Central Heating Plant's Solar Hot Water System

In 2015, the university installed a solar hot water system on its Central Heating Plant (CHP). The system pumps water from a condensate tank to the CHP’s roof where it is heated and then returned to the condensate tank. The heated water from the tank is then used by the CHP’s steam boiler system that heats the UMass Amherst campus. The system is meant to reduce the amount of fossil fuel used in the CHP’s steam boiler system. The solar hot water system was made possible through a DOER Clean Energy Grant and a MassCEC rebate and is expected to save the university $5,000 in energy cost per year.  Energy production from this system can be tracked real time on a VBUS.net energy dashboard.

Central Heating Plant Solar Hot Water System