For most people, heating the hot water for your home accounts for about 10 to 20% of your total energy cost. Solar heating uses the energy from the sun to heat the water for your home. Solar water heating is ideal for the Northwest climate because it does not need direct sunlight in order to work. Solar water heating panels work from the same light waves that will give you a sunburn even on a cloudy day.

How it works

Solar water heating works by using sunlight to heat the water before it goes into your hot water heater. This cuts down on the work that your hot water heater needs to do to bring the water to correct temperature. Once the solar heating system is installed, your hot water heater becomes a backup to your solar heating system. Active Solar heating systems pump the water through the system. The use of silicon solar cells allow that pump to be solar powered, thus the solar hot water heater uses no electricity from the grid.

Benefits of Solar Heating

• Shrink your carbon footprint by 20% or more.
• Impressive rebates and incentives help make cost manageable.
• Reduce monthly electricity bill.

"When a solar water heater replaces an electric water heater, the electricity displaced over 20 years represents more than 50 tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions alone."

- U.S. Department of Energy

Incentives and Rebates

To reduce your cost of water heating, simple solar heating systems are ideal. Currently there are State and Federal incentives and rebates to make solar water heating affordable for everyone.

• Federal Tax Rebate

  > 30% of the Net System Cost* as a tax rebate.

  > No Limit to amount of rebate.

  > Rebate claimed in first year.

  (*This is the cost after the Energy Trust Rebate.)

• Oregon Residential Energy Tax Credit

  > 60 cents per kilowatt hour in annual energy savings.

  > Up to $1,500 tax rebate.

• Energy Trust of Oregon

  If you have an electric water heater:

  > 40 cents per kilowatt hour in annual energy savings.

  If you have a natural gas water heater:

  > 30 cents per kilowatt hour in annual energy savings.

"When a solar water heater replaces an electric water heater, the electricity displaced over 20 years represents more than 50 tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions alone." -U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Document: A Consumer's Guide: Heat Your Water with the Sun

More information about Solar Heating applications can be found on the US Department of Energy web site.