Category Archives: Residential Solar Hot Water

Update: A few weeks after writing this post California’s Public Utility Commission (CPUC) did raise the rebate rates for its CSI Thermal program.  Despite a huge pot of incentive dollars available for commercial and residential solar hot water, California’s entire … Continue reading →

Despite Texas being known for its oil, Texas utilities are not so shy when it comes to solar water heating incentives. Though not as generous as Arizona or California programs, they typically provide around $1000 towards mostly residential solar thermal … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

Progress Energy, a Raleigh, NC-based utility, has completed a previously announced study showing that its residential customers could save $235 a year, or 63% of the water heating portion of their electric bill. The utility also offers commercial solar thermal … Continue reading →

The lack of competition for solar water heating services in California is startling. Despite the rich solar thermal rebates that are available in California—and other states—there are few installers who can legally use them and collect the rebates. In fact, … Continue reading →

We’re proud to announce that we’ve received Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) approval for our made-in-America 8000 series solar hot water collector. As Florida solar thermal installers and plumbers know, all collectors sold or manufactured in Florida must be certified … Continue reading →

If you’ve ever wanted to see the potential of solar thermal energy, watch this video below. Or better yet, go to Okotoks, Alberta, and see The Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC),  a unique solar water heating AND solar space heating housing … Continue reading →

  There is no dispute that solar PV has grown faster than solar thermal in the United States. Why? I think there are three basic reasons. 1) More and better financing for PV than solar thermal Banks and venture capitalists … Continue reading →