New York's First Solar Thermal Roadmap Unveiled at NYSEIA's "NY Solar Industries 2010

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http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/New-Yorks-First-Solar-Thermal-Roadmap-Unveiled-NYSEIAs-NY-Solar-Industries-2010-Business-1258913.htm

The Solar Thermal Consortium (STC) has unveiled the first roadmap to establish New York as a national leader in solar heat and cooling ("Solar Thermal") technologies through consumer education and incentives, installer training, promotions to attract manufacturers, investments in R&D, and permitting improvements.

Developed over the past six months by more than 130 industrial, academic and governmental representatives, the Solar Thermal Roadmap creates a path to move New York State toward 2,000 MWs of solar thermal capacity, equal to 1,000,000 solar hot water collectors, or 500,000 residential systems. The plan would result in $2.6 billion in economic activity and 25,000 new jobs over the next decade.

"Sixty percent of the energy consumed in NYS buildings is to provide heat and hot water," said NYSEIA President Ron Kamen, senior vice president of EarthKind Solar. "Solar thermal technologies let the sun's free energy warm homes and workplaces, and heat hot water. With this Solar Thermal Roadmap, New York is moving to become the national leader in the research, development, deployment and manufacture of solar thermal technologies."

Solar thermal technologies are widely used throughout the world. For the average family, solar hot water systems save over 50 percent of the hot water costs, and solar heating can dramatically reduce fossil fuel consumption in both homes and workplaces. In Germany alone, 200,000 solar hot water systems are installed every year, generating $2 billion toward "clean energy economics." Over 90 percent of the hot water in Israel is heated by the sun.

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