Farmington renters getting solar heated water

FARMINGTON — Eight large, dark panels sit atop the slanted roof of Monique Apartments, gathering the warmth of the sun's rays to heat water for the 11 apartments at Church and High streets.

The German-made Buderus solar panels should provide 80 percent of the building's hot water needs each year, said Philip Maurais, owner of A Maurais & Son Plumbing & Heating in Jay, who installed the system for building owner William Marceau.

Renters had complained that the gas boiler couldn't produce enough hot water for the building, which houses mostly young college students, Marceau said. Now the 260-gallon holding tanks in the basement provide more than enough most days. Even most cloudy days should produce heat for the water from the panels on the south side of the building, Maurais said.

Twelve gallons of a special antifreeze are pumped up to the panels, warmed and then returned to heat exchangers that warm the 65-degree water coming in from the street. The flat panels are made of composite plastic, glass and insulation and have an expected life of 25 to 30 years.

"They are rugged," Maurais said. "You can walk on them and snow will shed from the panels." The system also has a reverse feature that could hasten snow-melting on the panels.

The building each year requires 7,500 gallons of gas for heat and hot water, Marceau said. The system is expected to reduce that consumption by about one-third.

The recent addition to the older house is an investment that should reap a benefit after 10 years, the owner said.

"You have to pay for the first 10 years, but then the next 10 to 15 years, it pays you," he said.

Marceau benefited from a federal tax program that provides up to a 30-percent credit on his $35,000 investment, Maurais said. The tax-credit program is expected to continue through January 2010, he said.

Marceau has taken steps to make most of his other properties more "green." He has switched about a dozen of his properties over to propane and replaced windows with more energy-efficient ones, he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com