Finance and Incentives

A satisfying record: The Indian city of Rajkot in Gujarat state, Western India, has seen the installation of more than 16,000 residential systems and over 700 commercial solar water heating systems since the Municipal Corporation implemented a solar building bye-law in March 2004.
Photo: Jaideep Malaviya

The marketing campaign for solar hot water systems in the residential sector in Mexico, Procalsol (2007 to 2012), bore fruit: According to the annual market statistics of the National Association of Solar Energy (ANES), the newly installed collector area in households almost tripled from 53,183 m² in 2008 to 132,934 m² last year.

This document was prepared in 2006 by the initiator group of ESTTP and provides a summary of potential solar thermal possibilities in the next 20 years. The report outlines various trends and improvements in solar thermal technology and gives insight and predictions of use and advancement in the future.

This report was prepared by SFEnvironment and explains the basics of solar water heating as they relate to residents of San Francisco, CA.

SFEnvironment describes in detail the basics of solar water heating technology, what is required in terms of system sizing, cost and special incentives provided by the California Solar Initiative (CSI).

The documents summary lists several benefits of using solar thermal technology for domestic hot water heating; creation of new jobs in the solar energy sector, cost savings and reduction of carbon emissions.

Author: SFEnvironment

The Barcelona Solar Thermal Ordinance has been in place since 2000. Reviewed in 2006, this piece of local legislation was pioneer for a city in Europe.

This document, prepared by the New Zealand Solar Industry Association (SIA), is an example of a guide explaining how to obtain approval from a building consent authority for a solar thermal system installation.

This guide was done with the support of SWH suppliers, builders, homeowners’ agents and architects by explaining typical information needed for a SWH building consent application. It is meant to assist in preparing plans, specifications and general documentation needed for a building consent application.

The picture above shows one of the seven solar thermal systems installed in multi-family houses in Bahia State and subsidised by Coelba, the state's electric utility. Originally, Coelba intended to support a total of 20 systems, but only 7 were realised due to a lack of interest among construction companies.
Photo: Presentation by Mariana Barreto Alfonso, Energy Efficiency Analyst at Coelba

This presentation was made during the Regional Workshop on Solar Water Heating Certification and Standardization organised by RCREEE (Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency) in Tunisia in autumn 2009.

This document is an example of a technology information leaflet produced by Carbon Trust. It explains which solar thermal equipments are eligible under the Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA) scheme.

The ECA scheme provides businesses with 100% first year tax relief on their qualifying capital expenditure.

The leaflet provides an explanation of different solar thermal equipments, the energy and environmental savings, among other useful information.

Author: Carbon Trust

Date: 2009

Programme to accelerate dissemination of residential solar thermal systems in Japan: Residential, pumped solar water heating systems are eligible for a rebate of a maximum of 50 % of the investment costs, including installation and more than 6 years of warranty.
Photo: Presentation by Masao Kabaya at Intersolar Europe