Solar Thermal

SOLAR HOT WATER

How does it work and what can it do for me?

Using the Sun to heat water is one of the best ways to lower your energy costs while improving hot water supply. This is true both for domestic as well as for commercial and industrial applications.

Domestic

In homes in Kenya today, people heat their cooking, washing and shower water through firewood or charcoal, electricity using boilers or instant showers or gas. Solar hot water heating can offer enormous economic and quality of life advantages over these other sources. Economic benefits accrue from the fact that once you install the solar hot water system, besides the annual maintenance, there are no running costs. When the solar hot water system is sized correctly, it can provide up to 95% of your hot water needs.In a typical home today, 60% of the electricity bill is hot water heating. This means that with a solar hot water system, on average, a family can reduce their electricity bill by 60% and possibly even more ocnsidering the expected increases in electricity costs.Additionally, in homes that use "Instant Hot water" showers", during power rationing, the inconvenience of either having to shower with cold water or use gas to heat water can be eliminated by installing a solar hot water system.Sizing the solar hot water system is critical to ensuring that you get the best return on your investment while optimizing your hot water supply. Please email us at info@energy-kenya.com with details of the number of people in your household, where you are located and we will provide you with an idea of the cost of a solar hot water system and analysis of your cost savings should you install one.

Commercial

In commerical applications such as schools, restaurants, hospitals etc, using solar hot water systems can drastically reduce the cost of energy while improving the overall supply of hot water. Getting commercial solar hot water systems right though requires a good understanding of the needs of the client. This is because in typical settings, the hot water is used throughout the day and therefore requires specific design features to ensure consistent hot water supply.Please email us at info@energy-kenya.com with an idea of your daily hot water needs and we will be happy to work with you to design a system that meets your financial and operation needs.

Industrial

For industries that use hot water systems such as boilers, including a solar hot water system in your system could greatly reduce your energy costs. Typically in industrial settings, the boilers are heated using fossil fuels. By using solar energy to heat the water before it gets to the boiler, an industry can drastically reduce their fossil fuel costs since the water is already preheated. Since the design is very specific to each industry, we would recommend an initial free consultation from us where we would visit your facility and based on your existing infrastructure, design a solar hot water addition that would lower your heating costs. Please email us at info@energy-kenya.com to set up a free consultation.