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Free Hot Water is increasingly becoming known for our quality lines of solar collectors, tanks, and pump stations, and OG-300 systems. That’s the bread and butter of installing solar thermal, and we know that.
Yet, there are little parts, tools, and accessories that also make installing solar hot water possible—if not just easier—and we’d like to call your attention to the more useful tools and accessories in our online catalog.
Before we get into that, don’t forget our free online solar installer tools, such as our Free Hot Water Solar Collector Estimator. Enter a few quick inputs, and you’ll get an estimated number of needed flat plate collectors for just about any commercial project. We hope you’ll use this and all of our other online solar hot water estimator tools. It’s why they are there.
In terms of our Free Hot Water catalog, one of our most useful, effective, and affordable items is our helical flex hose that solar thermal installers use lieu of copper piping. Heat resistant to 804°F, assembly on site is quick and simple with a super heat-resistant 662°F graphite thread-assembly fitting. The insulation on the pipe is heat resistant to 356°F, UV resistance nylon cover. Of course, the helical corrugated flexible tube inside is approved by IAPMO, UL, and by the German and Korean standards, too. It really does make installing solar pipes simple—without compromising on quality.
Especially for commercial solar thermal applications, you need a reliable solar insolation and shade analysis tool. One of the most well respected solar site evaluation tools is the SunEye 210 all-in-one, handheld. It includes an electronic inclinometer, compass, optional integrated GPS, digital camera with fish-eye lens, and a “what if” editing feature, which allows evaluators to edit sunpath obstructions and add new scenario storage. This is great for projecting the potential of cutting back or eliminating trees or other sun obstructions. A very innovative, useful, and complete tool.
For more inexpensive little things that mean a lot, we strongly urge you to browse our selection of Weicon industrial adhesives, epoxies, lubricants, and sprays. These industrial grade products are manufactured in Germany and used globally in factories and industrial machine applications with extreme temperatures. So, they’re also appropriate for the extremes of relentless, high heat annual sunlight. From anaerobic adhesives to anti-seize solutions, elastic adhesives, and much more, these Weicon products just work. Even better, they’re useful for both general plumbing and solar hot water applications. Try one, and we’re confident you’ll become true believers in the entire Weicon product line—like we are.
Those are just a few suggestions. Our catalog also has a commenting system, so please feel free to give us your opinions on the above products or any in our entire catalog. We sincerely appreciate your feedback, and your fellow Free Hot Water solar installers will too.
Progress Energy, a Raleigh, NC-based utility, has completed a previously announced study showing that its residential customers could save $235 a year, or 63% of the water heating portion of their electric bill. The utility also offers commercial solar thermal incentives, as well.
Few people beyond solar thermal advocates realize that heating water with an electric hot water tank is tremendously inefficient, wasting both energy and money. So, it’s great to see a utility (in cooperation with the North Carolina Utility Commission) conduct a study on solar water heating savings.
The pilot program and study gave 150 Progress Energy customers a $1000 rebate toward the cost of buying a solar hot water heater. (Other North Carolina utilities currently offer cash rebates between $400 and $850 for residential solar thermal systems.) Progress estimated that over 15% of a typical home’s electric bill is used for heating water.
The costs of installing the solar thermal systems averaged $7,271 per household, ranging from $4,000 to $12,375 per home. However, that was before rebates and other incentives.
In addition to the $1000 rebate from Progress, homeowners also qualified for the 30% federal investment tax credit (ITC) and an additional 35% state tax credit of up to $1,400, which reduced the overall solar installation cost by about half.
While the Progress Energy’s residential pilot program has currently expired, Progress is still offering commercial solar water heating cash incentives. The utility will pay $20 for each renewable energy credit (REC) generated by the solar water heating system for a period of 10 years.
One REC represents one megawatt-hour (MWh) of avoided solar electric costs. To be eligible for the incentive, rooftop-mounted solar water heating systems must be installed in North Carolina (or South Carolina) on commercial property owned by a non-residential customer of PEC, and must have between 1,200 and 4,000 square feet of collector area (roughly 30 to 100 solar thermal panels). Solar thermal power purchase agreement (PPA) providers are also eligible.( North Carolina’s Duke Energy utility has a similar solar thermal program.)
Those generous incentive means that North Carolina apartment buildings, hospitals, hotels, and nursing homes are ripe for solar hot water installations.
