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‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 month ago by alyaza to c/news

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Cyprus has outstripped all other EU member states in embracing hot-water solar systems, with an estimated 93.5 % of households exploiting the alternative energy form for domestic needs.

The solar thermal systems not only collected solar energy as heat – usually generated through electricity and the burning of fossil fuels – they were extremely cost-effective and had helped spawn an entire industry, he explains.

“It’s been great for low-income families and then there’s the jobs: so many have been generated,” the MP says. “There are the local manufacturers who produce the parts and then all the people who are trained to install them. It’s big business.”

In his role as environment commissioner, Theopemptou pushed hard to make the solar systems obligatory on all newly constructed residential and commercial buildings – a move instituted by Israel back in the 1970s.

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[–] RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I see these things all over Latin America and stayed at a bunch of places that have them. It can get SUPER hot. The cool thing about them is that the pipes that heat the water are vacuum sealed and don't heat the water directly. I forget the exact mechanics of it, but it pretty much doesn't matter what the temperature is. It can take that solar energy and add it to water.

[–] sanzky 9 points 1 month ago

I think they heat a refrigerant and then use a heat exchanger to transfer that heat to the water.