Has anyone here made a batch solar water heater

[kawalekm]

Hello all
For our cabin I'm thinking of a batch type solar water heater made from a recylced water tank. I plan on using it for summer heating and it would be drained dry during the winter months. Has anyone here already built one? I wanted to get some numbers on just how well they work.

Numbers like how hot the water actually gets, how early in the morning can you expect to take a warm shower, and how late at night you still have hot water. The installation will be in the California Sierra, with prolonged summer sun with very few cloudy days and full uninterupted sun on a southern exposure.

[SolarGary]

Hi,
I have not lived with one, but there is a lot of first hand experience here:
www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm#Batch

The book by David Bainbridge (a free download) has a whole section on performance that people have gotten on actual systems.

The design from the Maine Solar Primer (a few links down) has an insulated reflector/cover that should improve performance in cold climates a lot -- I think it could be run all winter, but with less output in the winter.
The book above also has some good winter designs that use some form of insulation in various ways.

Gary

[Tpfkat]

I made one out of a 5 gallon blue water jug and a frozen salmon cooler.
I cut a hole in the cooler for the water spout to stick out and glazes the open end with bubble wrap,and layed it on it's side (on the metal shed roof) tilted about 25 degrees to the sun.
Then I stuck a hose down the spout all the way to the bottom. the hose had a tee and a fill valve,and a sprinkler head for a shower. It was siphon/gravity feed.

It would be warm by 2 pm and stayed warm till 7 or 8 (summer).