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When California funded the CSI Solar Thermal program in 2010, part of the funding included a carve-out for marketing the program and educating the public about solar hot water’s benefits to consumers and businesses.
That public awareness program is finally launching Earth Day. The first step was a media release that outlines the CSI Thermal program and its financial benefits. Read the release here.
The just-launched campaign also includes a website (www.waterheatedbythesun.com) and a quick commercial video that announces the initiative (embedded below).
At this point, the website is really just a portal to the individual utilities that are managing the CSI thermal program in the various areas of the State. In an easy three-stem process, website visitors identify their utility and the type of current water heating energy (gas, propane, or electric) that they are using. Those selections lead the individual to their utility’s specific information about how the CSI Thermal program is implemented in their utility, as well as eligibility requirements.
The video is brief, but well-produced, and can be added to anyone’s website via a YouTube embed code.  The video’s theme is “Meet the Next Step in Your Green Routine: Solar Water Heating!” Their message is that it’s now common for California consumers to turn off the lights, recycle, and do other green things, and now it’s time to make installing solar hot water part of that everyday “green” life too. Check it out:
There are four administrators (utilities) that are running the program. If you have specific questions about eligibility for your clients or for becoming a CSI thermal eligible installer, contact them at their respective emails below:
The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in the San Diego Gas & Electric Company® territory swh@energycenter.org
Pacific Gas & Electric Company® (PG&E)  Solar@pge.com
Free Hot Water welcomes the program’s launch, and we hope California’s eligible CSI Thermal installers will quickly benefit from the new marketing program’s efforts.
If you’ve ever wanted to see the potential of solar thermal energy, watch this video below. Or better yet, go to Okotoks, Alberta, and see The Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC), a unique solar water heating AND solar space heating housing development in Canada.
According to the DLSC website, this solar development of 52 homes is the first of its kind in North America. What’s so solar “gee-whiz’ about the development is that every home is heated by a huge central solar heating system that stores solar thermal heat underground during the summer months and distributes the energy to each home for space heating needs during winter months.
(Click to enlarge)
The solar storage technology is called Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES). On first glance, the concept seems similar to a geothermal heating system, but it’s not. Of course, the main difference is that the thermal power source is coming from the sun, not from the earth’s crust.
According to the developers, this BTES system heats 90% of each home’s space heating requirements. And yes, that includes Canadian winters. The remaining 10% is backed by a natural gas heater. In addition to solar space heating, each home has its own flat plate solar water heating system on top of the garage. As for the homeowner’s energy costs, it’s structured as a flat monthly fee that is less expensive than gas or oil heating.
(click to enlarge)
Other solar details:
The Development’s system consists of 800 flat-plate glazed collectors.
50% propylene glycol antifreeze
Mounted on four rows of garages, with two rows of collectors per garage
Azimuth – south; tilt – 45°
All 52 houses are serviced by direct-buried, pre-insulated piping.
Short-term thermal storage (STTS) tanks are central hub for heat movement between collectors, district loop (DL)/houses, and (BTES)
The District Loop moves heat from the STTS to the houses
BTES is connected to the STTS through a heat exchanger, all located within the Energy Center, a separate building. (See video).
There are 4 individual home-run loops off a manifold in the Energy Center.
Water temperature is modulated based on outdoor temperature.
Flow is modulated based on the number of houses calling.
Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) Details
Above ground, it looks like a wide open park. But below ground….
There are 144 – 150mm dia x 35m deep boreholes spaced 2.25m on center.
Single 25mm PEX U-tube with 40mm grout tube.
High solids grout – 9% Blast Furnace Cement, 9% Portland cement, 32% fine silica sand, 50% water
24 strings of 6 boreholes in series.
Divided into four circuits and distributed through four quadrants so that the loss of any single string or circuit has minimal impact on the heat capacity on the entire system
All circuits and strings start from center of the BTES and move toward the outside to maximize stratification.
Here’s an abbreviated promotional video from DLSC. The section shows how the BTES works:
It’s very exciting to see innovative solar thermal developments like this. We sincerely wish the developers of The Drake Landing Solar Community great success.
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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