Commercial Solar Water Heating Growing by 20% / Yr in USA

ALO ALTO, California, April 4, 2011 – AltaTerra Research announced the release of its highly anticipated report today, entitled, “Solar Water Heating on the Rise: Tapping into Commercial Solar Thermal.” The report is one of the first professional market research studies of how customers are installing solar water heating. It addresses customer-facing issues, including the value proposition and suitability to and rate of adoption in particular industry types. It also profiles how and why current customers are installing solar water heating systems.

Sample findings from the report include:

The United States solar water heating market is now growing at about 20 percent per year in the commercial sector—a significant upturn from long-term trends.

For most customers, solar heating lowers energy expenditures.

Pilot installations are raising market acceptance and triggering follow-on purchases.

In a development that bodes well for the potential of a robust commercial market, solar thermal power purchase agreements are starting to take root in some areas.

“The market for commercial solar water heating systems in the United States is on the rise, growing an estimated twenty percent in 2010. The U.S. commercial market is benefiting from new incentives programs and an increase in corporate and commercial customers seeking to meet resource efficiency goals and hedge against rising energy prices,” said the report’s lead author Eric Paul.