We love sharing our solar thermal solutions with people and have been fortunate to be part of several home shows this year where we’ve been able to show off our amazing technology! Most people are familiar with traditional Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) systems that have been used for years to generate electric power from the sun but very few know about the true solar thermal technology that we provide.
While regular solar PV can be used to create power very well it falls short when it comes to providing hot water when compared to solar thermal. You see solar PV takes the electrical power it gathers from the direct sunlight and then heats your homes water much in the normal way it always has; this provides an efficiency rate of only about 14%. Alternately, true solar thermal systems use radiant ultra violet energy from the sun to heat water itself providing efficiency upwards of 94% – even on cloudy days.
Both systems have similar tax incentives and are a wonderful alternative to energy from the grid. They even work very well together, along with other solar products like solar lighting, solar attic fans, and other HVAC innovations. And it’s not just for new homes, we love providing whole home holistic solar solutions for existing homes as well! When we update your HVAC with an energy efficient system and add our additional solar HVAC options it’s possible to remove 50% of the total energy from your home.
But, we live in IDAHO! What about Winter time?
Our system uses evacuated glass tubes that contain a vacuum – one of the best natural insulators. We have been in business almost 8 years now and up until this last winter – one of the coldest and snowiest on record in 30 years! – we have never had to sweep off snow; the system is set up so inside the house everything has 100% back up just in case. Our radiant solar snow melting walkways are also a great addition to help keep the flurries at bay.
Our solar thermal solutions are particularly effective when combined with solar PV from our partners at 
