Mobile Solar Heater

With energy costs skyrocketing and the future of oil and natural gas in question, looking for alternative sources of energy becomes the national priority. In particular, solar energy as forecasted by the US Dept. of Energy will experience 40% growth per year until year 2014, however the major obstacles to its growth are high installation costs and shortage of qualified installers.

Meeting this challenge, Magnetic Development, Inc. has developed an installation-free mobile solar heater for multiple applications, such as swimming pools, hot tubs, animal and fish farms, rural hot water needs, etc.

The Mobile solar heater contains two serial production solar collectors, 3x6 ft each, mounted on an adjustable steel frame on 4 wheels. The system uses ethylene glycol as a working fluid, and is equipped with a small 70W circulation pump and a heat exchanger. Its weight does not exceed 200 lbs and it delivers 15,000 Btu per hour with a full sun. To maximize the solar absorption, the collector angle is adjustable within the range from 20 to 45 deg in 5 deg increments. The system is equipped with an automatic control to turn the glycol pump on at preset temperature for the solar collectors. In addition to the basic system, the extension modules with capacity of 15,000 Btu/hr each are also offered.

Artist's rendition of a mobile solar heater