Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Potential energy saving in urban and rural households of Mexico

by use of solar water heaters, using geographical information system
Jorge Alberto Rosas-Flores a,b,n, Dionicio Rosas-Flores c, José Luis Fernández Zayas d
a
División de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán C.P. 04510, DF, Mexico
b
Centro de Investigación en Ingenieria y Ciencias Aplicadas, CIICAp Av. Universidad 1001, Colonia Chamilpa, Cuernavaca C.P.6220, Morelos, Mexico
c
Posgrado de Arquitectura, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán C.P. 04510, DF, Mexico
d
Instituto de Ingeniería UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán C.P. 04510, DF, Mexico

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this millennium, the renewable energy will cover much of the demand of the world-wide energy,
Received 10 January 2015 mainly by the Kyoto's Protocol and the increase in the price of oil. Mexico's geographic location gives it a
Received in revised form privileged state for the daily amounts of possible solar harvesting of energy.
26 May 2015
This paper presents for the first time an analysis of energy savings by implementing solar water
Accepted 27 July 2015
Available online 10 September 2015
heaters (SWH) in urban and rural households in Mexico using a geographical information system (GIS);
the maps of average solar radiation, energy consumption and energy savings are presented. Information
Keywords: of assigned to 187,719 and 4,525 locations urban and rural respectively; official data from the National
Solar water heating Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico (INEGI) is used and among the main results, they show
GIS
that each year Mexico could save 53.66 PJ which is 51% of annual consumption of households use of LPG
Mexico
for heating water, which would represent to avoid the emission of 3.74 Tg CO2 to the environment.
Energy saving
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
2. National features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
2.1. Residential energy consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
2.2. National market of solar water heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
2.3. Goverment programs and current legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
3. Energy saving by SWH implementation of the country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
3.1. Solar radiation by area using GIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
4. Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
4.1. Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
4.2. Summer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
4.3. Autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
4.4. Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
5. Economic benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
6. Environmental benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
7. Financial aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
8. Development alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
8.1. Development of SWH market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

n
Corresponding author at: División de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán C.P. 04510,
DF, México. Tel þ 52 55 56233600x8853; fax: þ 52 5556233600x8051.
E-mail address: jorge.rosas.fl[email protected] (J.A. Rosas-Flores).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.202
1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
244 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252

9. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

1. Introduction which is only 2.5% of their global potential [7]. There are many
studies in literature that concentrate in the operation of heating
The necessity to use renewable energy sources is becoming water by solar energy [8,9], simulation of solar water heating with
more and more important, in order to diminish the use of sources thermosyphon systems [10–12], the thermal operation of ther-
of fossil fuels, as well as the consequences for the environment of mosyphon two-phase SWH [13], configuration of the Solar Water
mining and burning them.
Heating System [14,15]. There are some studies dealing to
In Mexico, 80% of the households use liquefied petroleum gas
obtained values of the solar radiation in diverse geographic areas
(LPG) or natural gas, as the main fuel for cooking and heating
[16,17]. Simulation, numerical model and analysis to predict the
water.1 This high dependence on hydrocarbons can be reversed by
thermal operation of solar system [18–21]. A current study
using renewable energies, such as the solar energy.
The greatest and easier use of the solar energy is the direct demonstrates the problem to evaluate the operation of long term
conversion of the sunlight into heat at low temperature. of the solar thermal systems (solar cooling and solar cogeneration
The solar water heating technology is not new in Mexico but systems) [22], and other article demonstrates quantitatively the
the opposite: it is a mature technology, after more than thirty possible effect of diffuse skylight on the enhancement of energy
years of development of industrial technology, during which the gain of solar thermal collectors [23].
Mexican designers and manufacturers have accumulated valuable As seen above, few studies have focused on obtaining economic
experiences. and environmental benefits through the use of market policies on
In fifty years of commercial presence, one million meters the use of SWH, which is the main idea developed in this
squared of solar water heaters through the country have been manuscript.
installed, including the work of many small constructors. Although The aim is to show the actions that can be done in Mexico, to
the documented results date only 9 years back, they reflect only transform the enormous opportunity presented by the value of
one portion of the total constructed area (Fig. 1). solar water heating and national wealth.
There are mainly four kinds of collectors in Mexico: Evacuated
tube collectors, heat pipe evacuated tube collector, flat plate col-
lectors and plastic collector (Fig. 2). The flat plate collector market
represented 36% in 2009, occupying the dominant position in 2. National features
Mexico's SWH market; the plastic collector represented 33%,
evacuated tube collector 30% and the heat pipe evacuated tube Mexico is in North America, extending between latitudes 14 N
collector only 2.3%. and 33 N and longitude 118-86 O. Its territory covers about
67% of SWH technology used in Mexico is imported and the
1,972,550 km2 with a population density of 52.4 inhabitants per
remaining 33% comes from domestic manufacturing [2].
km2.3 The climate is generally temperate and tropical on the coast,
It is estimated that each square meter of solar water heater
with temperatures ranging between 29 °C and 34 °C in the warmer
converts about 7 kW/h each day, so it does not contribute extensively
to the 116 kW/h in Mexico that are used daily in its entirety [3]. seasons, while the minimum temperatures ranging from 5 °C to
The world experience demonstrates that in Germany2 only in 8 °C in the cold season.
1998, 470,000 m2 of solar water heaters were installed [4], while Mexico has an enormous potential for the use of renewable
in Mexico until the year 2000, a total of 373,000 m2 have been energies . Regarding solar energy, for instance, Mexico has excel-
installed. Another example is Israel. Due to the fuel lack of at the lent conditions (a large territorial extension and favorable climatic
beginning of the decade of the 1950's, determined restrictions of conditions), with an average solar radiation amounting to around
the government in the use of the conventional water heaters, were 5.0 kWh/m2/d.
basically to assign limited hours of use [5]. The dynamics of Mexican households increased rapidly: in
As an alternative, much of the Israeli population, acquired the 1984 there were about 13.9 million households of which 65% were
solar water heaters. Before 1983, 60% of the population had these urban and 35% rural, but by 2006 the number increased to 26
systems, by the year 2009 the SWH reached 90% of total homes. million households, the which 78% were urban and 22% rural.
This suggests that Mexico is not correctly using solar energy and it By 1996, 4% of 92 million people had no connection to the
is important to determine why it has been this way until today, to electricity grid. In urban areas, only 0.79% of 67 million lacked this
determine the potential use and to learn from the experiences in connection, while in the rural sector of the 25 million inhabitants,
other countries with similar development opportunity.
14% had no electricity service. As a result of government efforts to
The commercial consumption of heat at low temperature in the
this situation in 2006, the service covered 99% of over 105 million
world is estimated at 10 EJ per year to heat water, equivalent to
people and only 0.27% of urban residents and 2.6% of 24 million
6,000 million m2 of collector area [6]. In 2001, there was almost 58
million of m2 of solar thermal collector area in operation around people in rural areas had no access to electricity services.4 At
the Member Countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA), present, in Mexico just over 99% of the population has access to
electricity.
1
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI for its Spanish stands),
3
Population and Housing Census 1990–2010. http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/con National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI for its Spanish stands),
tenidos/Proyectos/ccpv/cpvsh/Series_historicas.aspx. Population and Housing Census 1990–2010.
2 4
Wagner & Co, Solar Technology. http://www.wagner-solartechnik.com/wag Data of Comisión Federal del Electricidad de México (Federal Comision of
nerEN/index.php?navid ¼ 207&ref¼ /wagnerEN/SW/index.php. Electricity) (CFE). http://www.cfe.gob.mx.
 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252 245

Currently the use of gas has increased in urban areas, for

example 3.8 millions of water heaters were sold between 1996 and
POOLS
2006, in the urban sector, the saturation of gas heaters grew from
74,901 m 2
32% 0.29 per household in 1984 to 0.44 in 2006. In addition, the stoves
are commonly used to heat water for bathing and occasionally for
services such as laundry or dishwashing. Fig. 4 shows the geo-
HOMES
133,002m 2 graphical distribution of the current penetration of gas systems for
57% heating water in Mexico.
HOTELS
13,767 m 2 2.2. National market of solar water heater
6%

