Domestic Hot Water and Heating

A major order for two Austrian companies was announced at a press conference in the middle of August: Austrian engineering company Solid - represented by its two CEOs Christian Holter (middle) and Franz Radovic (right) - signed a contract with the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) to deliver, install and operate a solar heating and cooling installation with 3,900 m² of collector area in Singapore. The Raiffeisen-Landesbank of Steiermark (RLB-Stmk) will be responsible for financing the investment of around EUR 4 million together with the OeKB, the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.
Photo: Solid

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 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

This document was prepared by the University of Colorado Solar Decathlon Team.
The Solar Decathlon challenge is organised by the U.S. Department of Energy and calls for 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.

This document goes through the solar house built by the University of Colorado, making an in-depth energy analysis. The house combines different technologies, including solar thermal energy.

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 factsheet was created by Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy; which is a public-private partnership that offers information on energy services to utility customers in Wisconsin. The focus of this factsheet is the various applications of solar thermal heating systems in commercial settings.

The history of solar heating in Brazil began in the early 1970ies with the emergence of the first factories for solar collectors. However, the development of the Brazilian market was only possible after INMETRO's creation of the Brazilian Labeling Program PBE in 1998.
Source: www.inmetro.gov.br

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