Clean, Smart and Ready to Go

Smart, Clean and Ready to Go How Solar Hot Water Can Reduce Pollution and Dependence on Fossil Fuels PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center Tony Dutzik and Rob Kerth, Frontier Group Rob Sargent, Environment America Research & Policy Center Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank Claudia Eyzaguirre, Senior Policy Advocate for the Vote Solar Initiative, Katherine Stainken, Policy Specialist for the Solar Energy Industries Association and Harvey Sachs, Senior Fellow with the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, for their insightful comments on drafts of this report. Thanks also to Carolyn Kramer and to Jordan Schneider at Frontier Group for editorial support. PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center is grateful to The Energy Foundation, the John Merck Fund, the Houston Endowment, the Trull foundation, the Richard and Rhoda Gold- man Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, the Arntz Family Foundation, ReAmp Strategic Action Fund, the Park Foundation, Fred Stanback, and the Mary Norris Preyer Fund for making this report possible. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. The recommendations are those of Pen- nEnvironment Research & Policy Center. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. © 2011 PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center The PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization focused on protecting our environment and providing the people of Pennsylvania a voice in the environmental debate. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience, our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and effective educational campaigns to overcome the opposition of special interests and win real results for Pennsylvania’s environment. For more information about PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center or for additional copies of this report, please visit www.pennenvironment.org. Frontier Group conducts independent research and policy analysis to support a cleaner, healthier and more democratic society. Our mission is to inject accurate information and compelling ideas into public policy debates at the local, state and federal levels. For more information about Frontier Group, please visit www.frontiergroup.org. Cover Photo Credit: Tim Saxon, istockphoto.com Design and Layout: Harriet Eckstein Graphic Design Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 4 Solar Water Heating: A Clean Energy Solution for America 6 Why Heat Water with Solar Energy? 6 What Is Solar Water Heating? 7 Solar Water Heating in the United States and Around the World 8 Uses of Solar Water Heating 10 Solar Water Heating Can Save Energy and Reduce Global Warming Pollution 14 Millions of Homes and Businesses Are Candidates for Solar Water Heating 14 Energy Savings from Solar Water Heating 15 Emission Reductions from Solar Water Heating 17 Realizing the Potential for Solar Water Heating in the United States 19 Solar Water Heating: A Winning Investment 19 Barriers to Solar Water Heating 20 Elevating the Profile of Solar Water Heating 21 Recommendations: Taking Advantage of America’s Solar Water Heating Potential 21 Appendix A 24 Appendix B: Methodology 30 Notes 33 Executive Summary olar water heating has the potential to sun’s heat—have been in use for more reduce America’s dependence on fossil than a century. Solar water heaters can Sfuels and curb pollution that causes replace 50 to 85 percent of the energy global warming and respiratory problems. used for hot water and can operate in By taking advantage of America’s full po- all climates. tential to produce hot water for homes and businesses from solar energy, the nation • Solar water heating technologies can could reduce natural gas consumption also be used to provide hot water for by 2.5 percent and electricity use by industry, to provide space heating for nearly one percent, while avoiding 52 homes or entire neighborhoods, or million metric tons of carbon dioxide even to cool buildings. pollution per year—equivalent to emissions from 13 coal-fired power plants or Tapping America’s full potential 9.9 million cars. to use solar energy for domestic and The United States should take aggres- commercial hot water would reduce sive steps to encourage the installation of America’s energy use and emissions of solar water heaters on homes and busi- global warming pollution. nesses and to promote other solar water heating technologies that can make an • Approximately 40 million homes, as even bigger dent in our consumption of well as 50 to 75 percent of all commer- fossil fuels. cial roof space, can host solar water heaters, according to the National Solar water heating is a proven Renewable Energy Laboratory. technology that can reduce energy use throughout our economy. • Achieving America’s full potential for domestic and commercial solar water • Solar water heaters—which typically heating could: use rooftop collectors to capture the Executive Summary o Save 578 billion cubic feet of • Solar water heating increases Amer- natural