The solar shower

Once a year the WOT organises a technical course week for development workers, the T-week. During this week the students camp on our terrain. To provide the participants with the possibility to take a shower, a solar shower was built in 1994.

The shower houses a 1200 liter storage tank in its basement with three zig-zag collectors of two square meter each attached. One collector has the pipes attached by weaving metal strips over and under them, another has the pipes soldered to the metal sheet and the third has its pipes mounted with metal straps and rivets. More on the different systems can be found under types of solar collectors on this page.

Natural circulation of the water is not possible in this system because the storage tank is below the collectors. The so-called forced circulation is enabled using an electric pump from a central heating unit.

The solar shower has a good capacity. Under favorable weather conditions, about 30 people can take a shower every day. Temperatures of 50 to 60 ºC can be reached. As the storage tank is well insulated, the shower still provides hot water days after the sun has disappeared.