China’s Solar Roof Water Heaters
1 Solar water heaters are one of the most affordable ways that a household can generate hot water year round. These solar water heaters can be seen on the roofs of many of the homes throughout China.
2 China is now home to 27 million rooftop solar water heaters. With nearly 4,000 Chinese companies manufacturing these devices, this relatively simple low-cost technology has leapfrogged into villages that do not yet have electricity. Besides the attractive feature of paying no cost for your yearly water energy consumption, the cost of installing one of these systems is priced at only a few hundred US dollars. That cost can be recouped by the average house in as little as a few years. It’s no surprise then that nearly 10% of all homes in China currently have a unit on their roofs along with a high year growth rate. This technology is sweeping China like wildfire, already approaching market saturation in some communities. Beijing plans to boost the current 114 million square meters of rooftop solar collectors for heating water to 300 million by 2020.
3 The biggest question I have is why systems like these become more popular in other countries trying to switch to renewable energy? What is confusing is that while China has found a way to have an affordable price for these units and make them commonplace in China, it’s very rare to see a unit like this in America. I know we are now picking up on tankless water heaters, but it’s still a mystery as to why these units haven’t become more popular. Or is it?
4 The answers might lie in the following: As compared to China, units in America are priced in the thousands. Even with tax credits, they are still priced much higher than a comparable system you would find in China. What also could be a factor is the fact that we live in much larger homes as compared to China. Many of the residents there live in smaller city apartments and the idea of “suburbs” don’t exist. In addition, in the U.S. typically people have water tanks in their basements or garages instead of having a storage tank on the roof.
5 Nevertheless, just imagine if more countries could offer these systems at affordable prices like China has. They would be immensely popular since it would help dramatically lower our energy costs while cutting carbon emissions.
6 What are your thoughts? Would you buy a solar roof water heater if the price dropped down?
中国的太阳能屋顶热水器
1太阳能热水器是一户人家可以一年到头获取热水的最经济的方法之一。在中国各地许多人家的屋顶上都能看到这些太阳能热水器。
2中国目前拥有2,700万台屋顶式太阳能热水器。几乎有4,000个中国厂家生产这些装置，使得这一相对简单低成本的技术一跃进入了尚未通电的村村落落。除了整年用热水不花钱这个诱人的特点之外，安装这样一台装置的价格也只有几百美元。这笔开支普通人家短短几年便可收回。难怪，目前中国几乎10%的家庭在屋顶上装有太阳能热水器，并且每年都在高速增长。这一技术如野火般燃遍中国大地，在一些社区已经达到市场饱和状态。北京计划将目前1.14亿平方米的给水加热的屋顶太阳能采集器到2020年提升至3亿平方米。
3我最大的疑问是，为什么在向可再生能源转型的其他国家里，这些装置日趋流行？令人费解的是，中国设法使这些装置的价格让人们承受得起，使这些装置在中国普及，而在美国却难得见到一例。我知道我们现在又在重提即热式热水器这个话题，但是为什么这些装置至今没有普及仍然是个谜。是这样的吗？
4答案可能是，与中国不同，这些装置的价格在美国动辄数千美元，即便有税收抵免，它们的价格仍然比中国类似装置的价格高出许多。另一个因素是，与中国相比，我们住的房子大很多。中国的许多居民住在较小的城市公寓里，没有“郊区”这个概念。此外，在美国，人们通常将水箱放在地下室或车库里，而不是在屋顶上设置一个储水箱。
5不过，设想一下，如果有更多的国家能够像中国那样以人们承受得起的价格提供这类热水器，情况会是怎样呢？由于这些装置能有助于大大降低我们的能耗开支，同时减少碳排放，它们会变得十分流行。
6你的想法如何？如果价格降下来的话，你会购置一台屋顶太阳能热水器吗？
