China leads solar home revolution

Gazing across the Chinese urban cityscape, one quickly notices many strange tubular devices dotting the rooftops of many residential buildings. These are solar water heaters.

Solar water heaters rank among the world’s fastest-growing applications of solar thermal technology. According to the WorldWatch institute, the solar thermal heating sector expanded worldwide in 2007 at its highest rate since 1995, up 19 gigawatts of thermal equivalent (GWth) to 147 GWth total capacity.

China is the world’s largest market for solar water heating (SWH)
Since the 1990s, China has blossomed with an increase in annual

production to 114.1 million square meters in 2007 from 0.5 million square meters in 1991, accounting for two thirds of global output. According to “The China Greentech Report 2009″, the country has the world’s largest installed base of solar water heaters, at over 125 million square meters, with one in 10 families such devices.

In 2007, SWH firms in China generated sales of 32 billion yuan (US$470 million). The country’s annual production of solar water heater systems is twice that of Europe and four times that of the United States.

Moreover, China has become a global leader in the manufacturing of components for solar water heater systems.

Asia Times