Solar water heating

Solar water heating (SWH) is <a href="/facts/Water_heating/epdN1qdd">heating water</a> by <a href="/facts/Sunlight/WPkJRC7s">sunlight</a>, using a <a href="/facts/Solar_thermal_collector/sR9KzYbL">solar thermal collector</a>. A variety of configurations are available at varying cost to provide solutions in different climates and latitudes. SWHs are widely used for residential and some industrial applications.
A Sun-facing collector heats a <a href="/facts/Working_fluid/GvHk1AMq">working fluid</a> that passes into a storage system for later use. SWH are active (pumped) and passive (<a href="/facts/Natural_convection/CSGApHgP">convection</a>-driven). They use water only, or both water and a working fluid. They are heated directly or via light-concentrating mirrors. They operate independently or as hybrids with electric or gas heaters. In large-scale installations, mirrors may concentrate sunlight into a smaller collector.[original research?]
At the end of 2023, global solar hot water thermal capacity was 560 <a href="/facts/GWth/VK8oqRrm">GWth</a>, a 3% increase from 2022. The market is dominated by <a href="/facts/Solar_power_in_China/yJe96Bah">China</a>, the <a href="/facts/Solar_power_in_the_United_States/JEcSSnGW">United States</a> and <a href="/facts/Solar_power_in_Turkey/YFBnWgD0">Turkey</a>. <a href="/facts/Barbados/ywYtqmRB">Barbados</a>, <a href="/facts/Austria/4qWIMIyc">Austria</a>, <a href="/facts/Cyprus/t9wL6lVK">Cyprus</a>, <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> and <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a> are the leading countries by capacity per person. There were 122 million solar hot water systems in operation at the end of 2022.

Solar water heating open-in-new

Solar water heating