FYI, good solar thermal engineering is relatively simple and elegant. There are no extra parts, and everything has a purpose– namely, to transfer the sun’s energy into thermal energy.

On the other hand, bad solar thermal engineering is overly complicated, inefficient, and in the end will cause a solar thermal mess.

With the above in mind, and with apologies to Ok Go, we now present to you…

Good solar thermal engineering….

And bad solar thermal engineering…

For more information on how we can help your project with good solar thermal engineering, contact us.

Sometimes it’s as simple as freeing installers from putting together the design and submitting permits for a simple pre-engineered project. Other times, our solar thermal engineers can help installers and facilities assess if solar thermal is even right for a particular building or a new solar thermal application.

For example, businesses are increasingly looking for ways to become more sustainable and show their environmental stewardship. While many facility managers know that solar energy can heat water, few realize that solar thermal technology can now be designed to heat air and even provide solar air conditioning, reducing heating and cooling costs.

Free Hot Water solar thermal engineers can examine a client’s existing infrastructure and heating and cooling needs, then determine the best and most cost-effective solar thermal solutions. In fact, we often find design and engineering solutions that accomplish far more savings than the client realized was possible.

Free Hot Water is also technology agnostic. That is, whether or not installers use our products, our solar thermal engineers can design systems using any OG-100 approved solar collectors and other components.

Another reason to use an engineer is for flexibility. As engineers, we not only consider the needs of a building today, but we also think about the future. As a result, we create simple and flexible designs that allow room for future expansion and the incorporation of new technologies as they become available.

We accomplish all of the above with the latest engineering software, as well as internally developed tools and software that is specific to solar thermal applications. This unique tool set lets us electronically “build” the solar system to its final design, allowing our customers to review project details before the actual construction takes place.

So, we hope you’ll consider us for your next solar engineering challenge, but whether or not you do, Free Hot Water still wants to help installers install solar onto as many roofs as possible. That’s why we’ve created a page of free online solar system design tools and solar thermal calculators. Please feel free to use them:

• Free Hot Water Solar Thermal Calculator
• Free Hot Water Swimming Pool Calculator
• Free Hot Water Conversion Calculator
• Free Hot Water Commercial Collector Spacing Calculator
• Free Hot Water Glycol Mix Calculator
• Free Hot Water Radiant Floor and Heat Loss Calculator
• Carbon Dioxide Emissions Calculator
• Free Hot Water Latitude/Logitude Time Zone Calculator This is a big file, please be patient

Solar Engineering Tools by Solmetric,

• Annual Insolation U.S.
• Roof Azimuth Measurement Tool
• Compound Angle Tool

If you have any questions or would like a consultation, always feel free to contact us.

The Zone Verde Apartment Complex, Installed by SunRenu Solar

A few months ago, we asked Free Hot Water installers to share some of the projects that they’ve been working on.  The first in this ongoing case study series comes from John McDonnell, President of SunRenu Solar, based in Scottsdale, AZ

Project: Zone Verde Apartments, Tucson, AZ, a 138 Unit Apartment Complex
Number of Free Hot Water Collectors: 48 (8000 Series)
Average monthly savings with solar thermal: $1,200/month

SunRenu installs both solar PV and solar thermal, and when Zone Verde managers initially considered solar, their initial thought was to utilize solar PV panels for offsetting the apartment complex’s electricity costs. But when they heard about SunRenu’s option for solar water heating, they changed their solar plans to installing a solar thermal system.

While having hot water included in a leasing agreement is an added value for renters, carrying the water-heating costs for a 138-unit apartment complex can be substantial. In the case of Zone Verde Apartments, an average of $1,800 per month, or over $21,000 annually went to towards water heating, reducing the building’s overall profitability.

Through the installation of 48 solar collectors and a 3,500-gallon solar thermal storage tank, Zone Verde is expected to save 67% on its annual water heating costs, or an average of $1,200 per month or more.

