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I apologize for being out of pocket lately, and that trend is going to continue at least through this week. I have a staff meeting all week, and then I fly back to Europe next Monday. So, my posting will be sporadic until then. However, I want to call your attention to a new website that discussed solar thermal in depth. The site just went live, and the topic is covered in detail. The site is: http://www.solar-thermal.com/

If China's addicted to solar hot water heating, the city of Dezhou is it's dealer (and one of it's biggest customers). A new video from Greenpeace, above, highlights the build-up of solar among residents and as an industry. Some facts from this shining example: Of the city's 5.5 million residents, almost all living in the new town use solar heating, and about 90 percent of homes in the old town have solar heating. In 2007, 800,000 people had jobs in the solar panel industry, or about one in three people of working age in the city. That figure is expected to grow to 150,000 by 2020. No wonder: Dezhou is home to the world's biggest solar water heater manufacturer. And compared with an electric heater, a solar heater in Dezhou, which starts at about US$190, pays for itself in five and a half years. The numbers in Western countries, by comparison, make us want to shield our eyes.

Large-scale solar power is beginning to take on the job of meeting the demands made by California's air conditioners for electricity. Pacific Gas & Electric and Brightsource Energy today announced they have expanded a series of solar power contracts for a total of 1,310 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 530,000 California homes during peak hours with energy from the Sun. Completion of the first project will nearly double the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the United States.

olar domestic hot-water systems don't grab as many headlines, probably because they're not considered as high-tech as their solar PV cousins, where science is pushing the boundaries of sunlight-to-electricity conversion. I'm always surprised that residential solar thermal systems don't get much attention in the United States, particularly in the south where many homes have swimming pools (that need heating) and where the sun shines warm all year, making the payback dramatically better than PV. In Canada, where the conditions are less ideal, we seem for some strange reason to have a greater appreciation for rooftop solar thermal systems, and indeed, have many startups, such as EnerWorks, and academics spending considerable time improving on the technology.