Category Archives: Solar Hot Water

Solar Hot Water Installation with Wi-Fi

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Bay Area Hot Water From The Sun

Capturing the suns energy for pre-heating a homes hot water has been with us since man started bathing.  In recent years the solar hot water industry has had a new lease of life with increasing energy costs and concern for climate change. The government has given home owners added incentives with tax credits.

The very latest advancement in solar hot water technology is the introduction of web based performance monitoring.  The Helio-Pak Pro from Heliodyne, a local solar manufacturer based in Richmond CA., has a built in wi-fi transmitter that the installer or home owner can access from there PC. , lap-top or smart phone.  This allows for performance monitoring  and trouble shooting from, well, anywhere. Continue reading →

PG&E Rebates for Solar Hot Water

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Solar Thermal Array

Solar Thermal Array

C.S.I. San Francisco is not a new spin off crime show featuring computer generated imagery of gruesome murder scenes, it is in fact the California Solar Initiative program from the California Public utilities Commission (CPUC) which, in our neck of the woods is PG&E.   While Tax Credits have been around for a while and utilities rebates for Photo-Voltaic systems are well known, the Rebates for Solar Hot Water systems have been a little slow getting off the ground.

Rebates are here and there is around $350,000,000 available for incentives on Solar Thermal Hot Water systems. That is on top of the 30% federal Tax credit!

To get the rebates which could yield up to $1850, the installer must complete a training class from the utility company.

Today, August 9th 2010, I completed that class and can officially apply for said rebate incentives. Continue reading →

Solar Hot Water: The Big No-Brainer

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Solar Thermal Collectors

With so many tax credits and incentives available with the current stimulus package, many people are looking to the sun for sustainable energy.  Solar energy can be harnessed in two ways, Photo-Voltaic (PV) solar is the process of generating electricity from the sun, Solar Thermal converts the sun’s energy into hot water.  PV gets a lot of attention; the very simple and less expensive Solar Thermal option is getting a new pulse of popularity. Continue reading →

Green Energy- a case study. Solar Hot Water with Hydronic Air handler.

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Madeline loves her home in Berkeley with views of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.   As part of a kitchen and family room remodel it was necessary to relocate and upgrade the furnace and water heater.  Madeline, who is concerned about climate change,  sought the advice of her General Contractor, Paul Cerami of Cerami Builders and the plumbing contractor, Paul Gerrard of Pipeline Plumbing and Heating, to see which of the many energy efficient systems would be right for her home and her budget.

Madeline told us, “I already utilize solar PV for my electrical needs and I absolutley love it”.  She was very interested in solar thermal for her hot water needs.  ” I want to be a responsible citizen and reduce my energy costs as much as possible”.  Tax credits were another incentive.

Continue reading →