SunRenu chose Free Hot Water’s made-in-USA SRCC-rated 8000 series solar collectors, which will produce over 683,000,000 BTUs per year for Zone Verde.

Typically, the upfront costs of commercial solar thermal projects are reduced through a solar lease or solar power purchase agreement (PPA). However, in the case of Zone Verde, the owners self-financed. As a result, they directly captured all of the available solar thermal incentives.

These included:

• $62,500 TEP Utility Rebate
• $53,850 Federal 1603 Grant in lieu of the 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit
• $18,000 Arizona State Tax Credit
• Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), a tax incentive that will also reduce tax-deductible expense of the solar system.

 In addition to the reduced operating expenses, Zone Verde asset managers say they’re attracting and retaining more renters through installing the system through its pro-active environmental efforts.

Free Hot Water 8000 series collector

“Zona Verde actually means ‘green zone,’ so installing the solar thermal system really meshed with what we’re trying to do at the property,” said Kuzi Mutsiwegota, Zone Verde’s Asset Manager. “We have a resident base that consists of responsible, serious college students, and over the years, we’ve been thrilled to see a substantial increase in our residents wanting to be a part of the ‘going green’ movement.”

As with all large commercial projects, Zone Verde did have its challenges. John and his team had to install the system on a multi-level flat foam roof. As a result, SunRenu had to build custom racking to raise and lower the collectors where needed, so that the system has a natural flow. The installers hand cut and fastened together each piece of racking, creating a structure that allowed the water to have natural movement toward the 3,500 gallon storage tank with built-in heat exchangers.

We asked John why he selected Free Hot Water for his solar collectors and other equipment, and he gave us a nice compliment. He said, “Dealing with experienced individuals regarding solar thermal is hard to come by these days. Some plumbing distributors don’t have the experience with solar thermal, so we know we can count on Free Hot Water for their support, as well as the quality of their products.”

Thanks, John! We’re always glad to help.

If you’re an installer in any state and have a Free Hot Water project you’d like to share with our blog readers, please let us know.

Photo: Flickr/Picture_taking_fool

Free Hot Water often highlights California’s generous subsidies for solar hot water installations, but it’s not the only state committed to solar water heating.

Arizona’s utilities all offer different—but valuable—solar hot water incentives for both residential and commercial installations. Of course, these are in addition to the Federal government’s 30% Investment Tax Credit.

APS – (Arizona Public Service)

Service area: The APS service area covers large part of the state, including parts of Phoenix, parts of Flagstaff, Parker, and Yuma.

Incentive amounts:

• Residential: $0.50/kWh estimated first-year energy savings, based on OG-300 ratings, up to 50% of the system’s cost.
• Commercial: Up to $0.68/kWh estimated first-year energy savings based on OG-300 ratings for small systems. For large solar thermal systems, customers can receive $0.41/kWh estimated first year energy savings, or choose a 10, 15 or 20 year production based incentive (PBI). However, like the residential incentive, incentives are limited to 50% of total system cost.

SRP (Salt River Project) – EarthWise Solar Energy Incentive Program

Service area: SRP services most of Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Apache Junction, Peoria, Queen Creek, Avondale, Chandler, Town of Gilbert, Glendale, Guadalupe, and Tolleson.

Incentive amounts:

• Residential: $0.40/kWh for 1st year estimated energy savings (based on SRCC rating)
• Commercial: $0.40/kWh for 1st year equivalent energy savings. Maximum incentive is up to $350,000 per customer per fiscal year, and up to 60% of the individual total project cost(s)
• Solar Pool heating, residential: Up to $350,000 per customer per fiscal year; incentive not to exceed 60% of the individual total project cost.
• Solar pool heating, commercial: $0.25/kWh for first year metered energy savings savings (unglazed panels); $0.40/kWh for first year metered energy savings (glazed panels) up to $350,000 per customer per fiscal year. However, incentive is not to exceed 60% of the individual total project cost.

