SOLAR WATER HEATERS: Significant rebates are close on the horizon

Conventional water heaters, tankless water heaters, & solar water heaters.

The solar water heater buzz is rising across the internet, and feeding the frenzy is the emergence of rebates — especially in California where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation last Fall to spend $250 million over the next 10 years on rebates for solar water heaters.

Rebates from your gas utility can be as much as $1,500. Rebates are paid for by everyone who doesn’t have a solar water heater as your monthly bill will see a small increase of less than twenty cents.

The city of Palo Alto, CA this week joins communities such as Sacramento and Austin with an outline to their rebate program. The latter two programs are already live.

The DOE’s Consumer’s Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has some great information on the topic of solar hot water heaters. There are several flavors of solar hot water heaters, and you’ll need to take a small amount of time to see which type is right for you. The DOE includes a cost calculation sheet on their site that you can work the numbers to understand your payback.

Take a look at the following links for more information on suppliers and pricing; AET, Solar Direct, SolarRoofs.com, Heliodyne (images in this article), Sun Ray Solar, Sun Earth Inc., Sun Systems Inc., ThermoTechnologies, and Apricus.

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