A large solar thermal system installed at the Phoenix Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in 1998 heats water for the prison and costs less than buying electricity to heat that water. This renewable energy system provides 70% of the facility's annual hot water needs. The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not incur the up-front cost of this system because it was financed through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC). The ESPC payments are 10% less than the energy savings so that the prison saves an average of$6,700 per year, providing an immediate payback. The solar hot water system produces up to 50,000 gallons of hot water daily, enough to meet the needs of 1,250 inmates and staff who use the kitchen, shower, and laundry facilities.

A large solar thermal system installed at the Phoenix Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in 1998 heats water for the prison and costs less than buying electricity to heat that water. This renewable energy system provides 70% of the facility's annual hot water needs. The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not incur the up-front cost of this system because it was financed through an Energy SavingsPerformance Contract (ESPC). The ESPC payments are 10% less than the energy savings so that the prison saves an average of $6,700 per year, providing an immediate payback. The solar hot water system produces up to 50,000 gallons of hot water daily, enough to meet the needs of 1,250 inmates and staff who use the kitchen, shower, and laundry facilities. ; ; This publication details specificationsof the parabolic trough solar system and highlights 5 years of measured performance data.

A compilation of decades of knowledge spanning the author's career as a mechanical engineer specializing in heat transfer and thermodynamics in the solar and aerospace industries, this book is instantly practicable. Topics include definitions of energy terms, relationship of the sun and earth, sunlight on the earth, heat transfer, solar collectors, absorbed solar energy, solar domestic hot water systems, solar photovoltaic systems, solar space heating, solar power towers, Stirling engine solar power systems, passive solar energy, and greenhouse solar collector.

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This alert describes examples of three of the likely situations for cost-effective installations of solar water heating systems: high conventional water-heating costs (such as remote campgrounds in recreational areas only served by electric power); large, consistent hot-water use (prisons, hospitals, and military bases, for example); and swimming pools. A case study from the first situation(Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma) is presented.