More about Pop Bottles

I did an experiment to see if I could make a solar still from a clear bottle with 1/2 covered in the back with mylar and a hole in the cap and a tube running to a new bottle the is shaded. I was hoping the mylar would act like a concentrator and heat the water enough to get it to evapourate and the shaded bottle would be cool enough to catch the drops. My experiment is a partial failure. I did not get it to do what I wanted it to do, but I may still be able to use the bottle( at least 1/2 of it) to see if the mylar can produce a concentration of the sun to heat something up. The shape of the bottle is round, so if I cut it in half I should have 2 areas where the sun is concentratedabove them or in front of them, depending on the angle of the sun. Another idea is to use it to heat copper tubes by cutting a hole in the bottom and placing a string of them on the tube and connecting the tubes to produce heated air. If the tube fits the hole enough to seal (almost) you should get a build up of hot air in the bottle (like a greenhouse) that should heat up the tube and heat the air in the tube. Those are two experiments that I can do very cheaply. The bottles are free for the most part and the shiny mylar was from a pack of cookies. A bit of tape to keep it in place and I was done. The copper tubeing will not be cheap, but I have a few bits and pieces laying around, big enough to do this experiment. I will let you know how it goes.

Michael J. Kaer, copyright 2008