Financial Analysis of Solar Water Heating Systems during the Depression: Case Study of Greece

The use of solar thermal collectors is an economic alternative for water heating. In Greece more than 4 million m(2) of collector area has been installed; however, the financial and economic crisis has dealt the solar thermal market a heavy blow. The aim of the paper is twofold: firstly, to present the new legislations and combined efforts taken by the government in order to give the solar thermal market a boost; secondly, to evaluate the effect of these efforts and calculate the new financial data from the citizens. For the promotion of solar water heaters, new legislations and concerted efforts are taken by the government. The effect of the new incentive program on the payback time of a typical glazed solar hot water system in Greece was investigated in this work. Long-term meteorological data from 47 stations are analyzed in order to evaluate the potential of solar water heater application at each site in Greece. The RETScreen software was used to predict the financial viability and the green house gas emissions reductions. The economical indicators showed that Tymbakion was the best site and Ioannina the worst. From the environmental point of view, it was found that on an average an approximate quantity of 1.47 ton of green house gases can be avoided entering into the local atmosphere each year.