TEP (Tucson Electric Power) Renewable Energy Credit Purchase Program

Service area: City of Tucson

Incentive amounts:

• Residential: $0.25/kWh equivalent, plus $750 up to a maximum incentive of $1,750.
• Commercial Solar Water Heater: $0.50/kWh-equivalent, plus $750
• The City of Tucson will also waive the permit fee for the installation of a qualifying solar system up to $1,000 for a single installation, or $5,000 for a subdivision or multiple project sites. However, plan review fees still apply.

(Note: Free Hot Water will be publishing TEP solar thermal case study next week.)

UES (UniSource Energy Services)

Service area: UNS Gas covers most of the Northern half of Arizona for natural gas service, including Flagstaff.

Incentive amount:

• Residential solar water heating AND space heating systems: $0.50/kWh up-front incentive, up to $1,750
• Small commercial solar water heating and space heating systems: $0.50/kWh up-front incentive, up to $200,000
• Large commercial solar water heating systems: Performance-based incentive (unspecified)
• Solar space cooling systems (non-residential only): The incentive for the thermal energy delivered for cooling (i.e., solar air conditioning) by a solar HVAC system is based on actual performance and ranges between $0.104/kWh-equivalent and $0.116.kWh equivalent. In addition, systems that incorporate solar thermal heating and/or solar thermal water heating are eligible for the large solar water heating PBI. Contact Free Hot Water for engineering a solar cooling system.

Note: The Trico Electric Cooperative – SunWatts Incentive Program has depleted its rebate funds for 2012.

On top of all of the above, there several Arizona state solar tax incentives for solar thermal systems:

• All solar hot water equipment is exempt from sales tax.
• Residential systems can receive a 25% of system cost state tax credit up to 1,000 maximum per residence.
• Commercial systems can receive up to 10% of installed cost with a maximum tax credit of $25,000 for any one building in the same year and $50,000 per business in total credits in any year.

With all of the above incentives and rebates, it’s clear that Arizona is ripe for a solar thermal boom. The real challenge is to get the word out to consumers and business owners…as usual.

Yet, there are little parts, tools, and accessories that also make installing solar hot water possible—if not just easier—and we’d like to call your attention to the more useful tools and accessories in our online catalog.

Before we get into that, don’t forget our free online solar installer tools, such as our Free Hot Water Solar Collector Estimator.  Enter a few quick inputs, and you’ll get an estimated number of needed flat plate collectors for just about any commercial project. We hope you’ll use this and all of our other online solar hot water estimator tools. It’s why they are there.

In terms of our Free Hot Water catalog, one of our most useful, effective, and affordable items is our helical flex hose that solar thermal installers use lieu of copper piping. Heat resistant to 804°F, assembly on site is quick and simple with a super heat-resistant 662°F graphite thread-assembly fitting. The insulation on the pipe is heat resistant to 356°F, UV resistance nylon cover. Of course, the helical corrugated flexible tube inside is approved by IAPMO, UL, and by the German and Korean standards, too. It really does make installing solar pipes simple—without compromising on quality.

Especially for commercial solar thermal applications, you need a reliable solar insolation and shade analysis tool. One of the most well respected solar site evaluation tools is the SunEye 210 all-in-one, handheld. It includes an electronic inclinometer, compass, optional integrated GPS, digital camera with fish-eye lens, and a “what if” editing feature, which allows evaluators to edit sunpath obstructions and add new scenario storage. This is great for projecting the potential of cutting back or eliminating trees or other sun obstructions. A very innovative, useful, and complete tool.

For more inexpensive little things that mean a lot, we strongly urge you to browse our selection of Weicon industrial adhesives, epoxies, lubricants, and sprays.  These industrial grade products are manufactured in Germany and used globally in factories and industrial machine applications with extreme temperatures. So, they’re also appropriate for the extremes of relentless, high heat annual sunlight. From anaerobic adhesives to anti-seize solutions, elastic adhesives, and much more, these Weicon products just work. Even better, they’re useful for both general plumbing and solar hot water applications. Try one, and we’re confident you’ll become true believers in the entire Weicon product line—like we are.

