1. Healthcare Industry Solar Water Heating

Solar thermal heating in hospitals is broadly used particularly when the solar irradiance is high. These include heat, power, lighting as well as medical products. When it comes to people’s health, efficiency is key. Any waste can translate to resources not being available to help someone in need. This makes energy conservation and energy effectiveness very important.

2. Solar hot water system at Jordanian hospital pays off in 4.4 years

In June, Al Bashir Hospital, the largest public hospital in Jordan, started up a 1,133 m² (0.8 MW_th) solar field which it said would provide 10 % of the heat required per year. Large 12.5 m² collectors had been installed by Millennium Energy Industries (MEI). It is a local supplier of turnkey solar thermal systems, atop the main building, one of 50 structures on the hospital grounds. MEI’s project sheet shows that the Jordanian Dinar (JOD) 500,000 investment (USD 700,000) will have a payback period of about 4 years and 5 months.

https://solarthermalworld.org/news/solar-hot-water-system-jordanian-hospital-pays-44-years/

3. Solar energy upgrade in 12 public hospitals in Mazovia, Poland

Minimizing carbon emissions, maximizing energy efficiency, while lowering energy bills are often the key initial drivers for hospital and healthcare facilities. Solar thermal technology, which harnesses sunlight to produce large amounts of hot water, is ideally suited for hospitals. They require a near-constant supply of domestic hot water for sanitation, laundry and food services among others. But the acreage required to install these renewable energy systems can often pose a significant challenge. Poland’s Mazovian Regional Authority appointed Arup as contract engineer to assess and retrofit twelve public healthcare facilities. It is the region’s biggest healthcare-driven green energy initiative, in a move that has helped reduce CO₂ emissions locally by more than 783.6 tons over the past year.

https://www.arup.com/projects/solar-energy-upgrade-mazovia-hhf

4. Solar thermal energy in South African hospitals

South Africa has some of the highest levels of solar irradiance in the world, but it is still highly reliant on fossil fuels for energy. Solar thermal technologies can greatly reduce hospital dependency on fossil fuel-based electricity. It can result in savings and reduce the carbon footprint of hospitals.

https://www.wwf.org.za/?25781/potentialforsolarthermalheatinginSouthAfricanhospitals

5. Solar energy a first for Interior Health Facilities

Solar energy has come to Penticton Regional Hospital and Summerland Health Centre in British Columbia. The Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement (PSECA) recently allocated $506,250 to Interior Health (IH) for the purchase and installation of 140 solar thermal panels. Eighty solar panels were installed on the roof at Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) in December. At PRH thermal hot water is used to heat up our domestic hot water in sinks, taps, showers, laundry and dishwashing. Summerland Health Centre (SHC) has 60 solar panels installed that will heat over 71 per cent of its domestic hot water load. Annually this will reduce carbon emissions by about 20 metric tons, or the equivalent of taking three cars off the road.

https://hospitalnews.com/solar-energy-a-first-for-interior-health-facilities/

6. Rooftop solar thermal driven absorption chillers for hospital

Echuca Regional Health operates rooftop solar thermal fields supplying energy for space cooling and heating services. The use of solar thermal energy provides the site with operational flexibility to reduce marginal costs for hospital energy use. Did you know that solar thermal fields are up to 70% more efficient than photovoltaic (PV) cells? Tri-Gen Chiller Services maintain the 500 KW Broad and 1500 KW Thermax absorption chillers which are powered by this solar energy. This energy is provided to two 200 KL Chilled Water storage tanks at 6°C. Electric chillers can also operate at night-time during off-peak conditions to charge the cold battery when required. It has been amazing to be involved in such an innovative project and Tri-Gen hopes to see others following in the footsteps of ERH.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rooftop-solar-thermal-driven-absorption-chillers-hospital-waters/

7. Franziskus Hospital Harderberg

The perfect energy mix for hospitals: The solar thermal plant, with in total 790 m²/8,500 ft², supports the energy supply of domestic hot water system, heating system, air-conditioning system (via absorption chiller) and feeds solar heat into the existing district heating grid.

https://www.solid.at/en/reference/hospital-franziskus-harderberg.html

8. Hospital reaps the reward of hybrid solar thermal system. South Africa

Hospitals have a very large demand for hot water and water heating is a major expense. Most hospitals use heat pumps to save energy when supplying their hot water requirements. It is also possible to supplement the heat pumps by retrofitting a component to save even more energy and cost. Switching to a hybrid solar hot water/heat pump system reduces the cost of energy and shows a good return on investment on the capital outlay. Even with heat pumps, Melomed Gatesville used approximately 350,000 kWh per month (11,600 kWh per day) at a 2017 cost of R432,000 per month. Any savings of energy therefore make a very significant impact on the bottom line.

https://soltrain.org/news/melomed-gatesville-solar-water-heating