Building America Case Study: Indirect Solar Water Heating Systems in Single-Family Homes, Greenfield, Massachusetts

Program Document · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016

OSTI ID:1247649

Solar water heating systems are not new, but they have not become prevalent in most of the U.S. Most of the country is cold enough that indirect solar thermal systems are required for freeze protection, and average installed cost of these systems is $9,000 to $10,000 for typical systems on single-family homes. These costs can vary significantly in different markets and with different contractors, and federal and regional incentives can reduce these up-front costs by 50% or more. In western Massachusetts, an affordable housing developer built a community of 20 homes with a goal of approaching zero net energy consumption. In addition to excellent thermal envelopes and PV systems, the developer installed a solar domestic water heating system (SDHW) on each home. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), a research consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building America program, commissioned some of the systems, and CARB was able to monitor detailed performance of one system for 28 months.

• Research Organization: NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States))
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Building Technologies Office (EE-5B)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1247649
• Report Number(s): NREL/FS-5500-65188; DOE/GO-102016-4790
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
Building America
CARB
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings
Rural Development Inc.
SDWH
SWA
Steven Winter Associates
Wisdom Way Solar Village
Zero Energy Ready Homes
commissioning
domestic water heating
freeze-protected
indirect
residential
residential buildings
solar fraction
solar thermal
tankless water heater
water heating solutions
zero energy homes