For over 50 years, the solar collectors have been manufactured

INDUSTRIES in Mexico to use in household, and there is a SWH industry with
10,733 m 2 over 50 manufacturers of flat plate collectors and a wide network
5% OTHER of distributors across the country with a large number of impor-
933 m 2
0.4% ters of equipment from USA, China, Israel and Europe. The main
use of solar water heaters in Mexico has been to heat residential
Fig. 1. Area of solar water heaters installed in Mexico by sector in 2009. swimming pools and with the introduction of plastic collectors in
Source: [1].
the 90 its use has spread to sports clubs and hotels.
The use of systems SWH varies widely by country, Fig. 5 shows
PLASTIC the total collector area SWH installed in selected countries during
COLLECTOR
75,501 m 2
2007 [7].
33% EVACUATED The National Solar Energy Association (ANES) reported that in
TUBE 2009 in Mexico, were settled 233,336 m2 and the total installed
COLLECTORS
70,430 m 2 solar water heaters in the country is almost 1,392,922 m2, repre-
30% senting 12 m2 per thousand inhabitants [1,25].
FLAT PLATE
COLLECTORS 2.3. Goverment programs and current legislation
82,002 m 2
35% HEAT PIPE
EVACUATED Since March 2006, the environmental standard AMBT NADF-
TUBE
COLLECTOR
008-2005 requires the incorporation of water heating systems
5,403 m 2 with solar energy (between 30 and 40% of its consumption) in
2% Mexico City for new establishments such as sports clubs, hotels,
Fig. 2. Area of solar water heaters installed in Mexico by technology type in 2009. restaurants, laundries and industries [26].
Source: [2]. The Program for the Promotion of Solar Water Heaters in
Mexico (PROCALSOL) through a program of the National Com-
2.1. Residential energy consumption mission for Energy Efficiency (CONUEE) intends to promote the
use of solar water heaters in all the country and the Trust Shared
The final energy consumption in Mexico in 2008 amounted to Risk (FIRCO) will provide resources to promote energy efficiency
4.814 PJ, of which 50% corresponds to the transport sector, the and renewable energy in agriculture. The government of one of
industrial sector represented 28% and sectors the residential, the states of Mexico, Zacatecas, financed the purchase of solar
government and commercial sector consumed 20% of the total [1]. water heaters systems for hotels and hospitals [24]. Independently
This information is shown in Fig. 3. So the residential sector CONAVI, INFONAVIT (Green Mortgage) has implemented more
than 99,724 SWH in their projects in the last three years [27].
represents 15% of total energy consumption in Mexico, within this,
19% is consumption of electricity for lighting, air conditioning, and
appliances. The remaining energy use is attributed to cook 52%
3. Energy saving by SWH implementation of the country
and 29% for water heating.
Residential water heating represents 6% of the total national The methodology used in this paper is based on end-use pre-
energy consumption [24], by 2008 was equivalent to 10.2 GJ/ vious works [28,29]; this methodology focuses on the imple-
household for water heating. The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in mentation of SWH in new homes on a national level.
Mexican households is used almost exclusively for cooking and The end uses in households in Mexico are identified and clas-
water heating. The saturation5 of gas heaters has grown from 24% sified on the basis of the application sector (cooking, water heat-
in 1984 to 46% in 2008. Gas heaters are available in two basic ing, appliances and lighting); the end uses are sub-classified based
design types: storage and instant heaters, this second are more on different factors that affect the sizing and economics of SWH.
common in small apartments. Electric water heaters are rarely In the residential sector, the factors used for classification are:
used in Mexico. Natural gas is also rarely used by households. The household size, whether they are single storey houses or multi-
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the fuel most widely used and family buildings, availability of roof area, annual family income,
occupation of household members, etc. The technical, economic
stored in two ways: in cylinders 10, 20 and 30 kg in addition to the
and market potential are estimated for each class of end-use
stationary tanks in buildings. Thus the energy consumption for
points. The potential for different end-use are aggregated and
water heating has grown in 6% between 1984 and 2006. In rural
extrapolated to obtain the potential of SWH for households in
areas, firewood is the main fuel for heating water. Mexico. Two approaches were made and supplemented, the first
with the methodology of top-down or bottom-up and the second
5
For the purposes of this essay, saturation means the number of electrical in monetary expenditure for energy to determine the consump-
appliances per home. tion for water heating in the residential sector. According to the
246 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252

Agriculture
Lighting Livestock Industry
6% Appliances and Fishing 28%
10% 2%
Space
cooling Residential
3% Cooking 15%
52%
Water
heating
29% Transport
Inst / Com
50%
5%

Fig. 3 (a). Breakdown of the residential energy use. (b) Energy consumption in Mexico.
Source: [1].

