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See the original image at cleantechnica.com

90% of Israeli Homes Are Equipped With Solar Water Heaters

cleantechnica.com — Hawaii just made it a law... But, apparently, approximately 90% of Israeli homes already have solar water heaters and have had them for a long time. It began in the early 1950 ’s when the Israeli government encountered a fuel supply shortage, and restricted the times when water could be heated.

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  • mmgm, on 07/08/2008, -2/+21That's true indeed. In fact, I always thought the whole world has solar water heaters! Was I wrong?
    • MajorJJH, on 07/08/2008, -0/+11Sadly, I'm yet to see very many countries making solar water heaters mandatory, or even common...
      • Bukowsky, on 07/09/2008, -1/+6Texas is pretty much hot & sunny all the time. I wouldn't mind having one here... Do they sell these at Home Depot?
      • DarkShroud, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3There is a simple conversion kit you can buy to attach to any existing water heater. You just have to attach the device to the roof with a few screws and run one hose to the water heater. But I don't think many local stores carry them.
    • wonderchemist, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1Amundsen-Scott Research Station doesn't have any solar water heaters despite having 24 hours of sunshine a day in the summer.
      • rompom7, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Do I detect sarcasm?
      • HellifIno, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Nah, you detect useless.
        That research station is in Antarctica. Sure, they get some sun and no night for a month or so, but it's not strong sun. Marginal energy replenished via solar panels, if they had any.
      • rompom7, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1Useless. No. IDIOTIC.

        Solar water heaters directly transfer the suns heat to the water. This is clearly not going to work in Antarctica where the annual mean temperature is −49 °C (−56 °F).

        Hence my sarcasm call.
    • nlevy, on 07/09/2008, -1/+9I used to live in Israel as well and when I moved to the U.S. I was shocked that I couldn't find a single home with them.
      • DarkShroud, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3It's not that bad, I used to live in one that was built in the 70s. The problem is many areas didn't allow them because they looked unsightly. The new ones can be mounted on the back of the roof and are not visible from the street.
  • TheSexyGeek, on 07/08/2008, -0/+34Barbados does this too. The term "Water Heater" is synonymous with "Solar Water Heater" in Barbados. My Family had one and it worked perfectly. We never had a problem with hot water.

    I think that countries with climates that can support them should start adopting them on a broad scale. They'll put a serious dent in the electricity consumption of the community.
    • OropheR, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Already done.
    • RazorElite, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1Yes, this has been standard in Barbados for many years.
  • sustainablogger, on 07/08/2008, -0/+13This is such an easy technology to adapt, also... not nearly as complicated at solar PV systems. And relatively cheap...
  • hep2djive, on 07/08/2008, -3/+10Now THAT is cool
  • C4Strife, on 07/08/2008, -33/+3And the other 10% have bombs in their place.
  • Fangsinmybeard, on 07/09/2008, -25/+6And yet they lobbied the U.S. Congress to retract nearly all the incentive programs for local solar heating programs that were back by utilities. Israel is in bed with the oil companies.
    • decafmatan, on 07/09/2008, -3/+12Israel doesn't have any oil, most Muslim countries (which have most of the oil) refuse to sell to them, and due to these reasons they must have utilities like solar water heaters. Not only are they completely unaffiliated with U.S. oil, but if anything they would want us to get less reliant on oil so they could purchase more oil from us.
    • anillop, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2Proof please?
  • AndyStitzer, on 07/09/2008, -6/+8I wonder what a 1950s solar panel was like
    • santaliqueur, on 07/09/2008, -3/+7Worse, just like all technology. Is this really something to wonder about?
    • blackjack75, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2They were made of wood.
    • bolophojep, on 07/09/2008, -0/+8Umm, Solar heaters use the sun to heat the water.

