Heat up you home with a solar collector made from recycled cans

Fed up of all those empty beer or soda cans piling up in your backyard? Need a way to decrease your electricity bills? Well, simply put those cans to use by making a solar collector, the way 61-year old Ward Miner and 10-year-old Rashel Cortez did. The duo came up with solar collectors (these devices collect energy and are not to be confused with solar panels that convert solar energy to electricity) made out of 300 recycled aluminum cans. These cans once cleaned and dried had their tops cut off and holes punched in their sides. They were then painted black, with grill paint, to withstand heat.

Stacked up end-to-end, a continuous seven foot tube is formed taking in the air from the basement that rises in the can columns and is heated by the sun. On reaching a scorching 110 degrees, vent fans blow the heated air in the dining room. This project cost just around $400. Don’t throw your cans away. Recycle them to heat up our homes instead!
[Energyboom]