History Solar water heating

1 history

1.1 mediterranean
1.2 asia
1.3 latin america

history

an advertisement solar water heater dating 1902



frank shuman s sunengine on march 1916 cover of hugo gernsback s electrical experimenter

records of solar collectors in u.s. date before 1900, involving black-painted tank mounted on roof. in 1896 clarence kemp of baltimore enclosed tank in wooden box, creating first batch water heater known today. frank shuman built world’s first solar thermal power station in maadi, egypt, using parabolic troughs power 60-70 horsepower engine pumped 6,000 gallons of water per minute nile river adjacent cotton fields.

flat-plate collectors solar water heating used in florida , southern california in 1920s. interest grew in north america after 1960, after 1973 oil crisis.

see appendix 1 country-specific statistics on use of solar water heating worldwide . solar power in use in australia, canada, china, germany, india, israel, japan, portugal, romania, spain, united kingdom , united states.

mediterranean


passive (thermosiphon) solar water heaters on rooftop in jerusalem

israel, cyprus , greece per capita leaders in use of solar water heating systems supporting 30%–40% of homes.

flat plate solar systems perfected , used on large scale in israel. in 1950s fuel shortage led government forbid heating water between 10 pm , 6 am. levi yissar built first prototype israeli solar water heater , in 1953 launched neryah company, israel s first commercial manufacturer of solar water heating. solar water heaters used 20% of population 1967. following energy crisis in 1970s, in 1980 israel required installation of solar water heaters in new homes (except high towers insufficient roof area). result, israel became world leader in use of solar energy per capita 85% of households using solar thermal systems (3% of primary national energy consumption), estimated save country 2 million barrels (320,000 m) of oil year.

in 2005, spain became world s first country require installation of photovoltaic electricity generation in new buildings, , second (after israel) require installation of solar water heating systems, in 2006.

asia


new solar hot water installations during 2007, worldwide.

after 1960 systems marketed in japan.

australia has variety of national , state , regulations solar thermal starting mret in 1997.

solar water heating systems popular in china, basic models start @ around 1,500 yuan (us$235), around 80% less in western countries given collector size. @ least 30 million chinese households have one. popularity due efficient evacuated tubes allow heaters function under gray skies , @ temperatures below freezing.

latin america

colombia developed local solar water heating industry designs of las gaviotas, directed paolo lugari. driven desire reduce costs in social housing, team studied best systems israel , made adaptations meet specifications set banco central hipotecario (bch) required system operate in cities such bogotá overcast more 200 days annually. ultimate designs successful las gaviotas offered 25-year warranty on installations in 1984. on 40,000 installed , still function quarter of century later.