Those are just a few suggestions. Our catalog also has a commenting system, so please feel free to give us your opinions on the above products or any in our entire catalog. We sincerely appreciate your feedback, and your fellow Free Hot Water solar installers will too.

When California funded the CSI Solar Thermal program in 2010, part of the funding included a carve-out for marketing the program and educating the public about solar hot water’s benefits to consumers and businesses.

That public awareness program is finally launching Earth Day. The first step was a media release that outlines the CSI Thermal program and its financial benefits. Read the release here.

The just-launched campaign also includes a website (www.waterheatedbythesun.com) and a quick commercial video that announces the initiative (embedded below).

At this point, the website is really just a portal to the individual utilities that are managing the CSI thermal program in the various areas of the State. In an easy three-stem process, website visitors identify their utility and the type of current water heating energy (gas, propane, or electric) that they are using.  Those selections lead the individual to their utility’s specific information about how the CSI Thermal program is implemented in their utility, as well as eligibility requirements.

The video is brief, but well-produced, and can be added to anyone’s website via a YouTube embed code.  The video’s theme is “Meet the Next Step in Your Green Routine: Solar Water Heating!” Their message is that it’s now common for California consumers to turn off the lights, recycle, and do other green things, and now it’s time to make installing solar hot water part of that everyday “green” life too. Check it out:

There are four administrators (utilities) that are running the program. If you have specific questions about eligibility for your clients or for becoming a CSI thermal eligible installer, contact them at their respective emails below:

• The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in the San Diego Gas & Electric Company^® territory swh@energycenter.org
• Pacific Gas & Electric Company^® (PG&E)  Solar@pge.com
• Southern California Edison Company (SCE) CSIGroup@sce.com
• Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) swh@socalgas.com

Free Hot Water welcomes the program’s launch, and we hope California’s eligible CSI Thermal installers will quickly benefit from the new marketing program’s efforts.

As always, if we can help you with your CSI Thermal equipment or engineering services, please let us know.

Photo: Flickr/Ken Lund

Once again, California is leading the way for solar hot water with a new solar thermal incentive, this time for low-income single-family properties and multi-family dwellings.

Regular readers to the Free Hot Water blog are probably familiar with California’s CSI Thermal rebate program that was introduced 2010. It’s perhaps the most generous solar water heating rebate program in the United States, offering up to $500,000 for commercial properties and up to $1,875 for individual homeowners.

Now, California’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) has introduced another incentive that targets low-income housing and individuals. Called “The CSI-Thermal Low-Income Program”, the goal is pretty self-explanatory.

In terms of numbers, the low-income program provides customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) with up to $3,750 in rebates—double the regular rebate.

For multi-family dwellings, such as apartment buildings, nursing homes, and assisted living homes, owners can receive up to $500,000. The top figure differs from the regular program in that owners will receive a 50% higher rebate for the natural gas displaced by the solar system.

Therefore, while the maximum amount is the same, a 10 collector solar thermal system under the low-income CSI thermal program is going to receive up to $19.23 per Therm displaced, whereas the same 10 collectors will receive up to $12.82 per Therm displaced in the regular CSI Thermal program.

Those are the highest rates. As the program grows and more installations come on line, the rebate amount will decrease for both programs, and, in theory, so will the price of installing solar water heating systems. (You can keep track for the current CSI Thermal rebate level here.)

Of course, there are substantial requirements for properties to qualify under the CSI Thermal low-income program. You can download a summary of the eligibility requirements here.

On top of the new rebate, owners of low-income rental properties—whether single family rentals or mult-family—are also eligible for the Federal government’s 30% investment tax credit (ITC).

While the application process may be complicated, solar thermal systems are not. To help simplify the installation process even more, Free Hot Water has created multiple pre-engineered solar thermal systems for both homes and multi-family systems that that will meet all of California’s CSI thermal equipment standards.

