Solar Thermal / Heating for Business and Industry  »

Become a Green Business - your customers will appreciate your business doing its part to protect the environment. Being a green business is a great marketing tool and a source of good public relations.

Solar heating is an affordable and cost-effective alternative for heating or cooling water or space in commercial and industrial buildings.

The following resources provide information on incorporating solar-thermal / heating technologies into the design or retrofit of a building project.


General Solar Heating Information
Solar process-heating systems are designed to meet the need for large quantities of hot water or space heating at commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. A typical system consists of several thousand square feet of ground-mounted collectors, combined with pumps, heat exchangers, controls, and one or more large-volume storage tanks. Solar process-heating systems have successfully developed niche markets in federal and state governments. Such facilities might include schools, military bases, office buildings, and prisons that provide hot water for bathing, cooking, laundry, and space heating.

Contact EW&SE and one of our renewable energy specialist will be happy to answer any questions you may have about solar for your business.



  PV for Business and Industry  »
Solar-electricity, or photovoltaics (PV) converts sunlight directly into electricity. You may be more familiar with PV cells as solar cells that power watches and calculators. But PV can do much more. It can provide electricity for commercial buildings, including power for lights and air conditioning. PV can also be a convenient source of power for pumping water, electrifying fences, or aerating ponds in remote applications.

As an energy-conscious consumer, you want to do all you can to use energy efficiently and add more clean, renewable energy to your life. This section contains information and analysis tools to help you evaluate your options and make an informed decision. If you've already decided to install solar electric panels (also called photovoltaic or PV panels) on your roof, you've given it careful thought and considered all the benefits of using a reliable, abundant, and environmentally smart source of energy — the sun. If you haven't decided yet, we hope the information in these pages will help you make a decision about purchasing PV panels for your business.

Contact EW&SE and one of our renewable energy specialist will be happy to answer any questions you may have about solar for your business.


» How does it work?
Here you can view entertaining and educational presentation about how solar energy is produced.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GO SOLAR!

For Homeowners: Residential solar systems are eligible for a 30% uncapped Federal   Solar Tax Credit and the State of Illinois offers a 30% Rebate capped at $10,000.

For Businesses: Commercial solar systems are eligible for a 30% Federal Solar Tax Credit and the State of Illinois offers grant programs providing up to 30% of the cost of a solar system capped at $250,000.

This important law significantly increases the affordability and financial return on a solar system for both residential and commercial, making it one of the safest and best investments available  today.

Read more about the Federal Solar Tax Credit and State Rebate programs, follow this link to the Find State and Local Incentives  Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIREUSA.org).