To recap, a North Carolina utility study shows that North Carolina residential solar hot water heaters are cost effective, especially for solar electric customers. In addition, commercial customers can still benefit from cash incentives provided by Progress Energy.
If you have any questions about these programs, please contact us at Free Hot Water, and we’ll be happy to help.
We’ve written about Eneref Institute’s solar hot water advocacy and information initiatives before. Recently, the organization announced that it is moving into the second phase of its “Solar Thermal Advantage” initiative, which is designed to promote the benefits of solar water heating and solar cooling to the trade media.
The initiative will specifically focus on promoting solar thermal heating and cooling case studies. Free Hot Water launched a similar company initiative last month for our installer partners, so we’re clearly on the same page and support Eneref’s efforts.
The bottom line is that successful solar hot water projects are out there, but they aren’t seen or written about. The more the media, public, and policy makers learn about the advantages of solar water heating, the more customers and policy makers will see its value and support it.
In its press release, Eneref’s Managing Director, Seth Warren Rose, explained that many news editors he speaks to about solar thermal are unfamiliar with both the technology and the brands. He said, “We’re working on educating the media about the various brands and about the tremendous benefits of solar heating technology, so that in time, the press will reach out for these stories without our help.”
Another part of the second phase involves a new website devoted to solar thermal projects. Eneref has just launched www.shc.eneref.org, which features successful case studies demonstrating the benefits of using the sun’s energy for heating and cooling applications. A promotional effort for the website is supposed to begin in the second quarter of 2012.
Solar heating installers and manufacturers are invited to submit their case studies online, at www.casestudy.eneref.org. Free Hot Water plans to contribute, and we hope that our customers will contribute their Free Hot Water projects there, as well.
In addition to Eneref’s efforts, if you’d like to publicize your installations through Free Hot Water, please send the same materials to solarfred@freehotwater.com. We’ll also do our best to spread the word on our blog, email, and potentially RenewableEnergyWorld.com, as well.
Once again, the more we celebrate and promote the value of solar hot water in the United States, the more we will grow our businesses, while contributing to clean air, clean water, and to our nation’s energy independence. Please join our collective solar thermal efforts.
We’d like to think that the Free Hot Water Blog and our various online solar calculators are the only resource on the web for solar installers.
Of course, that’s not the case at all. Thankfully, for our industry, there are numerous informative resources for the solar thermal business.
The latest one we’ve found is SolarThermalBiz.com. It’s a news and info source developed by Eneref, a research and advocacy group devoted to growing sustainable building and technology.
In fact, each year Eneref Institute authors the Solar Thermal Market Report published in Solar Industry magazine, so if you have seen that report, thank the Eneref people. (The 2011 report can be downloaded here.)
Their new site, SolarThermalBiz.com is genuinely devoted to promoting and providing resources to the solar thermal business. There, you’ll find links to solar water heating events, solar thermal news, opinion, as well as free reports from Eneref researchers, as well as other organizations.
I hope you’ll read and spread the word about SolarThermalBiz.com. The more information and resources solar hot water installers have, the better they’ll be able to compete and get the attention that the industry desperately needs to thrive in the Untied States.
So, don’t wait. Bookmark it now, spread the word on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook, and take advantage of this great solar business resource.
Free Hot Water has been on Twitter for over a year now, and we’ve certainly benefited from connecting and developing relationships with other solar thermal installers and plumbers and green contractors. Not only have we found new solar installer customers, but we’ve also been given referrals by green-minded Tweeters who like the things we Tweet.
So, Twitter is a great way to reach a solar thermal consumers, but results aren’t instantaneous, so you have to be in it for the long haul. Here are some brief tips for reaching solar hot water consumers and building your solar brand and customer relationships using Twitter:
1) Search. After you set up a Twitter account, use the search function to find people who are talking about solar and other green related topics. Press the “follow” button and follow them. 80% of the people will follow you back. Do this over and over again, and you’ll soon have a sizable Twitter following without Tweeting much, but having an audience isn’t valuable unless you spend time engaging with them.
2) Tweet sparingly at first. As you build your following, don’t Tweet what you had for breakfast. Instead, Tweet solar-related news items or send out a solar hot water fact of the day or some try to dispel solar hot water myths. You’ll have to write a blog post first, and then Tweet it, however. Blogging and Twitter really do go hand in hand.
