Santa Clara - Solar Water Heating
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In 1975, the City of Santa Clara established the nation's first municipal solar utility. Under the Solar Water Heating Program, the City supplies, installs and maintains solar water heating systems for residents and businesses within Santa Clara through its Water & Sewer Utilities Department. In addition, the city has also installed solar energy equipment for its own facilities. The Community Recreation Center and the International Swim Center, both in Central Park, use solar-heated water.
Solar equipment is offered by the city for the heating of swimming pools, process water, and domestic hot water. The pieces of hardware (solar collectors, controls and storage tanks) are owned and maintained by the city under a rental agreement. The renter pays an initial installation fee and a monthly utility fee. These amounts vary according to the size of the installation.
- Solar Pool Heating System: installation cost is $625 plus $40 per panel.
- Solar Domestic Hot Water System (Multi-Family): varies; typical installation fee for system to serve 10 dwelling units is approximately $7500.
For all above installations there is a monthly service charge based on the number of panels. Pool systems are billed a monthly service charge for six billing cycles per year (generally from April to September), although the system is available for use all year.