Facing with the boom of electricity and fuel prices, many manufacturing companies that use hot water and boilers are switching to solar energy devices.

Nguyen Van Lam, owner of the export timber manufacturing facility in Ho Nai 3 commune, Trang Bom district (Dong Nai), has just installed solar equipment to heat water to supply steam for boiler. He said: "Previously, I operated boilers entirely by electric. Since solar energy was put to use, the initial temperature of water entering the boiler has been up to 70-75oC, time to achieve the capacity of boiler has been very much shortened. Compared with current electricity prices, I have reduced my monthly cost by millions of VND".

Oven using solar energy

Mr. Nguyen Van Khoe, Director of Hiep Hoa Binh Co. Ltd in Tan Bien ward, Bien Hoa city, said the company had to operate the oven every day for drying vermicelli and agricultural products. To save electricity, the company has installed a solar water heater to operate the steam fan for the oven. It takes just nearly 3 hours and approximately 4kW of electricity for the steam fan every day to dry around 500kg of vermicelli. Compared with the type of oven operated entirely by electricity or FO oil, the cost has been significantly reduced.

Mr. Bui Van Nam, Director of Gia Nam Co. Ltd (Bien Hoa), a company specialized in producing solar water heater, said that in recent time, the number of orders for installation of solar water heaters had significantly increased.

According to Mr. Nam, many enterprises and production units have come to learn to consider installing solar power systems to operate the boilers. It takes more than 50 kilowatts of electricity to raise the temperature of 1000 liters of water from room temperature to about 60 ° C. With the electricity price of VND 2,000/kW, heating that amount of water shall take more than VND 100,000.

So, using 1,000 liters of hot water at that temperature for 1 year, consumers shall have to spend about VND 36 million on electricity. Meanwhile, investing in a solar water heater system with the capacity of 1.000m3 only costs about VND 45 million, said Mr. Nam.

It shall take users only one and a half years to retrieve capital. After that time, the cost shall be zero and the device can operate in 10 - 15 years. Gia Nam company has installed water heaters for more than 50 manufacturing companies in central and southern provinces with the capacity of 4,000 to 30,000 liters per day, said Mr. Nam.

A beverage manufacturing company is staging a contract to install a solar water heater system with the capacity of 30,000 liters per day for washing bottles.

By Minh Duc