The SolarBeam concentrator is a parabolic system that tracks the sun and creates solar hot water. 1 SolarBeam can create 34,144 BTU’s or 10kW per hour of solar hot water. In most applications, 1 SolarBeam will replace 15-20 flat panels which makes it highly cost effective. Please contact SolarTron Energy Systems to learn how to become a distributor of the SolarBeam Concentrator
MINNESOTA
A policy for encouraging the use of solar energy to produce solar hot water for heating buildings was approved by the House Energy Finance and Policy Division.
HF1078, sponsored by Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls), would require the commerce commissioner and Pollution Control Agency to make recommendations to achieve solar and thermal energy goals, in order to meet the federal requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent before the year 2025. Passage of the bill would help reduce energy dependence on coal and expand the number of green jobs in Minnesota, said Thissen.
About one-third of the energy consumed in Minnesota is thermal, said Anders Rydaker, president of District Energy in St. Paul. “To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set goals for reducing our carbon footprint, we should not ignore that third,” Rydaker said.
Minneapolis receives as much direct sunlight as Houston, Texas, and is therefore poised to produce more solar hot water and solar energy, if the appropriate incentives and policies are in place, said Rydaker, adding solar thermal energy is three times more efficient than solar-electric production.

HAWAII
Some major policy initiatives were signed into law in 2009, including a 40% Renewable Portfolio Standard required by 2030, and a 30% (4,300 GWh) Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, also with the target date of 2030.  In December 2009, HCEI published policy recommendations for the 2010 legislative session, developed by the initiative’s working groups in conjunction with the Department of Energy; the report is available on the HCEI website.  The comprehensive analysis of the cost and energy impacts of these policy recommendations was released in April 2010.  Under HCEI, the U.S. Department of Energy commissioned step by step permitting guidebooks to lay out federal, state, and county requirements for bioenergy, solar, marine, wind, waste to energy, hydroelectric, and geothermal projects.
Another resource is the Hawaii Legislature Website, which contains up-to-date hearing and bill information during legislative session.  The Hawaii State Policy Website has additional information and reports. The HCEI partnership also helped lay the groundwork for an Energy Agreement signed by the State of Hawaii, the HECO companies (Hawaiian Electric Company, Maui Electric Company, and Hawaii Electric and Light Company), and the Division of Consumer Advocacy signaling a new path forward in October 2008.
INDIANA
The IST grant program will provide cost share grants to Indiana’s public, non-profit, and business sectors for the purchase and installation of solar water heating systems . Solar energy systems make use of non-fossil fuel resources to produce clean, home-grown thermal energy for heating water.  In a time of rising energy costs and increased energy supply volatility, it is vital to our economic future to diversify the portfolio of resources we use to produce energy.  The purpose of this grant program is to increase awareness and utilization of solar thermal energy resources as well as to create vocational opportunities for Hoosiers interested in renewable energy.  Three facilities, two apartment complexes and one food co-op are taking part in the IST program.  Program data will be used to gather additional information on the economic viability of solar thermal energy in Indiana. 
UTAH
In general, credits are available for eligible systems placed in service on or before December 31, 2016:

Solar. The credit is equal to 30% of expenditures, with no maximum credit. Eligible solar energy property includes equipment that uses solar energy to generate electricity, to heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or to provide solar process heat. Hybrid solar lighting systems, which use solar energy to illuminate the inside of a structure using fiber-optic distributed sunlight, are eligible. Passive solar systems and solar pool-heating systems are not eligible.

How do Parabolic Solar Concentrators compare to Solar Trough technology?

While solar trough systems are the primary choice of industrial solar farms, such as those currently under development throughout the western United States and other countries, this form of renewable energy generation cannot compete when compared to the efficiency of parabolic solar concentrators. This is especially true when parabolic solar concentrators are used as a primary energy source for home or business solar hot water production.

Solar trough systems (which are also known as line-focus collectors) consist of rows (or troughs) of collectors which are coated in a highly reflective material. A tube containing oil runs down the center of each trough, and is heated to temperatures in excess of 400 Celsius by the concentrated rays of the sun. The heat from the oil is used to produce steam, which is in turn used to power a turbine-generator or other machinery to produce electricity.

