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 to as solar PV’s ugly stepsister. Typically, solar thermal gets little attention in the media compared to solar PV. That lack of media attention is partly due to limited PR budgets of solar thermal manufacturers and installers and the relatively few installations compared to solar PV. The fewer installations, the less visible solar water heating is.
Recently Eneref called for solar thermal case studies and successfully placed several stories into various industry trade publications relevant to solar water heating applications.
Here are some examples:
- An Eneref Institute story about a prison installation going solar thermal was featured in Correctional Facility magazine, which targets nearly all of the nation’s prisons.
- For Food Manufacturing magazine, Eneref published a story featuring an installation in RJ Rockers, a North Carolina brewery.
- Specifically targeting the health care industry, Eneref published an article in Health Facilities Management magazine titled, “Solar Water Heat to Cut Costs at Two Texas VA hospitals.”
- Eneref also wrote a recent article in Environmental Design + Construction magazine about a commercial laundromat that employed solar heating.
- Another laundromat Eneref story was published in Cleaning Green magazine.
As part of an on-going effort to attract more California Solar Initiative projects, Eneref featured an article in the May issue of Reeves Journal about the public relations benefits of solar heating, highlighting several successful commercial solar thermal projects.
Also in Reeves were the results of Eneref’s report on how the expected rise in natural gas prices next year should boost solar heating sales. Additionally, to encourage more contractor attendance for tradeshow exhibitors, Eneref published an article in Reeves promoting the solar heating and cooling conferences in San Francisco and Milwaukee.
Finally, the March issue of Reeves published Eneref’s examination on the use of solar process heating in breweries.
Future Eneref Institute articles are already researched, written, and scheduled for publication, including one about a solar heating installation in a popular pizza restaurant in Ashville, NC. Other articles are reportedly in the works in Resort + Recreation, Restaurant Hospitality, and Defence Communities magazine, as well as other military publications.
Free Hot Water applauds Eneref’s efforts and successes in promoting solar water heating and the engineering for its various applications. You can submit your own solar thermal stories and case studies to Eneref by uploading them to ww.casestudy.eneref.org.
In addition, Free Hot Water welcomes case studies to be published on this blog, our newsletter, as well as potentially on RenewableEnergyWorld.com. Contact us for more information, or you can also read about our case study program here.
Using solar energy is allot like knowing God. It is the Peace of Power that opposes nothing.