< 20% of household with GWH

30° >21% and < 35% of household with GWH

>36 and <55% of household with GWH

>56% of household with GWH

25°
N LATITUDE

20°

15°
-115° -110° -105° -100° -95° -90°
W LONGITUDE
Fig. 4. Current state of implementation of gas water heater in Mexico by town. Note: prepared by the authors with data of ENIGH, GWH: gas water heater.

characteristics and needs of the household, we estimate the total

AREA DE COLECTOR POR

1000
thermal-energy demand for water heating in households (Ers).
1000 HABITANTES (M2)

900
800
700
600
Ers = ∑ [Np Nd Vw ρcp (Tw − Tm )] ki
i (1)
500
400
300 where Ers is the energy consumption for water heating,
200 Np ¼ number of persons per household, Nd ¼number of days per
100
0 month, Vw ¼average daily consumption of hot water per person
(40 l), ρ ¼density of water , Cp ¼specific heat, Tw ¼temperature of
UK

ISRAEL
MEXICO
GERMANY
DENMARK
NORWAY
GREECE

TURKEY

ITALY

CYPRUS
FRANCE

SPAIN
UNITED STATES

JAPAN

CANADA
PORTUGAL

AUSTRIA

SOUTH AFRICA

hot water required (50 °C)6 and Tm ¼average temperature of the

6
For this paper an outlet temperature of 50 °C is used based on the standards
of solar heaters Mexico City NADF-008-AMT-2005 http://www.modulosolar.com.
me/Certificados/NADF-008-AMBT-2005.pdf, and the standard of efficiency of LPG
Fig. 5. Solar collector areas in member countries of the International Energy heaters. http://www.energia.gob.mx/res/Acerca_de/nom003ener2011.pdf with
Agency per 1000 inhabitants in 2009. these values will get the amount of energy saved (%) by solar heaters in all locations
Source: [7]. in Mexico by season.
 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252 247

water distribution network, ki is the number of households per t t

category i.
∫0 Eu dt = ηc ∫0 HT A e dt
(5)
Energy that is captured in the solar collector and stored in the
Energy saved by using solar heaters can be described as the
storage tank can be described by the following parameters: useful
difference of the energy consumption at the household minus the
energy Eu, which is used to heat the water in the storage tank, is a
useful solar energy from the solar heater in the different locations,
part of the global incident radiation over the solar collector HTAe. depending on the season, as shown in the following equation:
The other part is heat dissipated into the environment by the solar
t
collector qcs, the storage tank qda, and the connections qcx. Esave = Ers − ηc ∫0 HT A e dt
(6)
HT A e =Eu+qcs +qda+qcx (2)

The introduced useful energy is represented in Eq. (2) by the

water flow ṁ in the heater, and the input and output temperatures 3.1. Solar radiation by area using GIS
of the storage tank: Ti and To
Maps of average global solar radiation assigned to 187,719 and
Eu = mCp
̇ ( Ti − To ) (3) 4,525 rural and urban locations respectively are presented, the
information was consulted in the National Biodiversity Informa-
Alternatively, useful heat can be presented as tion System of the National Commission for the Knowledge and
Use of Biodiversity CONABIO (Spanish initials), where ARGIS 10
Eu = ηc HT A e (4) was used to perform a geostatistical analysis to assign each
population the value of radiation resulting from each season
where, useful heat can be defined as the global incident solar (spring, summer, autumn, winter) (Fig. 6).
radiation over the collector's effective surface, multiplied by the The highest values of radiation occur in spring and summer in
efficiency of the solar heater. the northern, northwestern and Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
In this study, useful heat is determined in a time period t, Where the average values are between 22 and 25 MJ/m2/day
which will correspond to the seasons: spring, summer, autumn which is a key factor for the utilization of SWH to save energy by
and winter, as shown below: avoiding burning LPG.

Fig. 6. Global average radiation by locality (MJ/m2/day). Source: Elaborated by the authors with CONABIO's data, drawn in ARGIS 10.
248 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252

Fig. 7. Power consumption (MJ) LPG gas water heating by locality.

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Fig. 8. (%) Saving of energy for the use of SWH during spring.
Source: Elaborated by the authors.

