Proprietors and lessors of apartment, office, commercial and industrial buildings are always interested in new ways to lessen electricity bills. While many are considering automated lighting and other indoor electricity saving devices, such as putting in CFL (compact fluorescent light bulbs) rather than incandescent lighting, and more cost-effective heating or airconditioning systems, there are others who are eager to take advantage of financial incentives for going green and are already switching to a solar heating system.
What is a solar heating system? It is actually a commercial green energy technology that can supply a majority of a property’s hot water needs by utilizing heat from the sun. While there are passive and active systems, some that use tubes and some that use flat panels, solar heating systems are mostly made of a coil of plastic or metal or panel, where water passes through and is heated by solar radiation or radiant energy.
Sounds complicated, right? As a matter of fact is not all that complex. Green technology is so beneficial that many organizations and government agencies are offering landlords and commercial property owners numerous financial benefits for investing in green energy. This demonstrates the viability of putting in a solar water heating system nowadays for a sizable property. These bonuses are designed to offset installation and purchase cash outlays, and make the return on invested capital achievable in as quickly as 2-5 years.
The first thing to keep in mind, however, is that customization and installation of commercial green energy needs the services of professionals, and though you might have heard that there are people who have built their own solar heating systems; these do-it-yourself projects are generally limited in capability or only serve the needs of a single-family household. However, if it comes to the hot water supply for 20-40 residences, it will call for deeper technical knowledge and high-level of skill to design the system.
Moreover, it is also critical to know that even though the technologies behind any commercial green energy have improved substantially in only a little period of time, it still doesn’t mean that they have totally supplanted regular energy sources: electricity, propane, and natural gas for heating water every time. But when your hot water needs are for the most part supplied by green energy, then your eletric bills will greatly be brought down.
So what does this actually mean for you? For instance, if you know that your bill for hot water services add up to $60. per unit each month; then you are already paying out that sum of cash per month. Once you have decided to invest in a solar heating system and have it installed on the rooftop of your residential or office building, you would be able to get loan for the solar water heating equipment, receive a utility rebate, and take advantage some of the state, local, and federal tax rebates provided for consumers who switch to green energy alternatives. This would include instantly usable tax incentives, and also the option to use accelerated depreciation on the solar water heating system. This means that although you are paying out almost the same amount or $60. per unit every month; your payment is mostly for the solar water heating system, and not electricity bills. And after 5 years or so you would have paid-off the complete cost of the system. And you would then benefit from a dramatic lowering of your monthly power bills, and nearly free usage cost of your hot water heating system from that point on!
Craig Axelrod is a principal for Emmy Energy, a NY solar energy company installing solar heating tube systems & solar panels throughout the Northeast.
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