3) Listen. The reason why you’re tweeting sparingly in the beginning is so that you have some time to listen to the people that you’re following. You’re seeing what their concerns are. If you can relate to those concerns, engage with them. “Wish I had more organic groceries near me.” You respond: “Is there a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in your area?” While this isn’t solar related, you’re taking the time to care about people who are potentially interested in solar. Down the road, you can be more direct. For now, act like you’re at a friendly cocktail party and participate in the conversations around you. Eventually, your followers will also ask you about solar hot water. Why? Because they keep seeing your good solar Tweets. (See below.)
4) Tweet good information. Don’t try to “sell” through Twitter. Just provide useful information. As mentioned above, the best engagement strategy is to write a blog post that gives “how to” or other useful information. Then Tweet the blog post headline and Tweet it with a shortened URL link, such as bitly. Remember, you only have 140 characters per Tweet, so you need to shorten your URL.
5) RT other people’s info often. Once again, you’re trying to engage and build relationshops, so “Re-Tweet” or “RT” useful information that you’re reading from your followers. They will notice, and many will return the favor by RTing your useful information to THEIR followers. This is how good information can go viral with Twitter.
6) Be polite. If someone RTs your Tweet, thank that person. “Thanks for the RT!” Again, they will notice and your relationship will keep building.
7) Follow people with a lot of followers. Perhaps it’s obvious, but much of the above should be applied to green people who already have a large following, especially if they follow you back. Think about it: If people with a thousand followers RT your useful solar Tweet, that means that 1000 people will see that Tweet. Then, don’t forget that those 1000 people might also RT it again, and so on, and so on.
It really is amazing how many solid “cyber relationships” I’ve built on Twitter. They’ve been very valuable, generating both leads and sales. It hasn’t been instantaneous, but solar marketing with Twitter has been well worth it in the end. You just have to be patient and consistent.
In the meantime, follow @FreeHotWater, send a Tweet our way, and start building your own Twitter relationships.
For anyone who’s read the Free Hot Water blog regularly, you know we don’t just try to “sell, sell, sell” to you. Instead, this blog always tries to offer you, our solar installer partners and distributors, useful information that you can use for your own solar businesses.
However, Facebook and/or Twitter are other communication tools we use, but we understand that you might be hesitant to add another social network to your life. So, here are 5 reasons why you should follow Free Hot Water on Facebook and Twitter:
1) More good solar info without spam. Monday through Friday, we Tweet and post solar news articles to our Facebook page several times a day. These “Tweets” aren’t about what we’re having for lunch, but always contain information about the general solar industry and events. For example, we recently alerted our readers that there were free Intersolar tickets available, and then we blogged about it too, and posted on Facebook.
2) Community interaction. Sure, if you had questions about solar, you could always email or contact us via phone. But when you do it in a public forum like Twitter or Facebook, your question can be answered by us or even by our community of solar installers and fans, who may also answers to your questions….or have questions that you can help answer.
3) Watch and learn social media from us. If you want to learn about Twitter, Facebook, and other social media techniques for your own solar businesses, then here’s a chanceto watch what we do and adapt for own programs. After a while, you’ll see how we’ve grown to have the highest Alexa ranking of any solar thermal company. (Go to Alexa.com and see how your company ranks.)
4) Learn about discounted special offers. Occasionally, we have special sales that last for a limited time. If you’re signed up and listening in on our Tweets or Facebook posts, you won’t miss these limited time offers.
5) Solar advocacy. At Free Hot Water, we’re solar advocates. That is, if there’s some kind of solar legislation pending, we follow it and let you know the news and whether you can send a quick email via Votesolar.org, SEIA, or other organizations. While the solar industry is growing, we still need all of our voices to step up when there’s a call to action. Following us is one way to contribute to the effort.
Of course, if you don’t follow us on Facebook and Twitter, then bookmark our blog, or you can always sign up for our Free Hot Water monthly e-newsletter for a round up of our latest blog posts. In addition, we have a Free Hot Water iPhone App that feeds solar news and blogs from a total of 11 sources, such as RenewableEnergyWorld.com and Greentechmedia.com.
Finally, another easy way to read good solar info from our Twitter fans is to bookmark the Free Hot Water Solar Daily. It’s formatted like a newspaper, so there’s no need to learn anything about Twitter…but we hope you will.
Download the new Free Hot Water Solar News iPhone App!
As a national solar hot water company, the staff here at Free Hot Water reads many solar and renewable energy news sites. But to get our full daily buzz of solar info on the road, we were pressing tiny iPhone buttons and jumping from one site to the next to gather the day’s best solar news. And so we thought… there should be an iPhone app that brings it all together… And now there is.
