Posts Tagged ‘solar hot water goal’

Imagine the announcement of this goal: 90% of Australian homes are going to have solar hot water.

Impossible? Israel has achieved its 90% solar hot water goal, Spain is well on the way. It did however take Israel almost 60 years. Not sure how far Spain got, as they only started in 2004 to make solar hot water mandatory.

What would that mean for Australia? Looking at the 10 biggest cities in Australia, there are approximately 3.7 million freestanding houses (source: 2006 Census). Currently less than 5% have solar hot water, so an additional 85% (3.145 million) solar hot water systems need to be installed. If we draw that out over 60 years, it is only 52,500 per year.

View Larger Map

Zoom into this map of Brisbane and have a look whether you can find any solar hot water systems. There are actually two pretty much in the center of the picture. Now imagine 90% of those homes with solar water heaters.

Are we achieving that now?

Here is an estimate of solar hot water sales, based on the registered REC’s since 2001:

2007 is the first year where we are coming close to the required number of solar hot water installations to catch up with Israel in 60 years!

So here is a better solar hot water goal:
90% of homes have solar hot water by 2018.

Australia needs to install 314,500 solar hot water systems per year. What does it take to achieve that?

• Higher rebates?
• Cheaper systems?
• More education about the benefits?
• Taking the hassle out?
• Making it “hot” to go solar?
• Banning electric hot water?

Probably a mix of all of those strategies. If you know of any more, let me know.

By the way, Queensland is the first Australian state that has banned electric hot water systems for all new homes and from 2010, replacements will also be disallowed (in gas reticulated areas). Gas systems are also allowed, so it is not purely a solar hot water goal, but it is a start.

Find Out Whether You Can Benefit From Solar Hot Water.

You can get an instant quote right now. There are 23 simple questions that lets our online calculator work out the best solution for your situation. That way you know exactly whether you can benefit from solar hot water.

Start with 1. Find System.