Major gas utility warms up to residential solar thermal
Solar domestic hot-water systems don’t grab as many headlines, probably because they’re not considered as high-tech as their solar PV cousins, where science is pushing the boundaries of sunlight-to-electricity conversion. I’m always surprised that residential solar thermal systems don’t get much attention in the United States, particularly in the south where many homes have swimming pools (that need heating) and where the sun shines warm all year, making the payback dramatically better than PV. In Canada, where the conditions are less ideal, we seem for some strange reason to have a greater appreciation for rooftop solar thermal systems, and indeed, have many startups, such as EnerWorks, and academics spending considerable time improving on the technology.
Now, it seems, there’s a much bigger push going on to put solar thermal on Canadian rooftops. Just this week, natural gas distribution giant Enbridge announced a partnership with green electricity retailer Bullfrog Power that is targeting the installation of 1,200 residential solar thermal systems in Ontario over the next two years. The pilot program aims to take advantage of several government incentives, as you’ll find in this Toronto Star article I wrote on the program. The announcement is significant because it’s the first time (at least, I believe, in Ontario) a major fossil-fuel utility has put its name behind a residential renewable-energy technology, beyond tiny-scale pilot studies. Potential customers, in turn, can feel more comfortable dealing with a company they know will be around next year and that already takes their money.
This quote from Enbridge Gas VP Arunas Pleckaitis is perhaps most telling: “You’d have to be from another planet to not realize things are changing. We clearly realize the role of the utility is going to change. The question is, how quickly and what technologies, and what direction will we take? It could be geothermal. It could be micro-generators in people’s homes. It could be heat pumps. There are all sorts of different technologies we’re looking at.’”
Encouraging.
Tags: Bullfrog Power, Enbridge, EnerWorks, solar domestic hot water, solar thermal
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
May 2nd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
‘Encouraging’ is a good word for it- sometimes you wonder if most utilities remember what their primary mission is, to serve a community rather than make a profit. I hope the near future brings a lot more attention to the so-called low-tech renewable energy solutions, as well as the newer technologies. As you have so aptly pointed out before, we seem to neglect the ‘low-hanging fruit’ for the glitzier stuff.
We are a few years from building a house, but I have plans to include a water collection system, solar thermal for hot water, and geo-thermal for heating and cooling- along with solar PV and/or wind, of course. Now, if I can just convince my wife to go with a Monolithic Dome for its safety and thick, highly insulative walls! The big question though, is will I be able to afford all that;-) (Darn! Wrong numbers again this week!)
May 3rd, 2009 at 10:42 am
[...] Clean Break » Blog Archive » Major gas utility warms up to … [...]
May 3rd, 2009 at 6:54 pm
i’m also close to buying a house. I’m seriously considering some sort or renewable energy. Something solar I think. My wife would never go for the dome. I dont mind spending money to save money.
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:14 pm
LOL! I am slowly winning my wife over to the idea of a Monolithic Dome house- they are made out of Italy, Texas, and are finally starting to provide a bit more exterior choices- there were probably too many wives out there like mine who thought they looked ugly with just the bland airform on the outside. But with weather seemingly getting more wild, having thick, cement walls is sounding more appealing- we just had so many 2″ hail stones hit here last month that it about covered our yard;-) We are at the southern end of Tornado Alley, and, Sci-Fi movies aside, I have a nasty feeling that the bigger tornadoes are going to come more often in the future. But tornado-proofing the home is just gravy- it will also save a ton of money on the electric bill (I’m starting to sound like a Geigo commercial;-)
May 4th, 2009 at 1:50 am
“Geico” commercial
June 6th, 2009 at 4:33 am
[...] 3) Major gas utility warms up to residential solar thermal [...]
June 15th, 2009 at 5:10 am
Solar water heaters are actually very durable. Our household has been using the same solar panel water heater for the last 15 years. It is serving us very well. Our place has sun coverage all year round. A solar water heater seems like a good idea.
‘Will
June 15th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Going solar whether its with a pool heater, water heater or solar panels, is a great thing to adopt in a home. In the US, California is trying to lead the other states to go solar.
shannon
June 30th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
It’s about time that people started coming around on solar water heating. It’s been around for 50 years and the ROI is much greater. Austin solar water heater
July 4th, 2009 at 5:24 am
Indeed, they are more efficient than PV as well. It is big in Israel. And I hear that Hawaii have made it mandatory for all houses to have one.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:25 am
Interestingly, in Australia solar hot water heaters can be less cost effective in the sunnier parts of the country simply because people in warm areas use less hot water.
September 20th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The reality is that solar power that is commercially available still isn’t in the reach of the masses. Unless of course, you know how to make panels from scratch, and even from broken cells for example.