Solar Hot Water compared to Photovoltaics PAGE

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, for the year of 2010, the average photovoltaic system purchased on the open market is 12% efficient, while the average solar hot water system is 72% efficient. This means that solar hot water systems are, on average, six times more efficient than photovoltaic systems.

In the United States, the average homeowner pays around $600.00 a year to heat their domestic residential hot water. This is the hot water that homeowner use to take showers, baths, wash their dishes, wash their cloths and do many other things.

Hot water is a very handy thing to have around the house, to bad it isn't free.

Hot water can costs a lot of maney. It also has other costs, many of them related to the world environment. Solar Hot Water systems can lower both of those costs, the dollar costs and the environmental costs.

A homeowner can, by using a professionally installed Solar Hot Water system, lower their yearly hot water costs by 50% to 100%, depending on where they live and what type of Solar Hot Water system they install.

Realtor say that a properly installed Solar Hot Water system will add more value to a property than the cost of installing it.

Installing a Solar Hot Water system is also a very good way for a homeowner to save money. Solar Hot Water systems save the average homeowner $480.00 per year.

Some studies say that more CO2 is put into the environment by burning coal to produce electricity for residential hot water than is produced by the average automobile.

One of these studies said that this is also true even when coal is only producing 49% of the electricity used by the electric water heater. (49% is the average amount of electricity produced in the United States by coal fired electric plants.)

Which Solar Hot Water system do we install in Clark County, Washington?

Simple Solar Solutions only installs Solar Hot Water system in Clark County, Washington. We install four different types of Domestic Residentail Solar Water Heating systems. The cost of our systems,for an average family of three people, start at $2,000.00 and run up to $9,000.00.

The $9,000.00 system should meet over 80% of your hot water needs. The $8,000.00 system should meet over 75% of your needs. The $4,000.00 system should meet over 60% of your meets and the $2,000.00 system should meet about 45% of your hot water needs.

We use what is called a hot water preheating method. We take the water coming out of the ground at 51 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, (54 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer), and preheat it before it goes into your regular water heater.

This method is very efficient. We can bring the preheated water up to an average of 80 degrees in the winter, 110+ degrees in the spring and fall and as much as 140+ degrees in the summer.

All systems come with a tempering valve. This device mixes cold water with the hot water to insure that the water going into your house is never over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a safety feather that all our systems have.

With a preheat system, we just preheat the water so that your regular hot water heater does not have to work as hard. (And you do not have to pay for the gas or electricity that it would be using.) With our premium system, your water heater will only be working 20% as hard as it did before.

All but one of Simple Solar Solutions Solar Hot Water systems are "Turn on and forget" systems. Once we turn the system on you can forget about it. It will take care of itself. We come back once every five year for simple maintenance.

* before tax credits, exemptions and rebates.

A correctly installed, nice looking Solar Hot Water system, can make the value of your property increase by more than the cost of installing the system. From day one you can be ahead of the game. The system will then give you back $300.00 to $600.00 or even more in saving each year thereafter.

What about Photovoltaic?

If a homeowner used a Photovoltaic System and an electric water heater to perform the same function as we do with a Solar Hot Water System, the complete Photovoltaic system, tailored for Clark County, Washington, would cost between $42,000.00 and $56,000.00.

If you would like to look into buying a Solar Hot Water system for your property, please contact us at (360) 566-8386 or by Email. Click here to go to our special Email pages.

What about Wind and Microhydro power?

To be fair, we should also talk about wind and microhydro power. Solar Hot Water systems are much more efficient than photovoltaic systems, but what about Wind and Microhydro systems?

Wind Generation or Microhydro systems can be very efficient if you have a lot of wind or water.

If you have a stream running through your property, you might want to look at a Microhydro systems. They are very efficient and cost effective. If you have good wind, blowing most of the day, year-round, wind systems can be cost effective. Both these systems are usually best placed in a rural setting.

Permits for wind and hydro systems take a lot of time and money. Most building permit organization write a permit for wind and/or hydro once every ten years or more. They have to learn or relearn these systems and that takes time and money, mostly your money.

We can also say that photovoltaic systems are expensive now, but in the future, their price will surely come down. The price of photovoltaic panels are going down each and every year. However, most experts are fairly sure that it will be 15 to 20 years before the price of Photovoltaic systems come down enough to compete, one to one, with Solar Thermal (Solar Hot Water) systems.

* Prices are subject to change without notice.