4. Results 4.2. Summer

In 2010 with information from the National Population Census In summer the range of energy saving varies from 38 to 64% of
and Survey income-expenditure of households in Mexico were its consumption for water heating, with the northern part of
more than 21 million households, 4.5 million rural and 16.6 mil- Mexico that has greater savings; in rural households was 1.41 PJ
lion in urban areas. and urban households 11.62 PJ for the use of SWH (Fig. 9).
Moreover 42% of rural households use LP gas which represents
1.9 million households, besides 92% of urban households use LP 4.3. Autumn
gas which represents 16.3 million households.
According to previous calculations [30] in 2010 the residential In autumn the range of energy saving varies from 32 to 56% of
sector consumed 10 billion liters of LPG, which 3.8 billion liters of its consumption for water heating, with the southern part of
LPG were allocated to water heating, this represents a per capita Mexico that has greater savings; energy saving in rural homes was
consumption of 0.1412 l of LPG/day for domestic hot water (see 1.4 PJ, while in urban households 11.1 PJ due to the use of solar
Fig. 7). water heating (Fig. 10).
Using Eqs. (1) and (2) with solar radiation data by season you
can get the energy savings per household in urban and rural areas 4.4. Winter
in different seasons as it is shown below.
In winter, energy saving is between 29 and 56% of consumption
4.1. Spring for water heating, with the area of the Gulf of Mexico which has
greater potential savings; savings in rural households was 1.3 PJ
in Fig. 8 it can be observed that the range of energy saving is and urban households 10.4 PJ for the use of SWH (Fig. 11).
between 56 and 73%; being the region of Baja California (Norh- In 2010 with information from BNE, the residential sector
west) which achieves greater savings in rural households was consumed 292.52 PJ of LPG and estimates in [30] 104.72 PJ are
1.82 PJ while urban households saved 14.61 for the use of SWH used for water heating, and under these results, the urban resi-
during this season. dential sector could save 47.73 PJ and rural residential sector could
 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252 249

Fig. 9. (%) Saving of energy for the use of SWH during summer.
Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Fig. 10. (%) saving of energy for the use of SWH during autumn.
Source: Elaborated by the authors.

save 5.93 PJ, which in total represents 53.66 PJ that is 51% of LPG A solar heater of this type installed and operating can be
consumption for water heating used annually in Mexico. obtained at a price of U.S. $764 [NOTE 1]. Meanwhile; the heat
needed to heat water with natural gas, with consideration of a
conversion efficiency of the burner of the order of 45% requires
5. Economic benefits about 25,500 BTU per one hundred liters. It is considered a price of
7–8 dollars per million BTU which is the trend of prices of West
The main advantage of a solar water heating system over Texas Intermediate [31], water heating would cost approximately
combustion one is economical, if both systems were evaluated, is U.S. $0.16 per day, representing over ten years life cycle, equivalent
considered the initial and operating costs over the life of the to U.S. $584 in present value [3], assuming the following:
equipment in the current value and the lowest one would be
chosen.  The natural gas price is fixed.
This method would be unfair because it does not take into  Same efficiency conservation equipment.
account the environmental implications which do not have value  Inflation is equal to the increase in productivity.
monetary.
To keep the heat from the hot water in a tank outdoors, which As shown above domestic gas heaters generally do not use
has big losses overnight, the estimated catchment area is able to natural gas, but LPG liquefied petroleum gas, where the cost per
have a net production capacity of 40 liters per square meter per liter is 2.4 times, mainly because LPG has over 2.4 times calorific
day. power due to chemical composition, but in Mexico due to poor
So the heat that takes 150 l of water per day are available daily implementation of subsidies and the distribution systems of LPG,
with a heater of about 2 m2, and this ability may increase the time the price may be higher or lower than that stipulated.
that heat is available and the ability to support the cloudy days. The biggest problem of domestic gas heaters is that they work all
Although there were cloudy days, solar heater delivers water with day to keep the hot water, coupled with the presence of a permanent
less heat than on other days, for its part when the gas heater lacks little flame usually call “pilot” in Mexico. That is on all the time,
gas, it supplies cold water. which represents that an overall efficiency of energy conversion that
250 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252

Fig. 11. (%) Saving of energy for the use of SWH during winter.
Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Table 1 CO2 emissions related to energy consumption can be estimated

Financial analysis of technological alternatives of LPG heater. using the IPCC methodology [33], it is important to stress that this
paper only mentions emissions of LPG as it is considered that the
Technological Fuel saving per NPV of 10 years USD$ Investment's
emissions of firewood on her complete cycle is 0 (firewood-
alternative year recovery
(years) burning CO2 capture).

