DIY Solar Dish Collector

Parabolic solar dish collectors are easy to make from household and commonly found materials and is a great way to show the potential of solar energy. We all have seen solar panels before, and we know they can generate electricity, but parabolic dishes can produce huge amounts of heat. Much like how a magnifying glass can focus the heat energy of the sun, so too can an old satellite dish with a few modifications.

Round parabolic satellite dish (the bigger the better)
Many 2-inch by 2-inch mirrors
Contact cement

Instructions

- 1
  Disconnect the arm that sits in front of the satellite dish, and remove.
- 2
  Cover the entire concave side of the dish with the small mirrors, leaving as little gap between the mirrors as possible. Glue them right the surface of the dish with contact cement. Try to make sure the backs of the mirrors are as flush as possible with the surface of the dish.
- 3
  Point the dish as directly as possible to the sun. You can use the original mount that was used when the dish was acting as a TV satellite dish.
- 4
  Place whatever you want to be heated into the focal point created via the mirrors. The manufactured curve in satellite dishes focuses all the concave surfaces of it to one point, you can find this point by placing a piece of wood between the dish and the sun, about three to four feet from the dish's surface.

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