gas, or 2.5 percent of U.S. ica’s energy security, reduces the natural gas use; environmental and public health costs of fossil fuel-related pollution, and o Save 35 billion kilowatt-hours of creates jobs. Europe’s solar thermal electricity, or just under 1 percent industry, for example, employs 40,000 of U.S. consumption; people and brings in $4.1 billion in annual sales. o Prevent 52 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution—equiva- Despite the recent resurgence of so- lent to emissions from 13 coal- lar water heating in the United States, fired power plants or 9.9 million America trails far behind the world cars. leaders in using this energy-saving technology. • These figures do not include potential savings from industrial solar • America ranks 35th in the world for water heating, solar space heating or per-capita solar water heating capacity solar cooling, all of which use solar (excluding heated swimming pools), collectors similar to those used to trailing such nations as Barbados, produce hot water. A European study Taiwan, Tunisia and Albania. estimated that the European Union could provide nearly half of its low- • On a per-capita basis, Cyprus has 83 temperature heat—which currently times as much solar water heating ca- accounts for one-third of total energy pacity as the United States, Germany use—with this broad range of solar has 14 times as much, and China 10 thermal technologies by 2050 under times as much. an aggressive research and development scenario. • Other nations are taking the lead both in widespread adoption of solar water heating and in innovation. Solar Solar water heating delivers a variety water heaters are mandatory on most of benefits to the economy. new buildings in Israel and Spain, tens of millions of solar water heaters • Solar water heating could reduce ener- have been installed across China, and gy bills by $9.9 billion annually, saving European nations are pioneering new residential customers 3.2 percent and types of solar water heating systems businesses 1.6 percent of their current that can provide even greater reduc- energy expenditures. tions in energy consumption. • Residential solar water heaters in Smart public policy can overcome the parts of the country pay back their barriers to widespread adoption of solar initial investment in four to eight water heating in the United States and years, providing long-term savings for reap the energy savings and emission consumers and protecting consumers reductions that would result. Local, and businesses from the risk of wild state and federal officials should take swings in fossil fuel and electricity actions to promote solar water heating, prices. including: 2 Smart, Clean and Ready to Go Figure ES-1. Installed Solar Water Heating Capacity by Country 2008 (kilowatts thermal per 1,000 residents) 600 500 per 1,000 per1,000 th United States 400 300 residents) 200 100 Solar WaterSolar Heating Capacity (kW 0 USA Italy Israel Spain Brazil China Japan Korea Malta Turkey Cyprus Poland Ireland Tunisia Austria Greece Taiwan Jordan France Albania Sweden Belgium Slovakia Slovenia Portugal Australia Denmark Germany Barbados CzechRep. Macedonia Switzerland Netherlands Luxembourg New New Zealand • Adoption of strong building energy reduce the cost of solar water heaters codes that encourage builders to use in the short-term. technologies such as solar water heating to dramatically reduce fossil fuel • Adoption of policies to require new consumption in homes and commer- homes to be “solar ready” or even to cial buildings. require solar water heaters on new buildings, as Hawaii has recently done. • Adoption and implementation of strong electric and gas utility energy • Aggressive government support for efficiency requirements that encourage solar water heating, including the the deployment of solar water heating installation of solar water heaters on and other clean energy technologies. government buildings and increased investment in research and development • Adoption of innovative financing tools of solar water heating technologies. that ensure that those who install solar water heaters benefit from their • Steps to develop the solar water heat- investments immediately, as opposed ing industry, including workforce to having to wait for years to break training programs, incentives for even on their investments. domestic manufacturing of solar water heating equipment, and efforts to edu- • Provision of financial incentives— cate the public and businesses about including tax credits and grants—to the benefits of solar water heating. Executive Summary 3 Introduction ot water is at the core of our modern free energy from the sun. Hway of life. Solar water heating is a tried and tested That might seem to be an exaggera- technology that has been used for more tion at first blush. Sure, hot showers, than a century. Small-scale solar water clean clothes and coffee are nice, but they heaters are ubiquitous in countries such as could hardly be considered pillars of our Israel and are being installed by the mil- economy.

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