      It is just water pumped through black pipes in a black box.
    • FolkTheory, on 07/09/2008, -1/+2they probably ran on coal.
  • bradcrc, on 07/09/2008, -32/+9It's israel... they probably use them to boil water to throw on palestinean babies.
    • cheezintern, on 07/09/2008, -11/+5zing
    • twiztidsinz, on 07/09/2008, -9/+5No... they bottle it and give it to McCain to deliver to the dehydrated babies.
    • DarkShroud, on 07/09/2008, -1/+6Then maybe Palestinian parents shouldn't send their children to throw rocks at the Israel soldiers or give them realistic looking toy guns and send them to play by the border walls & gates. Yeah, they sure care about their children.
      • rodmank, on 07/09/2008, -5/+2i cant beleive in u.they throw rocks and they deserve to die.
  • smacksaw, on 07/09/2008, -18/+7They also lead the world in re-use as well. Because when your house is bulldozed to make room for a new settlement, they dismantle and remove the solar panels first.
    • nlevy, on 07/09/2008, -2/+12Why make this political?
      • smacksaw, on 07/09/2008, -3/+3I'm glad you asked. Because in an article about sustainability, it's ***** ridiculous that a country that bulldozes people's homes is supposedly doing something good for conservation or the environment. How much waste is generated from destroying houses, whether they're bulldozed or bombed by Israel's enemies?
  • valtgrafik, on 07/09/2008, -3/+6beautiful story, slowly but surely we are turning into an environmentalist society :)
    • nocash23, on 07/09/2008, -2/+1let me guess... when israel sprays sewage on its neighbor its composting right? what a joke.
  • Qtip42, on 07/09/2008, -11/+4making it a law to have them is stupid. Great idea though.
  • pradaaddict, on 07/09/2008, -2/+19Well it's hot as balls in Israel. Try getting those things to be as efficient in Canada or Scandinavia
    • Mardala, on 07/09/2008, -2/+8well with the hole in the ozone, sun radiation is stronger ... I'm just saying.

      I am surprised how little the US uses Solar. With 500 billion spent on a senseless war, just think how much of that money could go to get homes more efficient. One of these days the US will catch on.
      • TheKorn2, on 07/09/2008, -2/+3Solar makes sense in the desert southwest, and is starting to be used there. In the north, though, it doesn't make any sense. (A solar water heater would turn into a *frozen* water heater.)
      • DarkShroud, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1Much of the US gets this thing called Winter. I live in Northern Illinois in the Chicago land area. If these break during winter you can't get up their to fix them. It happened to me once but was minor because the insulation rotted and fell off in a little 1 foot section. But it could have rotted a hole in my roof. Our winters get sub-zero temperatures for weeks to months at a time.
      • Bhima, on 07/09/2008, -1/+4You would be amazed at how effective evacuated tube solar is. You can use them well into Canada.
      • DarkShroud, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1The problem is my area still gets a hell of a beating in winter storms, we get a lot more than just snow. The one I used to have (I moved) was from the 70s. I'm well aware of the modern advances as I'm all for solar and wind. I'm also limited by local restrictions. I can't park in the lower part of my drive way during the day nor can I even fence in my back yard since I live on a corner and can't get too close to the sidewalk. So I can't use the more durable kits in my area anyway. Only the old ones that were grandfathered in are still allowed and they don't let you put them back up if you replace your roof.
      • monoa, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2$500 billion (~$6000 per household) would've paid for every home in America to be fitted with solar.
  • BoonTobias, on 07/09/2008, -7/+4what about solar ovens?
  • Suricou, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5I've been to some greek islands - Rhodes, Zakynthos - and saw there that solar heating is near universial. To judge from the weather, likely for economic reasons. It took a year for the sunburn scars to heal completly.

    They also have a lot of buildings that arn't quite finished... one of the locals informed me that this is a tax dodge.
  • nitr021, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Every home in mauritius has solar water heaters except for the slums....
  • leubstop, on 07/09/2008, -2/+16Israel is planning on being first country to roll out a 100% electric car with recharging infrastructure. There are also cities in israel which have been planned and built by its inception to be "green"
    http://pinetreekingdom.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/is ...

    • thunked, on 07/09/2008, -15/+4Maybe we could do it if another country gave us billions a year for free.
      • neko6, on 07/09/2008, -1/+9You do know the US doesn't give money - they give billions $'s worth of MILITARY EQUIPMENT, most of it old equipment that the US military used in Vietnam and afterward?
  • thespanielator, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2The idea in moderate climates is to use solar heating as a prestage to your water heater. Although Baxi (large boiler maker here in the uk) is incorporating stirling engines in to the next generation of their equipment.

    http://www.chpa.co.uk/news/news_downloads/2006/130 ...
  • blackhappy, on 07/09/2008, -13/+4Are the panels bomb and shrapnel resistant?
  • cabdirazzaq, on 07/09/2008, -25/+14I'm all for being creative and innovative with water as your resource as long as it belongs to YOU and you haven't illegally stolen it.

    Israel lays claim on de facto Palestinian water:
    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn5037-israel- ...

