NORWAY – Michelle Campbell has to heat about 75 gallons of water daily to operate her hair salon.

Now, instead of running her furnace at 185 degrees 24 hours a day, Campbell will be able to maintain a water temperature of about 110 degrees without the furnace.

Hair Plus on Paris Street has become the first business in the area to install a solar panel heating system to draw the heat of the sun into a water tank.

“I was looking for a way to conserve on oil in the summer,” Campbell said. “This was a great opportunity.”

“At 85 degrees (outside temperature) my furnace won’t run and I’ll have plenty of hot water available,” said Campbell, who has two stylists working in the salon.

The idea has already elicited interest from other local businesses, including Chris Weston at Oxford Hills Funeral Home, who came to look at the operation Tuesday.

With backing from a local bank and a federal tax incentive, which made the financial decision easier, Campbell expects payback within eight years.

Jim Reid of Jim Reid’s Heating in Hebron, who installed the unit, said he estimates Campbell will save the price of one 275-gallon tank of oil just this summer. “Her boiler was maintaining 185 degree water, every day, 24/7,” he said.

With the installation of the solar heating system, she can maintain the water temperature at 110 degrees even if the sun isn’t shining, he said.

The initial price of between $9,000 and $12,000 for the units can seem costly, but for someone like Campbell, who was able to get a low-interest loan and with the recent federal tax incentives, the payoff is well worth it, Reid said.

“People are not shy of the costs if they see the returns,” he said.

“This is retirement-building. I’m more than willing to wait,” Campbell said.

Reid, who installed a solar heating unit in his house, said not only do the panels save money and energy but the stimulus bill tax incentive, which is available through 2016, provides a 30 percent tax credit for the purchase of solar water heaters.

Reid said he has installed five solar heating units in the area already and is working on his sixth this week, but Campbell’s is the first commercial application in the area.

“It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “Every time there’s a ray of sunshine, she’s running downstairs to check the temperature.”

“It’s a good feeling; I’m drawing off the sun,” Campbell said.