A mobile solar water heater for rural housing in Southern Africa

One of the day-to-day problems for the low-income rural population of Southern Africa is collecting and transporting sufficient water for domestic use from communal water sources. In addition, the traditional sources of energy used for heating domestic water, such as firewood and charcoal, have become scarce and expensive. Inevitably, hygiene practices are compromised, which has a detrimental effect on the health of the people. An affordable device was envisaged that could assist in rural areas with the transportation and heating of water. Southern Africa is blessed with abundant sunshine, thus making it appropriate to select solar heating for this purpose. The device must have the ability to store the hot water until the evening. An ICS type solar water heater, with insulation and glazing, was selected therefore. Because the mobility of the device was modelled on the wheelbarrow, the device was named the Solar Heat Barrow. Prototypes were designed, manufactured and tested and it was demonstrated that water could be heated to an average of 60 °C by mid-afternoon. Water at 40 °C was still available at 20:00. Problems experienced during both the manufacture and testing of the device will be solved as development continues.