So you have a few extra cans left about the manse after the holiday party and are wondering what to do with them. How about building a solar panel? Free heat is good heat.

As air enters the 2 holes on the sides near the bottom, the sun is heating up the soda cans all painted black to absorb the heat. The cans have holes drilled in the bottom, so the air being drawn in at the bottom works its way through all the heated cans and gets hotter and hotter as it approaches the top. With convection, more and more air is drawn in through the bottom and the heat rises. A single hole drilled in the top of the frame is where all this heat comes out, and I have to tell you – it’s friggin’ hot and it comes flying out of there at full speed.

This could be a handy way to provide a bit of daytime heat to a shed or garage that it otherwise useless during the depth of winter.