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Grab the low-hanging fruit of solar
There were no less than six different manufacturers of solar hot water systems at this year's Green Prints Green Building Conference in Atlanta. Here are some fun facts to know and tell about hot water:
- In one year, your water heater may cost more to operate than your heater or AC
- In one year, most family's water heaters use more energy than their family car
- Installing a solar hot water heater is like increasing your gas mileage by 65% or more
- A solar water heater gives you "tax prepaid income." Example: In the 35% tax bracket, saving $520.00 on your hot water is the same as earning $800.00
- Solar hot water has dropped 27% - 45% since 1984 before tax credits
Solar hot water systems are the easiest entry into renewable energy offering the quickest payback. After a return on investment in as little as two years the homeowner may enjoy free hot water for years to come. This is significant when you consider that hot water usage accounts for, on average, 30% of your monthly home utility bills. And with energy costs guaranteed to rise over the coming years it appears to be a no-brainer.
But America is still lukewarm on solar hot water.
So, as any ecohome guy would do, I asked myself: "Self, why aren't more people adopting solar hot water?" I think it boils down to the fact that there are still a lot of misconceptions about the technology. Many people automatically think photovoltaics when they hear solar. Photovoltaics is high-tech, high-cost stuff where sunlight is converted directly into electrical current. It's hard enough to grasp the miracle of electrical current alone, much less converting sunlight into a usable current. And if you've ever priced photovoltaic systems, they simply haven't made economic sense, although this is going to change in the next few years with thin film technology.
Then I read about this guy in China who constructed a home-made solar hot water system out of beer bottles. Ma Yanjun wanted his momma to shower comfortably. So he built this solar hot water system with 66 beer bottles and mounted it to the roof. The beer bottles are connected to each other with thin plastic tubing. Sunlight heats water as it passes slowly through the bottles before it flows into the bathroom as hot water. Here's what it looks like:
Ma Yanjun's brilliant-but-simple solution illustrates how solar hot water heaters work. They're actually pretty low tech which translates into low maintenance. Water or a heat-transferring medium like food-grade glycol is heated on the roof and transferred to your standard hot water tank. The solar-heated water supplements the gas or electric system, easing the amount of btu's or kwh's required to heat the water. On some days you get 100% of the energy from the sun. On cloudy days, the gas or electricity is there to make up the difference. Bottom line, you save on energy costs.
This is why the Chinese are installing these systems like there's no tomorrow. They've installed tens of millions in the last couple of years. Of course, most, if not all, aren't DIY projects like Ma Yanjun's. They are low cost roof-mounted appliances that have dropped in price because of wide adoption.
So why should they have all the fun in the sun? Grab the low-hanging fruit of solar this year. Install a solar hot water system and decrease your energy costs while increasing your home value.
Burke Sisco
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Source: Interesting Solar Facts
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