Patent ID: 8375935

Claim:
A water heating apparatus using solar power, comprising: a solar power collecting unit including a mounting seat having a mounting side, a heat-conductive tube body mounted to said mounting seat and permitting flow of water therethrough, and a condensing unit mounted on said mounting side of said mounting seat and disposed above said tube body for concentrating sunlight onto said tube body such that said tube body absorbs thermal energy from the sunlight concentrated by said condensing unit and transmits the thermal energy to the water therein, thereby heating the water in said tube body; a supporting device operable to support movably said solar power collecting unit on a supporting surface, said supporting device including a hollow base body adapted to be disposed on the supporting surface and having a top side, a disk member mounted rotatably on said top side of said base body such that said disk member is rotatable relative to said base body about a central axis of said disk member that is transverse to the supporting surface, a drive unit disposed in said base body for driving rotation of said disk member about the central axis, a telescopic rod member having opposite upper and lower pivot ends connected pivotally and respectively to said mounting seat and said disk member, and two upright supporting rods spaced apart from each other, each of said supporting rods having a lower end fixed on said disk member, and an upper end opposite to said lower end and connected pivotally to said mounting seat; and a control module including a sensing unit for generating a sensing output indicating a solar radiating direction, and a controller coupled to said sensing unit, said drive unit and said telescopic rod member, receiving the sensing output from said sensing unit, and operable to control said drive unit and said telescopic rod member based on said sensing output received thereby such that said mounting side of said mounting seat is moved to face sunlight in response to rotation of said disk member driven by said drive unit and adjustment of said telescopic rod member in length.