we are faced with, as a group of students in a Capstone, Kean University course, in conjunction with Springstone Farm.
Our first thought was to apply a solar water heating system, since the owner of the farm already has a flat solar panel. Then, we thought of using the same source to generate electricity for the outdoor shower complex. Finally, what better way to optimize the source than to optimize the area of the collected source. If we were to combine both systems that may help deter the necessity of additional panels. I have been trying to see if such an existing system exists, and I couldn’t find one. Our team would like to know how to make such a system, but we will first need to understand the dynamics of both individual systems. One encompassing total system, solar water heating and solar electric generating system, would increase the efficiency in use of an area, but think that it might not be worth the expenditure. I am willing to receive all the help I can get to make this idea happen!
In the meantime while such a system doesn’t exist, we will look to heat, a well sourced, water in a collected barrel and design the system for such an objective.
In the meantime while such a system doesn’t exist, we will look to heat, a well sourced, water in a collected barrel and design the system for such an objective.