California Solar Water Heating Bill Signed into Law--Big Win for Fighting Global Warming, Reducing Dependence on Natural Gas, an

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Bernadette Del Chiaro of Environment Californiawith Assemblymember Jared Huffman, and Don Miller of Conergy, a local installer and manufacturer of solar water heating systems in April promoting AB 1470, the Solar Hot Water and Efficiency Act of 2007, which just became law

By Frank D. Russo

Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007, AB 1470 by Assemblymember Jared Huffman, which provides incentives to attain the goal of installing 200,000 solar water heating systems in the state by 2017.

This represents another giant step, in addition to AB 1, Million Solar Roofs bill passed last year, toward bringing about a mainstream solar power market in California. The bill would launch the nation’s largest solar water heating program, creating a $250 million fund to provide rebates to homeowners and businesses who invest in solar water heating technologies. Hopefully was we go, so will the nation.

“Harnessing the sun to meet our daily energy needs is a no-brainer, especially in California,"said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Clean Energy Advocate for Environment California and sponsor of the bill. “Solar water heating is another way we can make California the Saudi Arabia of the sun.”

AB 1470 would provide consumer incentives, in the form of rebates, for solar water heating systems that displace natural gas. The fund would come from a small, 13 cent per month, surcharge on gas bills.

California relies predominately on natural gas to meet its water heating needs. This leads to a heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels and air pollution. Solar water heating can reduce the amount of gas needed to heat water in homes and businesses by 50-75%. A solar water heating system uses the sun to heat water. It commonly consists of two parts, a roof-mounted solar collector to heat the water and a storage tank. A typical residential solar water heating system does not replace the existing conventional water heating systems, though it reduces the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds.