solar heat from pop cans...

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At the Thermax store of course.
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Any insulated panel should work. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100320340&N=10000003+90014+527397

The advantage to the one I posted, even if you don't use Thermax, is the air is drawn from inside the building instead of outside. I think I will start with a pallet as a frame and build from there.
 
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The article used a stiff panel to act as a frame, but I don't see why you can't use any insulation material if you had a built frame.

The key to the design is drawing the air from inside the building. This should provide an accumulative effect on the air temperature.

In other words if you start with 60 degree air it will be easier to raise that to 100 degrees than it would be trying to raise 30 degree air to 100 degree.
 
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Not quite believing the fire comment unless for some odd reason his glass acted like a magnifier and browned a section of wood.

I can't see a solar collector getting that hot from flat glass. Think about it, your car acts like a solar collector and I don't know of any fires starting in them from sunlight.

The collectors that sit flush to the wall don't seem like they would be as efficient as one sitting at an angle.
 
I'm building my materials list for the coop solar heater. I think it will be an economical way to keep the coop warmer in the winter up here in NE. I'll post photos of my heater when I'm finished...
 
I am still trying to figure out a solution to the frozen water thing as I envision another winter of schlepping buckets from house to yard. Our coop is small - for roosting and laying only, insulated, lightly ventilated (they keep themselves warm in winter) and at carrying capacity (11 hens and a roo). How cool - hot - would it be to have some kind of solar contraption to store enough heat to keep a small water receptacle from freezing in the outer realms?

I love that can/solar collector thing, and would make one if I could figure out how I could make it keep water from freezing overnight in the run.
Any ideas?
 
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I've been trying to figure out a way to deal with frozen water, too.

I'm thinking, if I build a solar collector, attach a small tube or pipe coming out of the collector, going in through a hole in the side of my coop and directly into the water inside...maybe it will thaw at least a decent drinking area in the ice after sunrise.

Possibly the pressure of the rising warm air might cause some turbulence in the water that would also help keep it from freezing? Probably just wishful thinking though!

It might work even better if I added a small glass enclosure to the side of my coop that would surround the black painted waterer inside, but I don't feel like getting that fancy yet. It'd be easier to build a mini greenhouse thing for the waterer if it was outside, but my water has to be inside the coop for now, incase I'm not around to let them out in the morning.

Anyone have any thoughts on running an outlet pipe from the solar collector into water like this?
 

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