Hawaii Solar Thermal

According to a law passed in 2008, in order to receive a building permit, new single-family homes in the state of Hawaii are required to be equipped with solar thermal water heating. The regulation will begin to be enforced as of January of 2010.

At the time the law was passed, solar efforts to heat domestic water were only being used by about 25% of Hawaiians. There were tax credits in place, and a $1,000 rebate available for voluntary solar heating systems, however these have been phased out.

There are many exemptions to this law, which critics are disapproving of. Some of these exemptions come into play where solar access is limited, or where payback from the efforts would take 15 years or more. Additional exemptions come in to play in situations where other renewable sources are already being used for water heating, or where tankless gas-fired heaters coupled with another gas-fueled appliance are being used. The latter exemption will be monitored thoroughly by advocacy groups from both environmental and solar thermal factions, based on the assumption that it could lead to a increase in gas-fueled tankless water heating.

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Posted by Brett Nordin on Nov 7 2010. Filed under Construction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.