[mollyL]

Originally Posted by Tree

My landlord's pool is heated by solar energy. That is: they have a system of pipes that criss-cross the roof of the poolhouse, which is painted black. This heats the water from early April til he closes the pool in September (in southern BC, Canada). He can choose to pump water through the pipes or not, depending on the temperature of the water, but by mid-May/early June, it's plenty warm enough to not use them most of the time. This isn't an example of using solar "power" so much as solar "energy" but the cost savings for him are HUGE as I imagine it's expensive to heat a pool otherwise.

I read an article a few years ago about this very thing and it sounded plausible, but gave no real-life reports from people who had actually done this. I am really glad to see that it does indeed work; I have several relatives with pools that I think will be glad to see this.

[ammulu]

I did find many in my home country using these solar energy for heating water or some other means. It is kind of hard to use gas for heating as it costs much.

[rubybeetle]

I use solar panels. I love not having an electric bill. They seem amazingly tough--we have two panels that were given to us because illegal aliens had thrown rocks at them. The whole surface is cracked and they still work. Not 100%, but I was impressed. I'm not sure which kind it is, I think it is a BP Solar. We also have panels from Sharp and Siemens.

[angelicwriter]

I believe solar panels are the future of our energy. Has anyone heard of the so called dubbed "Solar King" Zhengrong Shi? He owns the solar company suntech.

[gissele]

I am using Solar panels. It's bit expensive. This is going to be big future energy source.

[horselover]

The initial cost I agree is high, but I'm sure in the long run it would be worth it.

While I haven't seen many homes in Toronto that are using solar power, there are quite a few businesses that do.

Maybe it's just that you can't see it and they have it, but unless you're above the houses, you won't always know that a home has solar power.