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A Solar Water Heater Made of PET Bottles
By Keith R | July 2, 2007
Topics: Renewable Sources, Waste & Recycling | 31 Comments »
(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
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Synopsis in English: The government of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná has been conducting an interesting experiment in environmental design utilizing waste materials.
Since August 2006 state agencies have sponsored projects to construct solar water heaters constructed from used PET bottles and “long life” (aseptic) milk packaging. So far some 3,000 such heaters have been constructed and put into operation in 254 Paraná municipalities, in the process diverting about 1.2 million PET bottles and aseptic milk cartons that otherwise might have gone into landfills. It takes 200 PET bottles and 200 aseptic milk cartons to construct the solar water heater array.
It’s estimated that if the heater is used to heat the water for two bathrooms, it can save as much as 120 kilowatts per month.
The concept was first proposed by José Alano, who in 2004 had received the Ecology award from the Brazilian magazine Superinteressante (“Super interesting”). Alano received the support of the Paraná state government, and the “Hot Water for All” (Água quente para todos) project of the state’s Zero Waste Program (Programa Desperdício Zero) was born.
To start with, the water heaters were installed in the regional offices of the various organs of the State Environment System — the Environment Secretariat (SEMA), the Environment Institute (IAP), the Superintendency of Water Resource Development and Environmental Sanitation (Suderhsa), and the Institute of Lands, Cartography and Geosciences (ITCG). They have also been installed in several university campuses around the state. Some of the waste collectors (catadores) enlisted in gathering the materials were so impressed with the solar heaters that they built their own for their association’s headquarters.
Desde a Agência Estadual de Noticias de Paraná (AEN):
Aquecedor solar ecológico retirou mais de 1 milhão de embalagens do meio ambiente
Cerca de 1,2 milhão de garrafas PET e de embalagens de leite longa-vida foram retiradas do meio ambiente e destinadas a montagem de aquecedores solares. Desde o início do ano passado, quando a Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos começou a promover oficinas que ensinam a montagem do aparelho, montado com materiais recicláveis, já foram confeccionados 3 mil aquecedores em 254 municípios paranaenses. Para a montagem de cada sistema são reaproveitadas 200 garrafas PET e 200 embalagens de leite longa-vida.
A idéia de utilizar o material que geralmente é encaminhado aos aterros sanitários começou com o aposentado catarinense José Alano, que, em 2004, ganhou o prêmio Ecologia, da revista Superinteressante. No Paraná, a iniciativa de Alano conta com o apoio do Governo de Estado, que, através da Secretaria de Meio Ambiente, divulga o aquecedor no projeto “Água quente para todos”, do Programa Desperdício Zero.
O secretário do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos, Rasca Rodrigues, contou que a primeira oficina foi realizada em agosto de 2006 e foi direcionada a técnicos que atuam nos escritórios regionais do Sistema Sema – composto pela Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Instituto Ambiental do Paraná (IAP), Superintendência de Desenvolvimento de Recursos Hídricos e Saneamento Ambiental (Suderhsa) e Instituto de Terras, Cartografia e Geociências (ITCG).
“O objetivo foi capacitá-los para que pudessem divulgar a alternativa sustentável em suas regiões, aumentando o alcance da idéia e retirando do meio ambiente resíduos que podem e devem ser reaproveitados”, comentou Rasca. Além dos escritórios regionais do Sistema Sema, faculdades como o Centro de Estudos Universitários de Maringá (Cesumar), Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste) e União Dinâmica de Faculdades Cataratas (UDC) aderiram à iniciativa, que conta ainda com a participação da União dos Escoteiros do Brasil – Região Paraná.
Economia – O aquecedor solar também poupa energia elétrica. Por mês, até 120 quilowatts podem ser economizados para aquecer a água de dois banheiros. A economia chamou a atenção da Associação Umuaranense de Catadores de Matérias Recicláveis (Asucmar). Depois de participar da oficina dos técnicos do IAP, os associados viram a possibilidade de montar um aquecedor na própria associação utilizando as garrafas pet e as embalagens longa-vida, que eles mesmos recolhiam.
Ângela Morae, uma das associadas, já comemora a economia. “Depois que instalamos o aquecedor, a conta caiu pela metade. Isso é bom, porque sobra um dinheirinho a mais pra outras coisas. E o melhor disso tudo é que ainda ajudamos o meio ambiente”, ressaltou Ângela.