LPG (kg) Natural LPG Natural gas LPG Natural CO2 ¼ ΣCEFjFj (5)
gas gas
(m3)

Tankless gas 23.23 26.27  $60.97  $74.57 7.99 8.83 where CEFj is the CO2 emission factor for fuel j-LPG-(including not
water oxidized carbon), F is the fuel consumption j-LPG.
heater According to the National Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emis-
Electric heater 195.15 242.25  $61.63  $369.13 6.56 12.33 sions 1994–1998, Mexico released 514 Tg of CO2 in 1996, repre-
SWH 140.77 174.74  $48.59  $240.15 5.98 7.55
senting approximately 1.5% of global emissions [34] 47% these
Note: NPV (net present value). emissions were the result of combustion processes, including here,
Source: [32]. those caused by the internal combustion process.
An estimated of 3.74 Tg CO2 on average can be saved each year
reaches 20% because as much hot water is in the morning, and it has based on 2010 with the implementation of solar water heaters,
been hot all night. In this way, a regular user of a gas-fired boiler will which represents a significant reduction of emissions released into
be paying more than U.S. $1752 fuel in ten years. the environment.
This comparison between the cost of fuel and solar heating
equipment, non-enclosed surrender values, and the costs of
environmental damage, it appears that the solar heater is eco- 7. Financial aspects
nomically better. It is highly likely that fossil fuel costs increase; on
the other hand, the economics of solar water heaters are becoming Financial barriers are many in Mexico, because users may be
increasingly attractive. right, it is easier to pay on gas (15–20 USD per month) and the
Mexico’s National Commission for Energy Saving (CONAE, for high cost of solar energy heater (U.S. $764) so therefore, financial
its Spanish stands) conducted an economic study for the imple- mechanisms are the basis for the growth of installing solar energy
mentation of solar water heaters in Mexico's residential sector. The systems, this is the example of countries such as Germany [4] and
analysis is presented below: Spain [35], where they count with very attractive financial terms
One of the main benefits of using SWH is to become independent for the purchase of solar technology.
from the rising fuel prices, the operation costs are fixed, and the Also due to market development in these countries, solar
payback time is the shortest in comparison to other technologies. heaters are cheaper than in Mexico.
This assessment indicates that SWH can provide a good alternative if In the case of Germany (direct subsidies) during 1999, pushed
other factors are also considered such as environmental factors. the Market Incentive Program, where the main goal was to increase
However, the equipment's high cost is a disadvantage, and it is the share of renewables in primary energy consumption, 4.2% in
required to have some kind of financing offer in order to make its 2010 and 50% in 2050, giving subsidies and financing of €105/m2,
acquisition attractive for the consumer (Table 1). giving as a minimum period of use 7 years, the areas of imple-
mentation were residential sector, local governments and small
industries and the main results obtained between January 2002 and
6. Environmental benefits June 2004 were a total of €124 million in subsidies, €853 million in
investment, with Germany leading the European market [35].
The current problems of environmental pollution in cities, is Spain (rule requires: Barcelona) Barcelona Solar Ordinance, the
mainly due to the emission of various gases, product of burning goal for SWH installation is 90.000 m2 up to year 2010.
fossil fuels. Where it is mandatory to install SWH in:
 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252 251

