Hawaii passed legislation that went into effect in Jan 1, 2010 and required all new single-family homes in the state to be equipped with solar water heaters. Is this a GREAT LEGISLATION or what?
There were a few hiccups dealing with this legislation. In the first 11 months the state granted variances of about 22%. The majority of the variances were filed by homeowners who were using tankless on demand water heaters. All in all this legislation has been a great success. If you are buying a home in Hawaii without solar water you really want to think about putting in a solar system.
Remember we are talking about Hawaii, the land of Sun and Fun and all our oil is imported. I have been using a solar water heater for over 6 years now and have never used the electrical portion of the water heater. My wife and I have more hot water than we can use. This summer my daughter and 4 grandchildren spent the summer with us. They had never spent so much time in their lives standing under the hot water. Let’s hope we see more legislation promoting the use of solar in those areas of the country that can take advantage of that natural resource.