Cleaner Greener China

Spend any time at all in China, and you will begin to see that solar hot water heaters are installed all over china.  One city in Shandong province, Rizhao, has a 90% acceptance rate in the city, and as I wrote  over at Crossroads through my article China Solar Water Industry Saves 40 Nuclear Plants Worth of Energy, there is a lot of energy savings that can be achieved through these products.

So I thought.

When writing a client in Phoenix (no better city in the US for solar potential) about my interest in seeing what the opportunities existed for these units in his market, I received the following response:

The solar water heaters were all the rage here in Phoenix over 20 years ago. I know when my folks put one on their house in the 80s they received a $1,000 solar State Solar Energy Rebate. The issue with the Chinese models is appearance. Most new developments have HOA rules that stipulate solar equipment cannot be visible or must be the same color as the surrounding roof area. The only solar water products still popular are pool heaters that have panels in the same color as the roof. . . with the tank on the ground somewhere or tankless. I would think we would have much more market if we could import a solar electricity panel that would easily hook to the home power panel and could be mounted on the ground. Rather than focusing on hot water, the free electricity could be used for anything in the house or business. Ideal would be a base unit that would allow expansion by easily adding more panels.

At the time, that was disappointing to hear… but after a few months of meeting people in architecture, seeing what a couple of skilled industrial designers can do.. I believe that the following modifications in product and policy would turn the situation around

Product Changes:

1) Improve the efficiency of panels and seperate the tank from the panels to allow the tank to be stored in the attic (would be a better place anyway dur to heat trapping)

2) Install a pump between the tank and the main line to increase the pressure

Policy Changes:

1) Remove barriers for homeowners who want to install solar panels or other renewable technologies within their property lines.

2) Begin looking at the cost structure as a whole and offer incentives/ rewards based on that.  Many fail to take into consideration that going off the grid has impacts that go further than the fuse box.

Perhaps these four measure are a bit oversimplified, but with an improved product that performs better, minimizes external components, and has a short payback period, the market for these products in the US and other parts of the world could be much larger.. and they should be given that chance.