Green is one of my favorite colors but the color green is not what this article is about.  This will be the first in a series of articles on alternative energy technologies.  We all know alternatives to oil generated power are needed for a number of reasons which I won’t go into in this article.  What I do want to present to you are some of the choices a home owner (and some small businesses) have as an alternative to buying commercial fossil fuel generated electric power from the utility.

Solar water heating has been around for many years and Hawaii is an ideal place to use this technology for all your household needs (e.g. showers, clothes washing).  Water heating for most homes is the one thing that consumes the most electricity.   Although there are a few types of solar water heating systems, the most common kind has solar collector panels on your roof; and a large hot water tank, a pump and a control box in your house.

Diagram from stateenergy.net

During the day, the collector panels heat up from sunlight which heats the water in pipes inside the panels.  Once the water in the panel reaches a preset temperature, a control box turns the pump on and the water in the panel flows to the hot water tank.  The water in the panel is replaced with cooler water and the process repeats.

A single 4' X 10' solar hot water panel.

Instead of one big tank, multiple small tanks can fit in smaller spaces.

Here is a link to photos of parts of a solar water heating system from Inter-island Solar. Also here are some good photos of a solar water heating system installation from the 21st Century Technology web site.

The price for a typical solar water heating system in Hawaii ranges from $4,000 to $10,000 depending on the size of your family and hot water needs..  With the Federal (30%) and State (35%) tax credits, your cost would be $1,500 to $3,500 which could be paid back from electric utility bill savings in four to eight years. HECO is offering an additional $1,000 rebate if you use one of their approved contractors.

It is estimated by the State of Hawaii that there are 80,000 homes or businesses using solar water heating systems.  There are homes which are not conducive to solar water heating systems due to the direction the roof faces (optimally your roof needs to face the south) and type of roofing but with less than 20% of the homes and businesses in the State using solar water heating, there are a lot of more people who can benefit from the savings of this kind of system. The less fossil fuel we import, the more independent Hawaii becomes.  Solar hot water heating  is such a big energy saver that Hawaii is the first state in the nation to requires any new house that is built in Hawaii starting 1/1/2010 must have a solar water heater system.  

Although the estimated life of a solar hot water system is 15 years, I personally have had a solar water heating system for over 20 years. I had to get the system repair a couple of times but for the most part it has worked trouble free and has been saving me money for all that time.

There are many companies available to install these systems.  Like other home improvements, look for licensed companies without major complaints from customers. Just Google the company name and the word “complaints” if you want to check them out.   You can also refer to the approved contractors on the HECO website.

For more information on tax credits, go to the State of Hawaii web site.

Here's additional info on solar contractors

Next month I will continue on with another alternative energy article.