These are well-established concepts, but I’m amazed that people are not doing this combination more often.
One square meter of sunlight is equivalent to about one horsepower. Reflectors can be used to heat a moving tube of water. Heat storage can be in an insulated underground tank of water without energy conversion losses.
Water can be used to heat homes and heat water.
Why isn’t everyone doing this now given the high cost of energy?
Like moving to more fuel efficient vehicles, consumers need to really feel the pain before they adjust their habits.
There’s a desperate hope that energy prices will come down. When people realize they won’t, then alternatives like you suggest will be popular.
It’s very expensive to convert to this system. While long term you will save money, most people can’t afford the initial investment. You have to spend money to make money, but unfortunately you need to have money to spend it first.
I know, it’s a great idea in theory. In practice it just doesn’t work out as economically as one would think. Perhaps government funded grant money to convert general homes and comercial buildings to such power sources would help. Unfortunately the government would rather spend money on blowing up buildings and killing people on the other side of the world. By the time we do anything as people to help curve this "climate change" we will already be screwed anyways, or so the experts say.
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Like moving to more fuel efficient vehicles, consumers need to really feel the pain before they adjust their habits.
There’s a desperate hope that energy prices will come down. When people realize they won’t, then alternatives like you suggest will be popular.
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Because of the initial cost to install them. The old houses in South Florida had and used roof solar hot water heaters, but since they did not heat the water at night or in storms, they were replace in new home with all electric or gas units. a lot of the home did not have heat as it was Florida, B.S. it still got cold in the winter.
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Me.
These systems cost a huge amount of money initially and our government hasn’t seen fit to subsidize them to any meaningful degree. In Europe people get all kinds of subsidies and credits for any ecofriendly move (compost bins, rain barrels provided by local councils, solar panels and wind turbines at a reduced rate and with tax credits, etc.).
Maybe we’ll see a move toward promoting renewable energy resources in the future with the upcoming change in leadership, but I’m afraid it will be too little too late.
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