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Tan Holdings complex get solar water heaters
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Posted on Nov 06 2008
Future tenants at a soon-to-open apartment complex will be receiving free hot water, thanks to the sun.
Four 80-gallon Solahart tanks were recently installed atop a future Tan Holdings’ apartment complex on Navy Hill.
“We’re the first commercial facility to use these. Tenants will enjoy free hot water normally on [the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s] meter,” said Ivan Quichocho, Tan Holdings’ corporate business developer. “It adds value to the facility and gives future tenants hot water, all compliments of Mother Nature.”
Randy Steele, general manager of Triple J motors, which distributes the tanks in the CNMI, Guam and Micronesia, said Solahart tanks are the future.
“Ten years from now this is how the island will be,” he said.
The tanks have two ceramic layers lining the interior. A sealed jacket surrounds the storage cylinder with the water inside. Pre-installed water surrounds the storage cylinder, which holds water from CUC, Steele said. Corroded CUC water is not used around the storage cylinder.
Solahart panels do not use stainless steel or copper, which can be corroded, or copper, which can’t stand high levels of chlorine, Steele said.
“These are like the Cadillac SUV,” he said, adding that they are expected to last 15 years.
The tanks are optimal for tropical climates like the CNMI, but Steele said hot water would be available even on cloudy days.
The tanks were developed in Australia and have been in Guam since the 1970s and 1980s, Steele said.
According to Solahart data, the tanks are estimated to save 50 to 80 percent of water heating consumption.
And with the current power rates, that can save commercial and residential customers a lot of money, Steele said.
“Obviously, with power going up, using electricity is not the economical way to do it,” he said. “We live on an island, we should be the model. We should use our resources. It seems like a no-brainer opportunity.”
Also, Quichocho said, the tanks are environmentally friendly. They burn less fossil fuel and reduce carbon footprints, something that fits Tan Holdings’ goal of going green.
