dpb wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:
dpb wrote:

My guess is there's not enough solar heat density to make it
practical in size anyway, just wondered if you'd looked into it.

I have, but not for a while - because (in my ignorance) I thought it a
solved problem.

The approach I had been working on involved using a solar-powered pump
to pump solar-heated _air_ through an immersed tube in an insulated
stock tank.

I think it can be made workable, so if you have a little time to
collaborate, you're invited to e-mail me directly...

OK, later on I may do that. Will have to guesstimate what heat load
would have to be to have a relatively low level of icing given a tank
size. You have any idea what kind of power level you might be talking?

It's fairly difficult for me to do much estimating without a handle on
your weather conditions and some info on tank/stock dimensions - for
example, I don't have any idea how far a steer can (or is willing to)
"reach" for a drink, and that'll be a determining factor for the
thickness of insulation that can be used around the tank.

The way to approach his kind of problem is to assume that all the power
needed is available, and then design to use it as efficiently as
possible - and size the collector to capture whatever turns out to be
needed.

Meanwhile, today I've got to get stuff tied down ahead of the blizzard
warnings for tomorrow/next day. We may get somewhat shorted on the snow
they say but the wind is certainly coming it appears and if they're only
off by a few miles on the snow track might be pretty nasty couple of
days. 40+ mph doesn't take a lot of snow to be a pitproverbialappenage.
Looks like the brunt may be back towards your area again...

Here's hoping you miss the worst of the snow. Our local forecasters are
guessing that we'll see more rain than snow in this area, which may make
for interesting road conditions.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/