Is Solar Thermal That Impressive of a Technology?
On the plus side, solar thermal boasts decent efficiency. Sunlight is used to heat water for residential and/or commercial buildings — water that is then used for heating and hot water consumption. And since 50% of New York State’s energy consumption comes from building and water heating, the improvements would be palpable. The Roadmap’s proposed implementation would save an estimated 6 million US gallons (22.5 million liters) of oil, 9.5 million ft³ (270,000 m³) of natural gas, and displace 320 GWh of electricity production annually by 2020, translating into consumer savings of more than $175 million per year, according to the consortium. A caveat — and this is a big caveat — the average cost for residential installation is US$8,000; for commercial buildings it’s more like US$18,000. The up front costs are substantial, and in a state already with expensive living costs it may be a considerable hurdle for marketing the technology’s merits. There are also costs to workforce training,