While solar trough systems are undoubtedly highly efficient at what they are designed to do, the sheer number needed to produce electricity can often run into the thousands of units. When these factors are coupled with the large size of each unit and their less than spectacular energy efficiency, it makes the use of solar trough systems as an effective home or industrial alternative-energy-source for solar hot water production extremely limited - especially when compared against the more efficient parabolic concentrator, like the SolarBeam

Parabolic dish solar concentrators are the most powerful type of solar collector available today and are perfectly suited to home and business solar hot water  generation due to their comparatively small size and high efficiency as an energy collector. The advantage to the unit’s smaller size and footprint is that it can usually be placed in areas with limited space (such as rooftops and back gardens), making it a far more versatile system than the far larger solar trough system.

The parabolic dish system consists of a solar collector (shaped somewhat like a satellite dish or inverted umbrella) which is lined with reflective material which capture the sun’s rays concentrating the energy onto an absorber which is set at the focal point of the dish. While other systems suffer from low efficiency due to their inability to track the sun’s progress across the sky, parabolic dish systems can maintain a constant supply of solar hot water because they employ a computerized tracking system. This tracking system allows the dish to follow the sun’s course throughout the day, ensuring that the parabolic dish is always positioned to collect the maximum amount of energy.

 It’s this consistency, efficiency and reliability which make parabolic dish systems the perfect choice for solar hot water production.

Where can solar hot water systems are used for commercial applications?

Solar heating systems are an economical (and green) technology that is rapidly becoming recognized as a viable alternative to conventional energy suppliers. Nowhere is this trend more prevalent than in the adoption of solar heating systems to provide continuous hot water production for use within commercial installations.

An efficient commercial solar heating system can provide up to 80% of the hot water for an average business which currently relies on electricity or gas to produce their hot water supply. An 80% cost reduction in any area can have a significant impact on the bottom line of any business, especially when the current economic climate is taken into consideration.

Any company considering switching from their current energy provider to a solar based energy supply will need to decide which form of solar power solution best suits their company’s solar heating needs. While there are many systems to choose from, the most efficient and cost effective solution is the parabolic-dish solar concentrator.

As the most powerful type of solar collector available on the market today, the compact size and high efficiency of a parabolic-dish solar concentrator, along with its comparatively low cost compared to other solutions, makes this particular system perfect for deployment in commercial installations. The relatively small footprint and ease of installation (some systems, such as SolarBeam Concentrator, takes just 2 days to completely install) means that it can be sited in areas with limited space, such as rooftops (only flat roofs) and small plots of land adjacent to buildings.

A parabolic-concentrator solar heating system collects the energy of the sun and concentrates the gathered energy onto an absorber which uses the collected energy to heat a heat-transfer fluid which in-turn heats the water. Alternatively, the water to be heated flows through tubes attached to the absorber and gathers heat directly from it. The hot water is then stored in the same way as it would have been if it was heated via conventional methods. A single parabolic-dish solar concentrator will take just 3 hours to heat a 228 liter hot-water tank from 12 degrees C to 90 degrees C.

While the cost of installing solar heating systems has been prohibitively high in the past, the recent move towards renewable energy and rapid advancements in solar technology has seen a decrease in cost. Coupled with financial incentives and tax breaks offered by both federal and local level government, the cost of switching to solar heating has never been as attractive as it currently is.

Solar heating systems are most economical when utilized by facilities which require a year-round supply of hot water, with a continuous weekly demand and where the cost of conventionally heating water is prohibitively high.

The SolarBeam is currently being tested for certification by SRCC and Solar Keymark for rebates.

Where can solar hot water systems are used for commercial applications?

Solar heating systems are an economical (and green) technology that is rapidly becoming recognized as a viable alternative to conventional energy suppliers. Nowhere is this trend more prevalent than in the adoption of solar heating systems to provide continuous hot water production for use within commercial installations.

