The slow growth in solar thermal in the United States compared to solar PV is not due to solar hot water technology, but to three core challenges The lack of public awareness and education about solar hot water The lack … Continue reading
Here’s a great video resource for PG&E customers in Northern California, Silicon Valley, and the surrounding San Francisco Bay area. It’s a solar hot water video from PG&E that explains the benefits of residential solar water heating for homes, as … Continue reading
Often when you think of commercial water heating systems, you may think of the obvious: Apartment buildings, hotels, Laundromats, and pool heating. However, when you take a look at the U.S. Department of Energy’s registry of projects in their Utility … Continue reading
The solar thermal industry is notoriously treated as “the other solar” in the United States, despite it being widely used and appreciated in other parts of the world. The ASES National Solar Tour is not only an opportunity to educate … Continue reading
We’ve just learned that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has voted to increase the California Solar Initiative’s Thermal Rebate (CSI Thermal program) for both residential and commercial customers. The residential rebate will go up by a significant 45% in … Continue reading
Solar thermal advocacy organization, Eneref Institute, has begun to compile solar thermal case studies that are finding their way into the trade publications that serve various solar thermal applications. When it comes to media attention, solar thermal is often referred … Continue reading
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
If you’ve ever doubted that we talk about solar thermal energy and solar hot water here on the Free Hot Water blog, here’s visual evidence that we’re very serious and persistent about having a serious interactive conversation about the solar … 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
Although Free Hot Water offers OG-300 residential systems and pre-engineered commercial solar thermal systems, there will still be times when solar thermal installers and construction firms need a solar thermal engineer. Sometimes it’s as simple as freeing installers from putting … Continue reading