Introducing the Free Hot Water Solar News App. We put together some of the most informative solar feeds in one little, easy-to-use iPhone app. Download it, and you’ll find some home-grown solar blogs, as well as online solar magazines, articles, jobs, and yes, our very own solar thermal blog that you’re reading now.
Specifically, The Free Hot Water Solar News App features the following nutritious solar feeds:
How convenient, not to mention, free! And speaking of free, easy, and convenient, don’t forget to check out our new set of online solar calculators. As usual, we really want to give the best resources to our partner installers and distributors. Enjoy.
It’s a new year… and a new opportunity to take advantage of the 30% federal tax credit for solar thermal and solar PV systems.
Below are PDF links to the two 2010 IRS forms used to apply for the 30% solar investment tax credit. As discussed last year, there is some confusion about how to apply the 30% tax credit. Some customers multiply the 30% by the gross cost of the installed system, while others calculate the 30% times the cost after the cost of any state or utility rebate has been subtracted.
So which formula is correct? The short answer is that it depends on whether you’ve bought your solar system as a business or a home owner, or whether or not you’ve directly received any rebate cash.
To clarify, below is another recap of what we know. However, please confirm all of this with your own tax consultant. FYI, we’re basing this information on this FAQ document from the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), which consulted a reputable tax adviser.
For Businesses
If you are a commercial business, you must calculate the 30% from the gross amount before any state or a utility rebates. However, as a business, you must also report any rebate amount received as income.
Thus, any rebate money received by the state must be reported and will be taxed at the prevailing rate.
For example. If your gross solar thermal system cost is $50,000, you will receive a $15,000 tax credit that you can use toward paying your Federal income taxes.
This $15,000 is not a tax deduction, but a tax credit. Think of that $15,000 as if you’ve received an IRS Gift Card that you can use toward paying your next tax bill.
Tax credits are thus far not refundable, however, so if you owe less than $15,000, as in this example, the remaining solar tax credit can be carried over to the next quarter’s tax bill.
For Homeowners
If you are a solar water heating homeowner, you must calculate the solar 30% Federal Tax Credit after deducting any State or Utility rebates. Perhaps this sounds unfair, compared to businesses, but wait. Here’s the bonus:
Residents don’t have to report any State or utility solar rebates as income. Instead, it is viewed as a “reduction” in cost. That’s sort of like a sale, but not really.
For example, if your solar hot water or solar thermal system cost $5,000 installed, and then you receive a $2,000 rebate, then your “tax basis” would be $3,000. Thus, your Federal tax credit would equal $900 (30% x $3000 = $900.)
As with commercial systems, this $900 is not a tax deduction, but a tax credit. So it’s as if you’ve received an IRS Gift Card of 900 bucks that you can use toward paying your tax bill.
However, tax credits are not currently refundable, so if you owe less than $900 in this example, the difference can be used toward the next quarter’s tax bill.
Other things to keep in mind:
Some businesses may qualify for a 30% Federal Grant instead of the tax credit. This is like cash. Home owners do not qualify. More info about grant qualifications here.
Whether you’re a home or business, you can only claim the 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit for the year that your solar was “placed in service.” In other words, you should claim the tax credit for the 2010 tax year if your solar system was up and running in 2010. If you only put your deposit down in 2010, but the system was installed in February of 2011, then you need to claim the solar tax credit for 2011 tax purposes.
Business may also qualify for other tax benefits, such as Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS) + Bonus Depreciation (2008-2012). Under this program, federal Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS), businesses may recover investments in certain property through depreciation deductions. The MACRS establishes a set of class lives for various types of property, ranging from three to 50 years, over which the property may be depreciated. Currently under the MACRS, solar electric and solar thermal technologies, including solar hot water systems, are classified as having a 5 year life, allowing the recovery to be captured over a 5 year schedule.
Don’t forget that you may qualify for city, state, or utility tax benefits too. The best resource to confirm these tax breaks in your state are at http://www.dsireusa.org/solar.
IRS Tax Forms for Solar and Energy Efficiency Tax Credits
Here is the 2010 RS Form 5695 for residential systems. Submit it with your 2010 taxes (by April 15, 2010).
On the 2010 1040 form, the residential energy tax credit (from Form 5695 above) is claimed on line 52.