An efficient commercial solar heating system can provide up to 80% of the hot water for an average business which currently relies on electricity or gas to produce their hot water supply. An 80% cost reduction in any area can have a significant impact on the bottom line of any business, especially when the current economic climate is taken into consideration.

Any company considering switching from their current energy provider to a solar based energy supply will need to decide which form of solar power solution best suits their company’s solar heating needs. While there are many systems to choose from, the most efficient and cost effective solution is the parabolic-dish solar concentrator.

As the most powerful type of solar collector available on the market today, the compact size and high efficiency of a parabolic-dish solar concentrator, along with its comparatively low cost compared to other solutions, makes this particular system perfect for deployment in commercial installations. The relatively small footprint and ease of installation (some systems, such as SolarBeam Concentrator, takes just 2 days to completely install) means that it can be sited in areas with limited space, such as rooftops (only flat roofs) and small plots of land adjacent to buildings.

A parabolic-concentrator solar heating system collects the energy of the sun and concentrates the gathered energy onto an absorber which uses the collected energy to heat a heat-transfer fluid which in-turn heats the water. Alternatively, the water to be heated flows through tubes attached to the absorber and gathers heat directly from it. The hot water is then stored in the same way as it would have been if it was heated via conventional methods. A single parabolic-dish solar concentrator will take just 3 hours to heat a 228 liter hot-water tank from 12 degrees C to 90 degrees C.

While the cost of installing solar heating systems has been prohibitively high in the past, the recent move towards renewable energy and rapid advancements in solar technology has seen a decrease in cost. Coupled with financial incentives and tax breaks offered by both federal and local level government, the cost of switching to solar heating has never been as attractive as it currently is.

Solar heating systems are most economical when utilized by facilities which require a year-round supply of hot water, with a continuous weekly demand and where the cost of conventionally heating water is prohibitively high.

The SolarBeam is currently being tested for certification by SRCC and Solar Keymark for rebates.

Solar Hot Water in the Wine Industry

The concept of using solar hot water systems arise from the need to convert or replace the production processes of various industries, which minimizes  production costs and reduces CO2 emissions.

This article will discuss how to use solar hot water system in the wine industry.

The wine industry is a huge business that uses lots of water for sterilizing and for fermenting processes. Although the actual cost of water is cheap, the energy used to heat the water whether it is electric, natural gas, oil or wood is getting more expensive. Therefore the use of solar hot water systems like the SolarBeam is of interest to wineries looking to reduce energy usage.

In order to understand how the SolarBeam can reduce operational costs, we need to understand the wine industry.  There are stages in the winemaking process, where it is necessary to maintain low temperatures for storing supplies.  These cooling processes are characterized by high energy usage and water consumption, and the toxicity of refrigerants. On the other hand, hot water is needed for disinfection. In the cellars, as in any food industry, it is necessary to maintain sanitary conditions. Cleaning and disinfection of equipment and buildings requires the use of large volumes of hot water.

 As discussed above the large amount of solar hot water used for cleaning equipment, tanks, bottles, etc. is usually heated by combustion boilers that produce large amount of gases that contribute to global warming. In addition, with the price fluctuations occurring for conventional fuels,  it is becoming increasingly popular to reduce costs by using technologies such as solar thermal This takes advantage of solar energy to heat the water at high temperatures, up to 95 º C (204 F), sufficient for use in such processes, like sterilization. Since technologies like SolarBeam can track the sun, various water temperatures can be maintained because the system can stop tracking the sun once the desired water temperature has been reached.  Through the use of a heat exchanger, various hot water tanks can store temperature at different temperatures and the SolarBeams can be programmed to heat the water until the desired temperature has been reached. This type of flexibility is not available with flat panels because they cannot rotate and they cannot stop collecting energy, because they cannot be moved or covered.

For applications that require water temperatures above 65 C, technologies like the SolarBeam can offer payback of approximately 6 years, depending on the type of solar radiation available. In contrast, flat panels for the same project would be closer to a 20 year payback and evacuated tube, 15 years. To see what the direct solar radiation is in your area, go to www.solartronenergy.com to see an interactive map.