Solar Thermal or making hot water from the sun is often overlooked.
The initial cost is reasonable. The pay pack is faster. The units are more efficient. The Co2reduction is huge.
Solar thermal systems have been around from the turn of the last century. Before it was feasible to pump Natural gas to every home, Solar Hot water was the way to go. Many systems were installed in Florida and California.
Natural Gas was then made cheap and available and most solar hot water were replaced with gas heaters. Eventually they were virtually gone from the market. Natural gas was simple easy cheap and available. No one cared about Carbon Footprint.
The Carter Administration started the renewable incentives and soon solar water was back on the market. Some of the systems that were being installed lacked quality and performance and Solar Thermal received a bad name. By the time Regan pulled the panels from the roof of the White house the party was over.
Many learned valuable lessons from the mistakes of the seventies and eighties. Today’s Solar hot water systems are efficient and well designed and should provide years of production with little maintenance. Today we have a wide range of reliable systems to choose from.
We at Red E3 prefer the drain back Systems. They have little maintenance and when properly designed, installed and working correctly will never freeze or over heat. We prefer the flat plate collectors for most installs.
Solar Thermal Systems are affordable reliable and greater impact than most people imagine. You can cut your carbon usage by up to 30 percent by switching to solar thermal. It is not only green but saves green. With a 3-7 year pay back on the initial install the next 13 to 17 years the system will be putting money back in your pocket. With the current State and Federal rebate combined that payback should be even quicker. Plus it will increase the value of your property with no adjustment on property taxes.
Copied and Pasted from http://www.ecs-solar.com/solar-water-heaters.htm#how_hotwater
Home Page to ECS Solar http://www.ecs-solar.com/
Tom Lane Is a Solar Thermal expert from Florida and owner of ECS solar. His book Solar Hot Water Systems and Lessons Learned 1977-Today is the best book available on the market on Solar Thermal Systems. Much of what I have learned is through Tom Lanes book. Much of the above information would not come off my head or keyboard if it were not for the Book by Tom Lane