Tags: aquecedores solares, aseptic cartons, aseptic packaging, Asucmar, Brasil, Brazil, catadores, Cesumar, desperdício zero, embalagem longa vida, garrafas PET, IAP, ITCG, materiais recicláveis, Paraná, PET bottles, reciclagem, reciclaje, recycling, SEMA, solar water heater, Suderhsa, Superinteressante, Unioeste, zero waste
December 30th, 2007 at 21:38
Great contents, I think there will be much more chance to consider
February 12th, 2008 at 12:00
Very smart way to recycle the pet bottles! I would like to try it too!
May 4th, 2008 at 19:34
Impressive way to use old items and get the most for your money. Nice to see ingenuity put to work as most people are happy to just throw their old items away.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:32
Its a great idea. Pl. share the construction details so that the same can be tried in other parts of the world to bring environmental awareness.
October 1st, 2008 at 15:27
Yes! Keeping in mind the drastic environmental changes and rising fuel prices going Solar is one option open to all at minimal investments. The Solar Water heating systems are so easy to install and most of them come in a Do-it Yourself kit, With the technological advancement the once heavy, bulky hard to move panels are now available widely in light weight easy to carry by one personal only packages. The advancement in technology is not only limited to light weight, but for those concern about the asthetics of the panels, the good news is that the panels are now available with a variety of trim colors to choose from and can be easily matched to your roof. Saving about $25.oo on ones electricity bill on a residence of 4. We all use hot water, as one of our basic needs and what can be a better way, than helping our environment, saving our resources and ourself’s some money other than by investing in a Solar Water Heating System.
Lastly, the local utilites in some areas also provide additional rebates and incentives for adding a Solar Water Heating Sytem to your exisitng water tank.
Keep the look out on. Feel Good and save- money for you, environment for us.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:30
A few more details about the construction would be great. As far as I can see on the photos, the PET bottles are put together to create something like a “heat chamber” around the tubes with the water, and the milk packages (seems to be something like the “Tetra Pak”) are used as reflectors? Can you provide us with more information?
Thanks.
November 8th, 2008 at 1:21
Brilliant! Where do I find the design sheets on this? How do you put the bottles into each other?
Oooooooooooooh………..I WANNA KNOW!!!
January 26th, 2009 at 7:52
Incredible idea and achievement by Jose Alano. In India many people reside in the remote places, where the electricity is seldom available. If the information in the instructional manual is made available in English,then it will be useful to the most of the people of the world including Indians.
Thank you,
T Venkat Reddy
July 16th, 2009 at 4:11
How can it work? can you give detail photo?
July 21st, 2009 at 4:00
PET water bottles are safe to use for their original purpose, but they leach a toxic chemical when the liquid they contain is heated. The chemical is antimony and its effects have not been studied enough yet.
That being said, the benefits of hot running water in isolated communities could outweigh the adverse effects of antimony.
People are being taught how to use the sun and plastic water bottles to sterilize drinking water in Africa. It’s pretty low tech.
November 14th, 2009 at 17:50
Love this system… I need some advice? I want to place a small version of this on my greenhouse, close the system and route water down to heat rocks under greenhouse, then push water back up to heat it again. This way I can keep the cut flowers & other plants warm in winter. How would I get the warm water down and move cold water back up this completely enclosed system. I don’t need the water for the plants just for warming the rocks. Ideas???
December 21st, 2009 at 16:33
Following comment on July 21st 2009… heated water never touch the PET bottles, these with the black tetra pack cartons perform a “green house” effect around the pipes where the water flows to increase the heating effect, so there should be no concern about chemicals being transferred to the water… cheers
March 25th, 2010 at 8:58
Very smart way to recycle the pet bottles! I would like to try it too!
June 24th, 2010 at 12:50
That’s brilliant! I’ve seen solar air preheaters made from aluminum cans that worked well, but because of the temperatures, i would never have even thought about using old pet bottles. That’s definitely something worth looking into. Good Job!
August 21st, 2010 at 6:14
Dear sir,
It is really great job.
October 7th, 2010 at 8:38
Ola, Sir.
