A solar thermal system is an astute investment for wineries, which, like breweries, require large quantities of hot water in their operations. Utility bills associated with heating this water can be a major financial burden that puts wineries at the mercy of volatile fuel prices. Wineries that rely on natural gas or electricity for water-heating can immediately achieve substantial savings on fuel costs by adopting solar thermal. For “off the grid” wineries that heat water with propane, the savings are even greater because propane is even more expensive than natural gas.

SunWater Solar wishes to congratulate Williams Selyem on the completion of their new winery, and thank them for choosing us to build their solar thermal system.

SunWater Solar is proud to be the solar thermal vendor of choice for the San Jose Employee Solar Group Buy program. We look forward to bringing the benefits of solar thermal to program participants!

SunWater Solar is pleased that one of our solar thermal installations at a San Francisco apartment building will be featured on the tour.  Please join us for the event on Saturday!

“I chose SunWater because they specialize in the field [solar thermal technology]. I wanted someone up to date in the technology,” explained Linda, who also appreciated SunWater’s daily updates on the progress of the installation.

San Francisco has a brilliant opportunity to significantly reduce greenhouse gases by focusing on multifamily buildings because there are so many of them in San Francisco.  SunWater Solar is proud to contribute to this effort and hopes that more apartment buildings will adopt solar water heating as a way to reduce their carbon footprint and their energy bills while also attracting new tenants.

Web-based performance metrics illustrate quantifiable return on solar thermal investments

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – May 4, 2010 – SunReports, Inc., a provider of performance monitoring solutions for residential and commercial solar installations, in collaboration with SunWater Solar, one of the few companies in California that specializes in solar thermal technology, today announced the successful deployment of smart solar thermal systems innorthern California. SunReports’ Apollo1 provides a Web-based means of analyzing solar system performance, while SunWater Solar brings the expertise necessary to design and install a quality solar thermal system.

The Apollo1 monitors both solar thermal and solar PV systems, requires no configuration in the field and generates system performance data accessible through Internet portals. SunWater Solar assisted in the fine-tuning of the Installer Portal and was one of the first companies to field test the Apollo1, installing the devices on three Schuco commercial solar thermal systems in northern California. Solar thermal systems use the sun’s energy, rather than fossil fuels, to heat water and other fluids, significantly reducing site-generated greenhouse gas emissions and enabling long term Return on Investment (ROI) through decreased utility bills.

“SunReports’ Apollo1 is an easy-to-use, affordable system that makes a solar system ‘smart’ by enabling it to communicate important performance parameters,” said Thomas Dinkel, CEO, SunReports. “System installers can view system performance for all of their systems using our Installer Portal map-based interface, and a system owner can see the performance of their own system in easy-to-understand graphics, complete with energy savings equivalents.”

SunReports’ performance-based monitoring is the first system capable of highlighting a solar thermal system’s actual production compared to its estimated performance, providing assurance that the system is operational and working to its designed capacity. By accessing SunReports’ Internet portals via any web-enabled device, even mobile devices such as the iPhone, system installers and owners can check system performance from anywhere in the world. The SunReports solar performance monitoring solution also issues alerts should the system experience any performance issues.

“At SunWater Solar we take great pride in designing and building quality solar thermal systems that generate long-term financial benefits,” said Justin Weil, President, SunWater Solar. “Now, thanks to SunReports, we can access metrics that assist us in further enhancing system performance, so clients get a high-quality solar thermal system along with quantifiable assurance that it is generating maximum output and maximum savings.”

Unlike other measurement systems on the market, the SunReports system takes direct measurement of the solar benefit, rather than estimating the effect of the arrays. Three temperature sensors allow the Apollo1 to accurately calculate the amount of energy a solar thermal array is creating. Two sensors take direct measurements of the temperature of fluid moving between the array and the heat exchanger, while a third sensor measures the temperature of the fluid in the solar storage tank. A current transducer tells when the solar circulating pump is on. The Apollo1 integrates all of this data and then transmits it through an Internet connection.

Businesses considering the installation of a solar thermal system may be eligible for sizable rebates, and rebate program rules may require the installation of performance metering and monitoring equipment on the system. The California Solar Initiative (CSI) Thermal Program, for example, stipulates that monitoring equipment must be installed on systems displacing more than 30kWth (Kilowatt Thermal), equivalent to about 462 square feet of collector area. The CSI Thermal Program, which authorizes $350 million in rebates, is one of the nation’s most ambitious solar thermal rebate programs.

“SEIA expects continued growth in SWH in 2010. This year, California will launch the most ambitious state SWH incentive program with the goal of installing 200,000 SWH systems. In addition, increased use of SWH to generate renewable energy certificates (RECs) to meet state renewable energy standards could drive additional deployment in some states as we began to see in Arizona last year. This optimism is mirrored by the many new products seeking certification from the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation, the testing body charged with certifying equipment for eligibility to take the federal ITC.”

In addition to solar water heating, the report sites the huge potential of solar thermal technology for cooling applications like air conditioning and industrial cooling.  “While solar cooling technologies have yet to take off in the U.S., the potential is enormous. More than 60 percent of energy consumed residential and commercial buildings is for thermal services. Of that, water heating accounts for about one quarter. The rest is used for space heating and cooling, a huge growth opportunity for solar energy over the next few years.”

SunWater Solar offers both solar water heating and solar thermal cooling solutions and looks forward to more customers adopting solar thermal as a cost effective way of reducing energy bills and greenhouse gasses.

California is well-known for producing fine beers. Brewing companies like Sierra Nevada, Anchor and Gordon Biersch turn out millions of bottles of brew every year from their facilities in California, while countless smaller breweries across the U.S. also add to the diversity of beers that drinkers can choose from.

A large percentage of beer is water, which is also a central part of the brewing process. Breweries need large quantities of water – hot water – to not only make beer, but also to rinse and clean the kegs, tanks and other equipment used to manufacture and ship the final product.

There is a simple elegance in the combination of water, heat and basic ingredients (yeast, sugar, grains, etc.) necessary to craft beer. Bringing the sun’s natural heat into the process by way of a solar hot water system adds to this elegance.

And for brewing companies, which are businesses after all, a solar thermal system can be a sound investment since these systems significantly reduce water-heating costs.  Breweries in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Montana have all turned to solar water heating for their brewery operations.

Water. Natural ingredients. Solar energy. Now that’s a discovery that’s easy to get excited about!

Unlike tenants, apartment building owners see their buildings as long-term investments, with long-term costs. Building owners, for example, must frequently pay the entire building’s monthly water-heating bill. Every time a tenant cooks a meal, does laundry or uses the bathroom, that’s money out of the building owner’s pocket! And the more people there are living in the building, the higher the owner’s costs.

Water-heating can account for a large percentage of an apartment building owner’s monthly energy bills. Solar thermal systems reduce energy bills, insulate owners from rising natural gas prices and help owners go green by using the sun’s energy, rather than electricity or fossil fuels, to heat the water used by tenants. A solar thermal system can produce 60% to 80% of an apartment building’s hot water load, and also help differentiate the property among environmentally conscious tenants.

For apartment building owners and tenants, solar thermal is a win-win!

Now there is a new call for President Obama to follow Carter’s example and install solar hot water and solar PV systems at the White House. This would help set an example for the rest of the country and the world and allow the White House to use renewable energy to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.  SunWater Solar would certainly like to see a solar water heating project at the White House and of course we would be happy to participate!

Appalachian State recently installed a system to supply hot water to its student union and Yale University is using solar hot water in a LEED Platinum building on campus.  SunWater Solar is excited to see solar water heating on campuses and expects that more and more universities will follow the lead of these two schools.