Solar photoelectric and concentrating solar thermal are all the rage and little is said about the much simpler solar thermal. However this technology has a huge potential as New York will soon show.
Indeed the US State is willing to add the equivalent of no less than two gigawatts of capacity by 2020. Heating water and buildings with solar on such a scale would enable NY to save up to $175 million per year (around 135 million euros).
The goal is to enable New York to ” become the national leader in the research, development, deployment and manufacture of solar thermal technologies.”
This policy will create 25,000 jobs within the decade.
To Renewable Energy World :
By unveiling a solar heating and cooling programme that could create 25,000 new green jobs, generate US$2.6 billion in revenue and see 2 GW of new solar thermal capacity installed in the state over the next decade, New York has revealed its ambition to become America’s national leader in solar heating and cooling.
(…) by 2020 the savings for a four person model family supplying 50% of their water heating needs from solar are projected to increase to between $310 and $850 annually. Fuel savings, from residential DHW applications alone, show the potential for a dramatic reduction in emissions too. In 2010 the model family with a solar thermal system could save approximately 100 US gallons of fuel oil, 125 therms of natural gas or 3100 KWh of electricity.
According to the model, combined residential and commercial sales start at $5 million in 2010 and rise to $629 million in 2020. Total revenues from 2010–2020 are projected to be $2.6 billion. Furthermore, the analysis is based only on the development of a state-wide domestic hot water market. The potential impact is obviously multiplied when other technologies such as solar space heating, ‘combi’ systems and solar assisted cooling are considered, as well as potential opportunities elsewhere in the US and overseas.
More at Ecogeek.