RE Benefits: Leveraging Local Capacity for Solar Water Heaters

This report from IRENA aims to expand policy makers’ understanding of the steps needed to develop a local market for solar water heaters, and the existing capabilities that can be leveraged to do so. This report highlights opportunities to create local value by setting up a domestic industry around solar water heater.

Heating and cooling account for nearly half of global final energy consumption. As renewables increasingly become cost-competitive, solar alternatives especially for heating water are becoming more common. Solar thermal systems for water heating, or solar water heaters, are a mature technology that has been successfully deployed in several countries for more than 30 years.

Renewable energy development can drive economic growth, create new jobs and enhance human health and welfare at the national level. The Leveraging Local Capacity series examines the kinds of jobs created and suggests ways to build on existing industries.