Turning up the heat on solar thermal projects

When the Loveland Housing Authority wanted to save money for residents at the Maple Terrace apartment complex in 2010, it teamed up with local nonprofit The Atmosphere Conservancy and other partners in tapping the sun for help.

The partners financed and built a massive array of 50 solar-thermal collectors on apartment roofs that on a blue-sky day can heat more than 2,300 gallons of water for cooking, bathing and other uses. Over its 25-year lifespan, the system will heat more than 20 million gallons of water and save more than $5,000 a year in heating costs that would otherwise need…