4/20/11

Information About Solar Hot Water In Maryland

By Lenora Glass


For many Maryland households, after the expenses associated with heating and cooling, water heating is the greatest household energy drain. Up to a third of your utility bill may be the result of water heating and storage for use. Happily, there is a realistic alternative to large utility bills resulting from this process. This alternative is solar hot water in Maryland.

At its most basic, a dark container with liquid passing through it in tubes acts as a sun-powered heater. The sun's energy is captured by the dark collector and is transferred into the liquid. If the tubes are full of water, the heated liquid is sent directly into the household storage system. If the tubes are filled with a non-freezing liquid, the tubes pass through stored water and the heat then transfers into the stored liquid.

There are several kinds of collection systems each suitable for a specific set of circumstances. A responsible dealer can determine if this sort of system is appropriate for your site and help sort out which type of system would be best. He also can help you learn how affordable this system can be.

Although installing a sun-based heating system has a higher initial installation price than traditional gas and electric heaters, homeowners can reduce this cost significantly by taking advantage of tax credits and other incentives that are available to them. Residents can claim federal, state, and county tax credits. In addition, this state has loan and rebate programs as well as a SREC program newly approved for residential installations.

SRECs, or solar renewable energy credits, are generated each time a solar installation generates one megawatt-hour of energy. Because sun-based water heating saves energy, SRECs have recently been approved in relation to the amount of energy saved by using the system.

These certificates are considered to be commodities which can be traded. This means that homeowners of systems that produce SRECs can sell the certificates they produce. Utilities operating in Maryland legally must produce a specified percentage of their output through renewable means. In order to meet this stipulation, utilities are allowed to buy SRECs, creating a market for SRECs generated by home installations.

SRECs are currently estimated to be selling for around three hundred dollars each. Owners of home installations stand to recoup hundreds of dollars each year from the sale of SRECs. These owners could even pay for their systems through these sales, making these systems particularly affordable.

The first step toward obtaining a system for you own home is to speak with a responsible local dealer of solar products. Some dealers in Maryland offer their customers a full year of interest free financing in order to help them bridge the gap between initial expense and rebates and other incentives received to defray the cost. A local dealer can help make sure you benefit from all the programs for which you can qualify. Speak to a local dealer to discover the best system for your needs.

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