DOE

In policy lobbying even a single sentence included in a bill is, in some cases, already a huge success. This is exactly the case for the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that has recently passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives. “The Committee supports ongoing Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) research and development activities within the Building Technologies Program”, is the key sentence in the report that accompanies the bill.

This is a document from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help local governments and communities developing a solar energy plan. Authorities have realized the main obstacles are often at the administrative and legislative level, so with this document they aim at providing further assistance on how to draft and implement strategic local solar plans.

This report was released by the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy section of the U.S. Department of Energy in 2004. It highlights a large-scale solar thermal system installed at the Phoenix Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) and breaks down the statistical output.

The system was financed through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC), which include an average annual savings of $6,700. The system produces up to 50,000 gallons of hot water daily, 1,000 megawatt-hours of electricity and releases approximately 600 tons of CO2.

This document serves as a media kit for the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

In this decathlon, 20 university-led teams from the United States, Germany, Canada and Spain to design, build and operate the most attractive, energy-efficient, solar-powered house. The reason behind this annual decathlon is to encourage young people to pursue careers in the field as well as to educate and train the decathletes, as well as the general public, in the benefits of renewable technology like solar thermal and solar electric.

This document, from 1999, provides an overview of key solar thermal applications - parabolic troughs, power towers and dish/engine systems - their characteristics, the kind of application they are best suited for, system performance, technologic comparison, together with a cost vs. value analysis.

This document was produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (in 2003) and focuses on solar thermal parabolic troughs.

It breaks down how parabolic troughs work, and how to reduce the cost going forward and how it could compete with the costs of fossil-power alternatives.

This document predicts that parabolic trough technology can compete directly with conventional power technologies within 5 to 10 years from when this was written.

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This webpage offers suggested inspection tips for solar components by the US Department of Energy. Many of them can be done by the homeowner, but some repairs do require a qualified technician.

There are quick check-ups for pumps, relief valves, transfer fluids, piping, wiring, support structures, seals and plumbing that you should do periodically to ensure you solar water heater is working to the best of its ability.

There are also links for professional services regarding cost estimates and purchasing for solar water heaters.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) estimates in its latest publication, “U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review 2008”, that the solar thermal market in the United States has grown by 50 % last year, to almost 229,000 m² (160 MW_th). The state with the biggest share of the market is still Hawaii. The number of solar water heaters that the three public utility companies Heco, Helco and Meco rebated even grew by 55 %, to 8,207 systems in 2008 (2007: 5,295 systems).

Les Nelson – re-elected chair of the solar thermal division at SEIA
Photo: privat