 New buildings and in rehabilitation, with a consumption satisfy the daily hot water demands of inhabitants, reliably and at a
4292 MJ/day for water heating. reasonable price that competes with LPG water heaters.
 Since 2005: all new buildings. Therefore the drive for development of the SWH market in
 Pools 4100 m3. Mexico is quite different from the drive in other countries. In most
 With financial incentives. countries in the world, the renewable energy market is supported
by government incentives, policies or laws.
Main results are: SWH industry in Mexico is a growing concern with the
increasing improvement in product performance and quality, well-
 40% of new buildings have SWH. established companies and markets of SWH are internal drivers for
 Installed Area: 1650 m2 to January 2000, 24.531 m2 to March the development of SWH industry. In addition to increasing prices
2004. of conventional energy, improved living standards, the massive
construction of new homes, all this is creating a rapidly growing
Since March 2006 is met as a mandatory rule in Spain [36]. industry of SWH in Mexico [37].
In Mexico, credit products (e.g. cars, appliances, clothes,
houses) have developed a significant increase in the various lines
of the national economy.
The necessary conditions for investment in solar water heaters 9. Conclusions
are the assurance of quality, the expectation of a continuous
operation and unlimited access to the sun. In general, it is to assure This paper demonstrates the importance of water heating in
that the user of solar water heater that your investment will be end-use energy in Mexico and shows that water heating by solar
productive during the contracted period. energy can lead to economic, social and environmental benefits to
To achieve this purpose will need a set of rules and conditions the country.
of production, credit and access to the sun to provide reasonable Among the main results obtained that urban residential sector
calm to the purchaser of a solar system, either through any credit could save 47.73 PJ and rural residential sector could save 5.93 PJ,
system or through specific funding. which in total represents 53.66 PJ and that is 51% of LPG con-
Because solar systems have a life span of a couple of decades sumption for heating water used annually in Mexico.
and reduced maintenance cost, a system of adequate funding Mexico’s efforts to tackle climate change at the national and
could propel a growing demand for solar water heaters in Mexico, federal level amount to series of strategies and programs of action
without economic harm to users, but with the economic benefits that have been successively implemented in the past decade.
and environmental know. Probably, the General Law of Climate Change (GLCC) passed in
2012 is so far the most important legal framework that compre-
hensively addresses climate change. As a general law it specifies
8. Development alternatives the commitment of the country to an emissions reduction target of
30% below Business As Usual (BAU) by 2020. In similar vein, the
In Mexico development alternatives are required to develop GLCC put forward that the national mitigation policy should
credit and guarantee schemes to stimulate industry development include diagnosis, planning, measurement, reporting, verification
of solar water heaters. This should be a simple and flexible com- and assessment of national GHG emissions.
pared to schemes that work better for the construction of shop- In this paper we show that can be obtained a reduction of
ping from home and car, what Mexico needs is a private trust or 3.74 Tg CO2 emissions annually which can be a good start to
fund, mainly operated by the private sector, but with the mon- achieve the goals set by the government of Mexico.
itoring and safeguards from public sector, providing funding under The solar hot water today is a very reliable and mature tech-
a set of insurance and guarantees to make this investment viable
nology. However, the main obstacle to the application of solar
for the user and for giving the credit.
heaters is financial. This is demonstrated by the comparison of the
It is very important to analyze in detail the conditions of public
instruments of financing in Mexico with other countries.
funds in Mexico. As mentioned above CONUEE has an important
Additional considerations about the impact on the environ-
history of promoting renewable energies in exploring new and better
ment and quality standards of equipment are subject to financial
mechanisms for this purpose and will be crucial to help, but this
considerations. This argument is more valid when it is observed
government units works exclusively with public funds and have
that the middle class of modern society is becoming less and less
limited oversight mechanisms the private sector and in fact, these
inclined to buy more assets and more to achieve the benefits of
mechanisms will be crucial to achieve the goals outlined in this paper.
It should be analyzed with the help of experts in legal and reg- their services. So the decision on the purchase or rental of a
ulatory opportunities may arise to establish a new legal concept that property, when several options are equal, is based on financial
mainly support the development of financial instruments, and then conditions.
derive the requirements of construction standards and operating sys- Therefore, it can foresee the emergence of a new economic
tems solar energy, and provide access to solar resources, which means player on the market for solar hot water: the technical and
that it could not prevent a neighbor to build a taller construction than financial intermediaries who charge a set monthly fee in exchange
the roof that has solar heaters, but should include compensation when for maintaining the flow of hot water to the user. This scheme, for
urban development cut off the access to the sun [3]. example, would allow multifamily solar systems offer.
The SWH is not the future, it is the present of the energy use for
8.1. Development of SWH market heating water, given the evaluated potential in this paper, it is
clear that the SWH can play a significant role in solving energy
In Mexico, the government does not offer any benefit policy or problems in Mexico.
subsidy, to SWH enterprises or end-users of SWH systems. Most Note 1: Exchange rate in 2014: 1 U.S. $¼$13.10 Mexican Pesos
SWH manufacturers are privately-owned enterprises, running their (January).
business in the face of real market conditions. The main driver for Source: http://www.sat.gob.mx/informacion_fiscal/tablas_indi
rapid development of SWH in Mexico is the fact that, SWH can cadores/Paginas/tipo_cambio.aspx.
252 J.A. Rosas-Flores et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 243–252

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