    Israel destroys civilian homes and then shuts down the water:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5276626.stm

    Some quick facts on Israels Water Policy:
    # Of the water available from West Bank aquifers, Israel uses 73%, West Bank Palestinians use 17%, and illegal Israeli settlers use 10%.

    # While 10-14% of Palestine’s GDP is agricultural, 90% of them must rely on rain-fed farming methods. Israel’s agriculture is only 3% of their GDP, but Israel irrigates more than 50% of its land.

    #Surface water comes primarily from the Jordan River Basin which is, in theory, a resource shared between Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Palestinians have been prohibited by Israel from using this source since 1967.

    # Three million West Bank Palestinians use only 250 million cubic meters per year (83 cubic meters per Palestinian per year) while six million Israelis enjoy the use of 1,954 million cubic meters (333 cubic meters per Israeli per year), which means that each Israeli consumes as much water as four Palestinians. Israeli settlers are allocated 1,450 cubic meters of water per person per year.
    • neko6, on 07/09/2008, -2/+8You do know Palestinians have faucets in their home that run water, right? You do know Israelis pump this water? You do know they get electricity generated by Israel FOR FREE, even though Israeli power plants often fail to supply the demand inside Israel, causing power failures? You do know Israeli technicians fix power failures to Gaza UNDER ROCKET FIRE from Gaza?

      They don't use irrigation because they're too poor to set it up. Nobody prohibits them, they can build whatever they want. Hell, they build hundreds of rockets each year, I'm sure they can easily build irrigation if they want to. What does being "allocated water" mean? If you turn on the faucet for too long it'll stop pumping because Israel has a minicomputer inside the faucet that stops pumping after a limit was reached?

      They don't control the water resources because they have no government and control NOTHING. Why? Because they REFUSED to establish one that doesn't include the land that belongs to Israel.
    • illuminea, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Since you like water statistics so much, here are some more tidbits about Israeli and Palestinian water:

      1. The Palestinians are not only allocated their fair share of water in according with the Oslo agreements, but at least up to the end of 2007 they received 30% MORE water than was designated in the agreements.

      2. Water is delivered to the entrance of Palestinian towns and villages, whereupon it becomes the responsibility of their local authorities. The local authorities are not fulfilling their responsibilities, and Palestinians are drilling holes in the pipelines and stealing the water.

      3. The Palestinian Authority is building illegal water wells that are destroying the aquifers, an important source of water for the region.

      4. Israel recycles increasing amounts of sewage, while 73% of Palestinian sewage flows untreated back into Israel (!). 19% of PA sewage is treated within Israel and 8% by the Palestinians themselves. By treating the waste water, the Palestinians could add 35 mill cube per year for their agriculture

      5. If Israel was indeed doing anything illegal/against Oslo on water, UNESCO and UNRWA would be shouting about it all over the place, but they're not. They carefully monitor this stuff.

      6. By what criteria are you judging who needs/uses more water? A lot of the water Israel uses goes towards growing crops that the Palestinians consume.

      7. The surface water that you mention in the Jordan basin comes from water flowing out of 3 rivers flowing into the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). One of those rivers, Snir or Hatsbani, was partially blocked by the Lebanese in the 1990s, an act which is essentially a declaration of war under international law. I'd like to hear someone complain about that.

      Everyone's desperate for water in the Middle East. That the Palestinians are also desperate does not make them more right.
  • ShadowFoxxx, on 07/09/2008, -8/+1Irony, anyone? I would love to get solar energy for my house.
  • wh3873, on 07/09/2008, -0/+15I'm currently living in Egypt and we have solar heating for our water as well, but you guys have to understand it's not Photovoltaic cells. Basically it's a form of solar oven, clear glass with the inside painted black and a pipe running thorough it. The water does get really hot but today it was near 100 F by 0830. So while this stuff is cool and I'm guess pretty cheap it won't be warming coco in Colorado. This is good stuff I hope it does catch on in hotter climates.
    • Bhima, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4That is not true. You can have solar hot water in climates much colder and further north than Colorado. The Germans are doing it and they are much further north and get about as many days below freezing.
    • AndreiOttawa, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Good point. The article called solar heater "solar panels" a few times. It seems that the author was in a big hurry to write it and submit it to digg... pretty lame
  • kahrytan, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1Linda Lingle FTW! She's republican governor that got elected in Democrat dominated state.

