Go Anywhere Solar Collection

Go Anywhere Solar Collection ENERGY Solar 3-2-18 Billed as the "solar system on wheels", the new go-anywhere solar trailer from the Solargizer Corporation, Bloomington, Minn., is designed to heat more than one building and is rigged for over-the-road travel. "Many solar collectors are too heavy to be portable, or too lightweight to be efficient. This system is both portable and efficient, and unlike anything on the market," says Willy Harder, of Bethany Travelers, the company that designed and now manufactures the trailer for Solargizer. The just-introduced trailer holds four 4 by 8 ft. panels that can be cranked up and down to the best sun-catching angle, or down flat for road travel. The trailer base is also used for Bethany Campers, one of the most popular campers on the market. Air is carried to and from the system by insulated flexible ducts. Underneath the panels a 350 cfm fan is mounted next to a digital thermometer, registering the temperature of incoming and outgoing air. "Under good conditions, we get more than a 100? temperature rise," says Harder. "Recently, on a zerodegree January day, the temperature coming out of the system was 115?. "This trailer is ideal for farms with buildings such as workshops, or barns with young animals that only need heat occasionally," points out Harder. Aluminum inlets are fitted to each building and, when using the trailer, the ducts are simply slipped into these inlets. Bethany's revolutionary finned collecting plates "scrub" heat off the back of the plates, rather than off the front, where heat is often lost to the environment. Each panel weighs 127 lbs. and can be fitted with an optional water heating system that makes the system useful 12 months a year. Bethany uses fiberglass on the outside of the collectors rather than glass because it's less easy to damage and easier to repair. Harder expects the system to be widely used for grain drying. "On a good day, it puts out 200,000 btu's an hour, enough to dry grain by itself or to supplement a conventional dryer. And, it can be wheeled from bin to bin." The four-panel trailer sells for about $4,900. Other models will be custom-built. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Solargizer, P.O. Box 20142, Bloomington, Minn. 55420 (612 941-8136).

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