Seacoast Energy Alternatives Inc. offers complete solar hot water systems tailored to the needs of New England homes and businesses. We have a skilled installation crew available to review your needs and install each system quickly and affordably.

Most households will see a complete payback of the initial cost within 5 or 6 years. After that, you could be making all the hot water you need for free for 7-8 months of the year, and 40-60% during the winter months. Add value and longevity to your home. A typical solar hot water system could provide hot water up to and beyond 40 years. You may need to replace your existing heating system 3 times by then.

Hot Water From The Sun, Not From Fossil Fuels
A typical tank-based electric or gas water heating system is substantially under-insulated so while you’re reading this, you’re paying to maintain hot water as the tank loses heat. Many oil-fired hot water systems are driven by a home heating oil burner. These systems are generally sized at least 50% larger than the coldest winter night needs. During the summer, making hot water becomes very inefficient.

Oil passed the $90 per barrel mark twice in 2007, $110 in 2008, and propane has gone up 300% in the last 5 years. Through 2010, owners can receive an added benefit of a 30% Federal Tax credit on the entire installed cost of a system. If you live in Maine you can get another 30% credit from your state if the fund has money.  There is rumor of a potential New Hampshire hot water credit as well - stay tuned!

Over 20 years, you could save $30,000 or more on hot water fuel costs
As the cost of fossil fuels increase, the lifetime savings become significant. The chart below illustrates what the long term payoff could look like under the following conditions: You spend an average of $1,000 per year on hot water, and the price of fuel goes up 10% per year.

With our solar hot water system, you can make 100% of your hot water needs from March through October assuming the weather cooperates! During the months of November, December, January and February, you can make 40-60% (since we average 4 hours of productive sunlight/day during the winter).

Reduce your energy bills and save an average of over 60-80% in hot water heating costs. Solar hot water is environmentally friendly and helps to reduce greenhouse emissions by reducing your dependency on electricity, gas or oil.

Typical Solar Hot Water Installation from Seacoast Energy Alternatives Inc.

We design and sell two primary types of solar hot water systems, evacuated tubes and flat plates. Flat plate collectors have been around for a very long time. They are reliable and perform well in New England. Evacuated tube systems are somewhat newer, but the technology is at least 100 years old. Put water in a vacuum and it will boil at a low temperature. In each evacuated tube is a small column of water. When the sun hits the heat absorber plate the water turns to steam. The steam rises to the top of the tube where it condenses back into water releasing all the heat.

Both collector systems perform well here in New England. Flat plates work best where the roof is pitched well, at least 35 degree, and it faces solar south or close to it. Tubes out perform flat plates where the roof orientation might not be ideal because they are light weight and suffer less from wind loading. If radiant floor heating is part of the home heating plan and solar is being considered as part of the heat source, evacuated tubes are the only choice. The vacuum in the tubes is a great insulator. Flat plates on the other hand will suffer more heat loss in colder winter months. All of our solar hot water systems are fully scalable and designed for accommodating future needs. By adding additional collectors and larger storage tanks, each system can be expanded to satisfy the needs of growing families.