Combined, these Federal and state financial incentives should help to inspire more solar hot water installations in California, which still lags behind PV. In fact, the traditional CSI Thermal program began in the fall of 2010, and the program still hasn’t burned through its top rebate step. So, there’s still plenty of work to do to get the solar hot water word out.

Confused? Questions? Always feel free to contact us at info@freehotwater.com. We’ll help as best we can.

Few people beyond solar thermal advocates realize that heating water with an electric hot water tank is tremendously inefficient, wasting both energy and money. So, it’s great to see a utility (in cooperation with the North Carolina Utility Commission) conduct a study on solar water heating savings.

The pilot program and study gave 150 Progress Energy customers a $1000 rebate toward the cost of buying a solar hot water heater. (Other North Carolina utilities currently offer cash rebates between $400 and $850 for residential solar thermal systems.) Progress estimated that over 15% of a typical home’s electric bill is used for heating water.

The costs of installing the solar thermal systems averaged $7,271 per household, ranging from $4,000 to $12,375 per home. However, that was before rebates and other incentives.

In addition to the $1000 rebate from Progress, homeowners also qualified for the 30% federal investment tax credit (ITC) and an additional 35% state tax credit of up to $1,400, which reduced the overall solar installation cost by about half.

While the Progress Energy’s residential pilot program has currently expired, Progress is still offering commercial solar water heating cash incentives. The utility will pay $20 for each renewable energy credit (REC) generated by the solar water heating system for a period of 10 years.

One REC represents one megawatt-hour (MWh) of avoided solar electric costs. To be eligible for the incentive, rooftop-mounted solar water heating systems must be installed in North Carolina (or South Carolina) on commercial property owned by a non-residential customer of PEC, and must have between 1,200 and 4,000 square feet of collector area (roughly 30 to 100 solar thermal panels). Solar thermal power purchase agreement (PPA) providers are also eligible.( North Carolina’s Duke Energy utility has a similar solar thermal program.)

Those generous incentive means that North Carolina apartment buildings, hospitals, hotels, and nursing homes are ripe for solar hot water installations.

To recap, a North Carolina utility study shows that North Carolina residential solar hot water heaters are cost effective, especially for solar electric customers. In addition, commercial customers can still benefit from cash incentives provided by Progress Energy.

If you have any questions about these programs, please contact us at Free Hot Water, and we’ll be happy to help.

The initiative will specifically focus on promoting solar thermal heating and cooling case studies. Free Hot Water launched a similar company initiative last month for our installer partners, so we’re clearly on the same page and support Eneref’s efforts.

The bottom line is that successful solar hot water projects are out there, but they aren’t seen or written about. The more the media, public, and policy makers learn about the advantages of solar water heating, the more customers and policy makers will see its value and support it.

In its press release, Eneref’s Managing Director, Seth Warren Rose, explained that many news editors he speaks to about solar thermal are unfamiliar with both the technology and the brands. He said, “We’re working on educating the media about the various brands and about the tremendous benefits of solar heating technology, so that in time, the press will reach out for these stories without our help.”

Another part of the second phase involves a new website devoted to solar thermal projects. Eneref  has just launched www.shc.eneref.org, which features successful case studies demonstrating the benefits of using the sun’s energy for heating and cooling applications. A promotional effort for the website is supposed to begin in the second quarter of 2012.

Solar heating installers and manufacturers are invited to submit their case studies online, at www.casestudy.eneref.org. Free Hot Water plans to contribute, and we hope that our customers will contribute their Free Hot Water projects there, as well.

In addition to Eneref’s efforts, if you’d like to publicize your installations through Free Hot Water, please send the same materials to solarfred@freehotwater.com. We’ll also do our best to spread the word on our blog, email, and potentially RenewableEnergyWorld.com, as well.

Once again, the more we celebrate and promote the value of solar hot water in the United States, the more we will grow our businesses, while contributing to clean air, clean water, and to our nation’s energy independence. Please join our collective solar thermal efforts.