90% of Israeli Homes Solar Hot Water Equipped
Last week I reported on a story that saw a new bill passed in Hawaii making it mandatory for every new home to have their hot water powered by solar panels. Signed in to law by Governor Linda Lingle, the bill will require all single-family homes built starting 2010 to have a solar panel powering the hot water system.
However Hawaii isn’t the trend setters we may have first thought them to be.
Over at MetaEfficient.com, they have an article pointing to the fact that 90% of Israeli homes already have solar water heaters. It began in the early 1950’s when the Israeli government encountered a fuel supply shortage, and restricted the times when water could be heated. In response, the people decided that they would start heating their own water using solar panels.
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By 1983, 60% of the populated were using solar panels, and a law was eventually passed making what was already a common practice a law, regulating that all new houses be installed with a solar water heater.
Following in Israel’s step though, is Spain, who towards the end of 2004 saw their Industry Minister Jose Montilla, announce that starting the following year anyone who intended to build a new home would have to include solar panels in their plans.
Already Spain is the fourth largest manufacturer of solar power technology, exporting 80% of this to Germany. A country with more sunshine available than any other European country (try and work out how they figured that one), the Spanish government is committed to ensuring 12% of their primary energy is from renewable energy sources like solar by 2010.
For those wanting to see this in action, but don’t have the money to travel to Spain or Israel or even Hawaii, there are some simple tools to use from your own computer. A jump on to Google Earth will reveal a multitude of blurry out of focus shining squares on the tops of Jerusalem’s houses. And a visit to Flickr and searching for Jerusalem or Spain plus solar power, will reveal a veritable mass of photos showing solar panels atop houses.
In this way, from the smaller states and countries, let’s hope that in time, larger countries will follow.
credit: maryatexitzero at Flickr under a Creative Commons license
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it’s 90% of israel, not spain. next time, do a little thinking before you post
“A jump on to Google Earth will reveal a multitude of blurry out of focus shining squares on the tops of Jerusalem’s houses. “
There are a few hits for Israel and solar panels, and a lot more for Spain and solar panels. Not sure why your search didn’t find anything.
Daviz, how about these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterfish/9271315/
http://flickr.com/photos/gmuller/34104708/
http://flickr.com/photos/pmark/2028774566/
http://flickr.com/photos/skyekat/2411037422/
http://flickr.com/photos/dleiva/405430750/
http://flickr.com/photos/lcrf/2190172984/
http://flickr.com/photos/steven2358/362391922/
It would be really wonderful if solar panels could become a common reality in America’s urban sprawl too. A sustainable source of energy not only for heating and other home appliances but also for electric cars.
If you shower before the sun comes out, this is not very useful. If you are away working during the day, nobody is home to use the free hot water. At best, you get one tank of hot water to use at night.
Gene- The size of a solar storage tank is sized by use and time of use. In Chicago, most families of 4 have an 80 gallon tank and that is more than enough water to use when the sun is not out.
One thing to keep in mind is that the tank can easily heat up to 180 F. Because we typically don’t use water warmer than 120 F, the water in the solar storage tank is diluted with cool water before it is piped to fixtures. That means that an 80 gallon tank can provide far more than 80 gallons, especially in a climate like Israel.
Google Earth doesn’t show shiny squares on the houses of Jerusalem, nor should it. Solar hot water heaters are black so that they can absorb all of the energy from the sun. If they were shiny they would be reflecting it away.
Very nice!!
The federal government should give an incentive to every solar installation possible! A large number of smaller solar installations adds up and makes our country energy rich!
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