Project Detail

Transformation of users of Conventional Water heaters to Solar Water Heaters.

The project was proposed to collect the baseline information about wood fired heaters, study of the use pattern of the resources, fuel consumption, test market for solar water heaters, provide financial support to change over from wood fired heaters, and incremental cost in changing to solar water heaters. The project sought to overcome certain attitudes and assumptions about solar water heaters through this initial set of installations. For example, many people believed that solar water heaters could not provide hot water on cold or rainy days. On the other hand, many households were unaware of any alternatives to the smoky wood-fired systems that required a constant supply of firewood. The project was completed successfully. The project promoted the solar water heaters in the city and also the adoption of solar water heaters was almost 90% in the community. The organization also started marketing of solar water heaters to both users of wood fired system to replace the old system and also to the new customers. Under the climate change focal area, this project had a very good impact and also published in one of the UNDP publication.
Solar water heaters promoted in this project had capacity ranging from 100-750 liters per day, which under good conditions was heated to 60 °C. A system consisted of a flat plate collector, a storage tank and a piping system. The collector was made of an array of conduits placed on an absorber plate painted black with a glass cover. It was surrounded by insulation to reduce heat loss. Water was heated by the thermosyphonic effect and hot water was stored in the tank for later use. Particular adaptations to the local area included the incorporation of heat exchangers, which prevented mineral deposits that built up easily in Gujarat due to the high mineral content of the water.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute(SPRERI)

Country:

India

Area Of Work:

Climate Change Mitigation

Operational Phase:

Phase 2

Grant Amount:

US$ 23,504.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 23,955.26

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 4,193.16

Project Number:

SGP/GEF/IND/OP2/02/GUJ03

Start Date:

3/2002

End Date:

8/2003

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

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Project Characteristics and Results

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

? Health: reduced smoke due to the use of solar water heaters can help reduce respiratory problems experienced primarily by women and children. It also improves access to hot water for domestic and sanitators, this is an additional health benefit. ? Savings: Although initially more expensive, solar water heaters may save households money over the longer term, therefore enabling them to use more of their income to meet other needs. However, since solar water heaters seem to be so much more expensive than wood-fired ones, whether solar water heaters actually save money may depend upon the lifetime of the equipment, the local cost of firewood, and other similar factors. A more in-depth analysis study is in process to assess this.

Policy Impact

A lack of appropriate incentives to adopt solar water heaters was also identified as a barrier to their widespread use. The project intends to address this barrier in its next steps.

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

Financial barriers were addressed only for the initial group of 50 households installing solar water heaters. In fact, the SGP grant provided a direct subsidy to the equipment costs. If the benefits of this technology, both financial and otherwise, are very strong and are adequately demonstrated by the initial 50 solar water heaters, using grant funds for a subsidy might be justified. The need to address financial barriers on a wider scale was recognized, but this project does not yet attempt this. It will be important to assess the effectiveness of the subsidy approach in helping to generate a more widespread reduction in financial barriers, since clearly grant funds will not continue to be available for this purpose.

Gender Focus

Gender is not much focused as the project is aimed for all the local people, whether it is a men or a women everyone are given the same importance in the project for the sustainable livelihood benifits.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

The project grantee, SPRERI, had partnered closely with manufacturers and users by involving them substantially in the development of plans to promote solar water heaters. Close collaboration with these groups enabled the project to test solar water heater use in the area, and this initial set of manufacturers and users had a very important role to play in the further dissemination of solar water heating technology. The project also moved towards up scaling the process in neighboring areas and linking the project with GEF MSP for financial support.

Notable Community Participation

The project grantee, SPRERI, has partnered closely with manufacturers and users by involving them substantially in the development of plans to promote solar water heaters. Close collaboration with these groups has enabled the project to test solar water heater use in the area, and this initial set of manufacturers and users have a very important role to play in the further dissemination of solar water heating technology. Their has been a community/beneficiary contribution in the project nearly $6000.

Capacity - Building Component

The project provides training to local industries making wood-fired water heaters to encourage them to build solar water heaters. Training includes technical know-how, third party testing, assistance in quality control, and so forth.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

This is the primary barrier targeted by this project. Information and awareness barriers are addressed among users and manufacturers. This project took an interactive approach to identifying and addressing barriers among these groups; SPRERI organized meetings with both groups to learn about their concerns and needs. The project also identified particular awareness barriers: the notion that solar water heaters could not work at all on rainy or cold day or the impact of salt deposition in the system. Local companies that used to produce only wood-fired water heaters are now producing solar water heaters as well. By involving existing local companies, this project helps generate local, sustainable production of this new technology.

Project Results

The project set a goal of disseminating the solar water heaters more widely, to replace 10% of the 15,000 wood-fired water heaters installed in the district every year. In order to achieve this, SPRERI planned to work more closely with government entities. In addition, SPRERI had identified financial barriers to the expansion of solar water heater use, since the solar water heaters were three times the cost of wood-fired ones. During approximately two months of the year, solar energy would not be sufficient to heat water. During these periods, electricity or LPG was necessary to heat water. In addition, the possibility of damage to glass parts by monkeys had to be taken into consideration in technology design. The project was completed successfully.
Solar water heaters promoted in this project had capacity ranging from 100-750 liters per day, which under good conditions was heated to 60 °C. A system consisted of a flat plate collector, a storage tank and a piping system. The collector was made of an array of conduits placed on an absorber plate painted black with a glass cover. It was surrounded by insulation to reduce heat loss. Water was heated by the thermosyphonic effect and hot water was stored in the tank for later use. Particular adaptations to the local area included the incorporation of heat exchangers, which prevented mineral deposits that built up easily in Gujarat due to the high mineral content of the water.

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