U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Solar Energy Technologies Program

Solar Heating in Use

This evacuated-tube solar water heating collector is on the roof of the Rhode Island School of Design's Solar Decathlon competition house. Learn more about the Solar Decathlon.

Since the early 1970s, the efficiency and reliability of solar heating systems and collectors have increased greatly, and costs have dropped. Today's solar thermal systems are used for solar water heating, solar pool heating, and in solar space heating.

Current research and development is focused on improving solar-heating technologies to make them even more efficient and affordable, with special emphasis on the following:

• Testing materials for durability

• Conducting thermal analyses of solar water-heating systems that function in different climates

• Developing advanced applications, such as low-cost solar water heating and collectors for crop drying.

The publication A Consumer's Guide: Heat Your Water with the Sun can help determine how to finance the cost of a solar heating system. (PDF 603 KB). Download Adobe Reader.