‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating

A Thriamvos truck stops at noon in front of a four-story building in the heart of Nicosia.

This is the third rooftop installation of a solar-powered water heating system that Petros Mihali and his assistant Soteris have completed in the Cypriot capital since their working day began at 7 a.m.

The whole process is perfectly planned and almost always the same: under the scorching midday sun, a crane bolted to a truck lifts first the boiler, then the black-glazed solar panels, and then the galvanized steel bracket on which the entire system will stand. Within two hours of installing the thermal technology, the household, say Thriamvos employees, will “transition to solar energy.”

“We do about four installations a day in Cyprus,” says Mihali. “And each one takes at most two hours because, like the system itself, everything is incredibly simple.”

Cyprus has overtaken all other EU Member States in the use of solar hot water systems, with an estimated 93.5 percent of households using an alternative form of energy for domestic needs.

EU data shows the eastern Mediterranean island is exceeding renewable energy targets set for heating and cooling buildings thanks to the widespread use of solar thermal technology.

“There are many areas where Cyprus has failed to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets,” says Charalampos Theopemptou, the island’s first environment commissioner. “But when it comes to using renewable energy resources to sustainably heat and cool buildings, we have easily achieved the goal, precisely thanks to such extensive use of solar water heaters for so many years.”

Theopemptou, a Green Party MP who heads the Cypriot parliament’s environmental protection committee, still remembers vividly how the first solar water heating system was installed on the roof of his wife’s family home almost 60 years ago.

“Water heaters were introduced to Cyprus in the late 1960s and I still remember the first system here because it was placed on the roof of a building in Nicosia,” he recalls. “It was the Israelis who introduced this technology to us, and it quickly gained popularity because it is so simple. All you need are solar panels, a tank and copper pipes. It has been a great solution to household hot water needs ever since.”

Solar heating systems not only collected solar energy in the form of heat – typically produced by electricity and the burning of fossil fuels – they were extremely cost-effective and helped develop the entire industry, he explains.

“It was a great solution for low-income families, and then jobs appeared: so many were created,” says the MP. “There are local manufacturers who make the parts, as well as all the people who are trained to assemble them. It’s big business.”

While serving as environment commissioner, Theopemptou pushed hard to make photovoltaic systems mandatory in all new residential and commercial buildings, a move introduced by Israel back in the 1970s.

“In my role as commissioner, this was a priority,” he says. “Architects now need to ensure that roofs not only have enough space for installations, but also that they can support the weight.”

The popularity of water heaters is so great that in 1977 an association of local solar energy producers was established. Since then, more than 962,564 cubic meters of “solar (panel) collectors” have been installed, the association claims.

The country’s vibrant tourism industry is increasingly turning to eco-friendly solutions, with solar-powered water heating systems being implemented, they say, in almost 100 percent of hotels.

Electricity was delayed in reaching households across Cyprus. It was not until 1903 that the British colonial government introduced electricity to the island. In 1952, eight years before the country gained independence, the Electricity Authority was finally established. In fact, in remote areas, solar systems were often placed on village roofs before the arrival of the grid.

With most of the grid still powered by mazut or diesel fuel, Cyprus is among a cohort of EU countries forced to buy emission allowances from other member states to meet legal targets – an obligation that accounts for up to a third of monthly electricity bills, towards to the great anger of Cypriot households. This has also played a role for homeowners installing solar water heating systems.

For Demetra Asprou, a retired engineer, it is obvious that a region blessed with over 300 days of sunshine a year should use solar energy. “It reduces electricity costs, increases the efficiency of hot water supply and is environmentally friendly,” he says. “Why would anyone use other, more traditional ways of heating water when just a few hours of sunlight, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., is enough to fill a 200-liter tank with enough hot water for 48 hours? On days when there is no sunlight, which is rare, you can always have electricity on hand if you need it.

Now in her 70s, Asprou, who lives in a Finnish-style log house at the foot of the Troodos Mountains, a 30-minute drive from Nicosia, switched to district heating almost 40 years ago.

“Installation costs can be three times higher today, but there are EU-funded subsidies that the government gives and within a year it’s all paid back,” he says. “After this period, you will essentially have free hot water and significantly reduce your electricity bills. In a country like Cyprus, this is obvious.”

Theopemptou admits that solar systems have one drawback: they are not good for the skyline. “No way, they’re ugly on the roof,” he laments. “If I regret anything, it is that we failed to introduce regulations to improve the aesthetics of the installations. However, I still believe that they should be placed on all buildings in the region, given the large number of sunny days in the Mediterranean region.”

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