Tag Archives: solar thermal
Will The U.S. Military Go for Solar Thermal?
Got solar hot water? One of the ways that solar thermal can grow exponentially in the U.S. is through its widespread installation and use by the U.S. military. According to the solar thermal advocacy organization, Eneref Institute, the Department of Defense ’s (DoD’s) domestic hot water usage is approximately 50 to 100 million gallons per [...]
Solar Thermal Swimming Pool Heaters: Big Growth Ahead
As solar gains in popularity, it’s drawing attention to one historically logical solar application – solar swimming pool heating. Solar Living, a New Jersey company, started installing solar hot water heaters in 1977 and quickly discovered there was a market for solar swimming pool heaters. The founder developed his own solar hot water system specifically [...]
New California Solar Thermal Incentive for Low-Income Housing
Once again, California is leading the way for solar hot water with a new solar thermal incentive, this time for low-income single-family properties and multi-family dwellings. Regular readers to the Free Hot Water blog are probably familiar with California’s CSI Thermal rebate program that was introduced 2010. It’s perhaps the most generous solar water heating [...]
Hybrid Solar Thermal Power Plants
Solar Thermal Technology is facing an existential threat as plunging solar panel prices have made other solar technologies fight for their future. A number of Solar Thermal Companies closed down in 2011, and many of the CSP Power Plants have now been converted into PV panel projects. This is because the costs of building a [...]
SEIA: Commercial Solar Thermal Still Growing
It’s not much, but SEIA and its partner, GTM Research, have included some very general solar water heating market information in its 3rd quarter executive summary. Free Hot Water has talked to GTM researchers before about the lack of solar water heating data in their reports. They explain that there are two problems: First, not [...]
Solar PV vs. Solar Thermal Success
There is no dispute that solar PV has grown faster than solar thermal in the United States. Why? I think there are three basic reasons. 1) More and better financing for PV than solar thermal Banks and venture capitalists have loved solar PV for quite some time, and the reason is that solar PV projects [...]
Solar Thermal: No Respect
In most countries solar power is often perceived as synonymous with solar photovoltaic (PV), the classic rooftop panels that convert sunlight to electricity through solar cells. But that could be a misconception, says Environmental Protection, since solar thermal, which gets less attention than PV, actually is more efficient. Solar thermal is cheaper and more efficient, [...]
In Focus: Solar Thermal Technology
Solar thermal technology is the production of solar thermal energy, a carbon-free, alternate source of energy generated from the sun. It is renewable, unlike the power generated from fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, or even oil. It is important to understand that it is not the same thing as Photovoltaic or PV Energy. [...]
Why Solyndra is NOT Solar Thermal
As Americans get bombarded with political news surrounding the bankruptcy and failed loan guarantee of Solyndra, the negative publicity is spilling over to the entire solar industry, especially solar PV, but also to the solar thermal side. As much as we are saddened to hear of any American solar company failing and laying off workers, [...]