    However, Hawai'i has been using Solar Panels on houses for years now. The residents, in their hearts, already made it law years ago.
  • blackjack75, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2While there's no law forcing anyone to put solar panels the government here (Switzerland) gives help to people who want to build a house with renewable energy. In my city they will also pay for a part of your electric bike (a bike with a battery to help you go up the hill).

    At some point it the responsibility of the government to give incentives and help, be in in the form of tax breaks, to help green energy. It's part of its role which consists of making every citizen's life better.
  • ganymede2010, on 07/09/2008, -13/+5American Tax dollars at work.
    • nocash23, on 07/09/2008, -5/+2haha! the truth hurts. i cant believe diggers took the fingers out of their ears long enough to dig you down.

      *la la la. israel good. palestine bad. i cant hear you. la la la.*
  • willynilly, on 07/09/2008, -3/+2The "early 1950's"?

    You mean the 1950s?
  • known, on 07/09/2008, -6/+14Israel Rocks!
  • zeeohsix, on 07/09/2008, -2/+0...if you can actually afford a new home here in Hawaii.
    there's a lot we could and should do like solar electric and wind farms since we are significantly dependant on importing nearly everything.
    problem is too much red tape and the Democrat old boy network (democrats in the legislature here are like republicans at capital hill.)
    one billionare recently asked the governor to use emergency powers for him to create a wind farm.
  • geeXP, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5The Israeli Knesset passed a law here in the 70s requiring all new homes (except high-rises with insufficient roof space) to install Solar Water Heaters.

    This was during the energy crisis in the 70s... Perhaps this current energy crisis is the wake-up call for other countries to follow suit.
  • inthe80s, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2Had one of these in the 80s and 90s in my house. Not worth the cost to install in New England. Want hot water in the morning? Run the backup electric and wait half an hour. Cloudy today? run the backup, etc.

    I'm sure after 25 years it paid for itself, but the work and inconvenience was never worth it. I finally removed it for good when it came time to replace the roof. In a hot climate it probably makes a lot of sense, but then how much hot water do you need or want when it's 90F outside?
    • rugabug, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1Just wait for the inconveniences your grand kids will have if we don't adopt more renewable power sources.
  • alvarezg, on 07/09/2008, -1/+1I had a solar water heater in a previous house. It made plenty of hot water during the day when no one was home. We even had a tank full to use in the evening. Since most people, including my family, shower early in the morning, there was no benefit there from the solar collector. The other alternative, showering at night, is no better.
    • tehbored, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Might have been a good idea to look into an insulated tank. I know when I stayed at a relative's house in Israel, there was hot water all day.
  • jenine1234, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1This is a great idea. Places that have a climate that can support the solar heaters should start using them. If a lot of people start using them, it would drastically decrease the amout of energy consumption. They are relatively cheap and if you have one long enough, it'll pay for itself. I currently have one in my home and despite what people say, I never have a problem with hot water. There is this great ebook that I read to learn more about them. It is called How To Use the Solar Energy and you can find it at booksonboard.com. I highly recommend it if you are considering a solar heater or just want to learn more about them.
  • grepmonkey451, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0And why don't we have this in North America?
    • layzice, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0"Because it's hard."
      "Because the sun goes away everyday and doesn't tell us where it's going."

      Lewis Black
  • averagejoesgym, on 07/09/2008, -4/+0Screw Israel. They get billions of free cash from us. Of course they have money to spare. Greedy Cretins.
  • tehbored, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Hawaii has potential for all sorts of renewable energy. Tidal, of-shore wind, solar thermal, PV. Seriously, they need to get working on that *****.
  • nocash23, on 07/09/2008, -2/+1mayby we shouldnt be so quick to suck them off. read a little more about their effect on the environment. funny how one story can shape the opinions of so many and not cause them to actually look at israel's long standing record.

    "Heavy metals and pesticides are discharged into the sea under government licenses, environmentalists say, and the company responsible for the sewage of the area's 2.5 million people is the biggest polluter in the eastern Mediterranean."
    -reuters
    http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idU ...
  • rxbudian, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1It's easy to have a cheap solar water heater. just buy an external water reservoir tank and in summer, it gets so hot that it heats up the water in the tank...
    Back home, all the water tanks are outside so the water gets heated up all the time. we couldn't control the temperature, but it's usually warm enough for us to use without having to add cold water. Of course after a whole damn day in the heat, we really didn't want to take baths in warm water.
  • RhodesSkolar, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0The water heaters only hold one litre.
  • JackDarkholer, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1that's a great biz idea for the caribbean
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