For businesses, the 2010 Form 3468 should have been available online January 27, 2011. Right now, only the 2009 version available, but keep checking back. The link above should be updated when the IRS finally posts the 2010 version.
We hope this information helps, however, please remember that we are not tax advisers, so always consult with your tax expert before applying the above.
Regardless of the tax breaks, we want to thank you for going solar. Please share this information with your friends and other businesses associates.
SEIA (The Solar Energy Industry Association, of which Free Hot Water is a member) recently released its third quarter 2010 Solar Market Report for the industry. Â Unfortunately for the solar hot water industry, the trends are pointing downward for the last quarter of 2010.
The report includes solar photovoltaic (PV) and large scale solar market data as well, but we thought we’d pick out the solar thermal highlights in the report’s Executive Summary:
The overall Solar Hot Water Market. The good news: By the close of the third quarter of 2010, 1,660 thousand square feet (tsf) of solar thermal collectors will have been installed in the U.S. The bad news: If the trends continue, the 2010 market will have shrunk by 11% from the 2,289 tsf that was installed in 2009.
Solar hot water is down because…50% of the solar water heating and solar space heating business in the U.S. is driven by California, Hawaii, Arizona, Puerto Rico and Florida, and a decrease in Hawaii’s tax-based subsidy and Puerto Rico’s slow rebate implementation are seen as one cause of the drop. Business in Puerto Rico should pick up once the rebate program gets its act together.
Cautiously optimistic for recovery. According to SEIA, the recovery of the solar water heating market depends on a number of factors. Mainly, low gas utility rates and the slow economy have been a drag to the industry, but SEIA still expects the market to recover in 2011 and resume moderate growth in 2015. Though not mentioned here in the executive summary report for some reason, California’s new generous solar thermal rebate should also help increase the demand in the market.
For solar pool heating, commercial is in better shape than residential. Solar pool heating sales are up slightly, but incentive programs and rebates for large commercial systems have contributed to much larger commercial growth. If these incentives continue through the U.S., SEIA expects the commercial solar pool heating market will continue to grow through 2015, and residential to grow, but at a slower pace.
To read the full 3rd quarter 2010 executive summary, just download this file.
Free Hot Water is always on the look out for useful resources for our customers. We archive all of our reports, instruction manuals, and other useful documentation on our resources page at shop.freehotwater.com. You can log in or register here to access these reports.
Here’s another video that Free Hot Water distributors and installers can use to help market solar hot water installations and our line of solar thermal collectors.
We call this video “Free Hot Water Solar Collector vs. Pick Up Truck.”
Many customers are concerned by hail or sleet or something shattering the 7000 collector’s glass plate. This video is the answer to those concerns.
We prove our solar collector’s glass strength by showing that it can withstand being run over by a 3000lb+ Toyota pickup truck.
As you’ll see, the video is brief, fun to watch, and also serves to educate your customers about some of the 7000 series specifications.
As one of our partner installers or distributors, we encourage you to use this video to impress your solar customers with Free Hot Water’s quality and durability. You might also use it as a comparison to the evacuated tube collectors.
Could be wrong, but we doubt any evacuated tube collector could match this test:
To use this video on your website, simply copy the embed code at the end of the video and paste it into the HTML portion of your blog or website.
Also, if you like this video, please remember to share it with your friends on Facebook or digg, stumbleupon, or any other social network. Thanks!
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In terms of our Free Hot Water catalog, one of our most useful, effective, and affordable items is our helical flex hose that solar thermal installers use lieu of copper piping. Heat resistant to 804°F, assembly on site is quick and simple with a super heat-resistant 662°F graphite thread-assembly fitting. The insulation on the pipe is heat resistant to 356°F, UV resistance nylon cover. Of course, the helical corrugated flexible tube inside is approved by IAPMO, UL, and by the German and Korean standards, too. It really does make installing solar pipes simple—without compromising on quality.
Especially for commercial solar thermal applications, you need a reliable solar insolation and shade analysis tool. One of the most well respected solar site evaluation tools is the SunEye 210 all-in-one, handheld. It includes an electronic inclinometer, compass, optional integrated GPS, digital camera with fish-eye lens, and a “what if” editing feature, which allows evaluators to edit sunpath obstructions and add new scenario storage. This is great for projecting the potential of cutting back or eliminating trees or other sun obstructions. A very innovative, useful, and complete tool.
could save $235 a year, or 63% of the water heating portion of their electric bill. The utility also offers commercial solar thermal incentives, as well.
We’ve written about
