It is interesting that nearly all reviews of Solar Water systems look only at direct thermal heating. Heating water with the sun through PV systems either directly or as part of a home power solution in many ways makes much more sense. There are very few comparison reviews. If this was factored in I am sure California is far greater than 1%. A modern reliable  Thermal solar hot water system is relatively complex often with a thermal fluid loop and heat exchanger, pumps and valves, the units are quite heavy and on non-sunny days require electric backup anyhow.  Using PV panels either directly connected with DC controller or as part of home power AC solution in many reviews seems to win over direct thermal heating, I would love to see better comparisons of these options. The PV panels are light and essentially maintenance-free, the same water heater can use the PV power and grid power in low sun, meaning lower capital cost.  This is not a criticism of this article which does raise the key important point to highlight the role that developers, regulators and governments CAN have to make a huge impact on promoting the use of all forms of renewable energy but seem to be hesitant to do so. Future generations will look at our greedy consumption of 4 Billion years of the earth's valuable refined fossil fuels in less than 100 years as a disgraceful disrespect of natures yield.

Published November 20, 2020 05:34 by Tony Vovers