Solar water heating globally adopted for residential needs

Advancement in technology allows solar water heating system (SWH) to be used in residential and commercial buildings for air conditioning using thermal compressors. These renewable sources of energy are providing greater alternatives for green energy but there are some problems with such installments such as the generation of power is unpredictable where in some months of the year, the energy output is more and sometimes, less. Also, the energy storage facility at consumer site is mostly absent. 

The US lags in solar water heating (SWH), in comparison to, many European countries, where SWH dominates the residential areas of Florida, California, Arizona, and Hawaii. In these cities installation started in 2010, between the concerns of growing emissions and higher electricity prices.  In the US, the plan to accelerate solar power installation is supported by electric cooperatives, which aims to promote SWH installation. 

In Hawai – EmPOWER program was launched to advance SWH. The marketing and communication executive of the program, Shayna Doi, said the main idea is to empower island with cost effective methods of energy. The program features rebate from solar water heating up to $750 (which was $500 earlier). The incentive will facilitate the purchase and installation of such technologies and reduce electricity bill up to 40 per cent. The program provides incentives for energy efficient use of ACs and for getting rid of a refrigerator as well. 

US plans to impose tariffs on air conditioning and heating equipment imports from China, which can lead to price rise of such devices at home. US President claimed this was to prevent unfair trade and protect US intellectual property from China. Duties on steel and aluminum will increase price of SWH and PV equipments, which require these metals for installation, and reduce overall profits of businesses into these areas. In the US, SWH and PVs has been a job creator and modification in trade policies can hit employment in these areas. 

Brazil and Turkey lead in green technologies 

Turkey installed latest technologies and improved infrastructure to implement SWH but same resources available with countries such as Israel, Cyprus, China and Austria – have not been used wisely.  Energy efficiency in Turkey increased at the rate of 1.8 per cent a year in period - 2000 to 2016, with the use of such technologies.

India is aggressively adopting SWH where the growth has been about 14 per cent as per IEA reports. Such solar heating system can meet demand of industries and farms in India. 

The market of SWH is expected to grow to US$ 2.5 billion in the Middle East   by 2024 (as per the Global Market Insights reports). Rising awareness regarding SWH can be seen in Qatar, the city having highest carbon footprints -about 10 times the average footprints of whole of Middle East. Other Middle-East countries having very high carbon in air are Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait. 

In Africa, countries such as Kenya and Namibia are growingly adopting these technologies for water heating. Recently, the company O&L Energy entered a partnership with SMA Solar to promote large scale installation of solar water heaters, bio energy and PVs. 

To know more about solar water heating (SWH) business and investment in SWH, visit 99 Alternative – (http://www.99alternatives.com).