Congratulations for this wonderful creativily!
Text and image are very easy to understand.
I have a question for you. I intend to build one like that, but I don’t know what thick of pipe I must use; 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch?
Thanks.
Ruzevaldo.
February 19th, 2011 at 22:23
It’s a good system, making use of old materials. A few more details about the construction would be great. It will be better to share it to many people to bring environmental awareness.
March 30th, 2011 at 16:18
[...] chauffe eau solaire à base de récupération de bouteilles d’eau minérales montées en [...]
March 10th, 2013 at 19:43
It was a good idea by José Alano to create a solar water heater made of pet bottles. The text was interesting and well written, but lacked put more photos and what the people in general benefited from the project think about this initiative.
March 18th, 2013 at 17:42
This idea can change the ways in the economy of energy and recycling. I belive that by showing up this idea, we can improve our quality of life. Good idea, congratulation!
March 18th, 2013 at 17:42
Wow that´s such a nice idea! It´s very good to see things like this. And it´s better to see that state agencies are sponsoring this creative idea. Using this water heater the waste of energy and pollution are reduced. The environment thanks. I hope that more people in the world do their bests to make our world a better place to live. The world we live today isn´t the same. And we have to adapt to all changes.
March 18th, 2013 at 20:11
I think that it’s really interesting the idea presented in your blog. The project will be very helpful and advantageous for everybody. I hope that your report helps in the showing up of the project, and raise the population’s awareness.
March 19th, 2013 at 14:02
I really liked the idea and i think it can be improved to get prettier, because these pet bottles are really ugly. I think it’s a great start to an awesome new solar water heater system which can change the way that people use water, making an awesome world-wide recycling that will help and change the environment . We will all go green!
March 19th, 2013 at 14:23
Congratulations to the government of Parana! I thought a great experience that may one day change the world. If there is a way to wider dissemination of this experience, you would find many supporters and be able to reduce large-scale energy expenditure worldwide. Keep doing these experiments because it is through people like you who can be found the resolution to various environmental problems.
March 19th, 2013 at 16:50
The initiative to build solar heaters with plastic bottles is very creative, innovative, useful and environmentally friendly. To take home a solar heater is the common need to spend a high amount, despite aconomia he brings the bill, and the solar heater made ??of plastic bottles and milk cartons dispesa not bring any, and prevents these bottles are thrown in environment. Thus generating different benefits.
March 20th, 2013 at 19:31
That’s brilliant! I’ve seen solar air preheaters made from aluminum cans that worked well, but because of the temperatures, I would never have even thought about using old pet bottles. Besides heating the water so ecologically it also recycles pet bottles. That’s definitely something worth looking into. Good Job!
March 27th, 2013 at 12:53
Amazing! Great idea in favor of the environment. While taking up the PET bottles from the environment, the bottle is used for electricity and also to heat water. Two problems in a single shot. Point for sustainability!
March 28th, 2013 at 11:08
I stay really glad when people reuse things to make sustainable objects. This idea of making a solar heater made of PET bottles is amazing. It’s perfect for everyone, because by using solar heater like this, we’re doing a big flavor to the environment. Besides saving a lot of energy, we’ll be able to make a clear world. If the idea goes on, those PETs won’t let our streets smeared anymore, a our energy bill will reduce significantly.
March 28th, 2013 at 19:09
I knew this idea long ago and have until your mode of preparation, because my mom had the idea to build this Solar Water Heater and even joined materials because here in my country, Brazil, is not really feasible to purchase your version industrialized by the majority population. At that time, she had no time to finish this project, but now she is retired and can devote more time to this amazing idea.
April 2nd, 2013 at 17:53
It is a good idea, practical and low cost. Besides extremely ecological.
This type of recycling is feasible in two major aspects. It strips the plastic bottles from the environment and also reduces the use of electricity using a renewable energy source. In addition, it’s very easy to assemble!
April 3rd, 2013 at 7:16
Today, due to mass consumption and the unconsciousness of how properly dispose of trash, it became necessary to create projects like this in Parana, aimed at recycling waste, making it useful again. It would be more appropriate for projects such as these expand, with the creation of more solar heaters made from recycled bottles, so that reduces the amount of waste, reuse what can be reused, and even save energy. is a great idea to promote.