Lakewood, NJ – Aquatherm Industries, the largest U.S. manufacturer of swimming pool solar heaters, announced today it has broken the $2 (USD)/sq. ft. mark for its Sunlite™ brand of pool solar heating systems.  The manufacturer believes this pricing is unprecedented in unglazed solar themal, and cites several factors which have allowed it to reduce long run average costs and break the $2/sq. ft. price point threshold.

The manufacturer reports its initial investment in machinery and tooling for Sunlite™ has been completely amortized – over the course of its 25 million square foot total production – since being introduced in 2000.  Over that time, improved production efficiencies and quality control processes have resulted in less waste and helped to lower production costs.

With two patents currently protecting Aquatherm’s Sunlite™ product, the manufacturer has garnered a nearly 53% market share in the industry.  The pool solar panel’s unique “insert-molded” header design was recognized as a breakthrough in solar pool heating technology when the product launched a decade ago, and continues to set the standard for the industry moving forward.

Aquatherm also cites economies of scale as a major influencing factor on pricing.  In 2005, the Lakewood, NJ factory underwent a 25,000 square foot expansion – effectively doubling the building’s total size.  With the addition of roughly 15,000 square feet of warehouse space, the manufacturer has been able to make larger bulk purchases of its specially-formulated polypropylene resin from suppliers, further reducing costs.

Using performance rating data from the independent Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) – which measures a solar collector’s ability to efficiently transfer thermal energy from the sun into usable heat (in the case of solar thermal, BTUs) – Sunlite™ is rated at 1,000 BTUs per square foot.  Based on the manufacturer’s newly released pricing, Sunlite™ carries a price per BTU of only $0.002 – making it the most cost-effective BTU on the planet.

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Aquatherm Industries is the largest manufacturer of solar pool heating systems in the United States, the only US manufacturer of NSF listed solar pool heaters, and the only US solar collector manufacturer to achieve the ISO 9001:2008 quality standard.  Aquatherm manufactures several of the industry’s leading brands of solar pool heating collectors, including the Solar Industries and Ecosun collectors.

Aquatherm’s entire manufacturing process takes place at its 50,000-square foot technology center in Lakewood, NJ – the most modern facility of its kind in the world.  For more information on Aquatherm Industries, its products or its dealer network, contact Molly Friar, Aquatherm’s Sales & Marketing Manager at 1-800-535-6307, extension 226 or by email at mfriar(at)warmwater.com.

If stretched end-to-end, the tubing the collectors are composed of could circle the Earth two-and-a-half times.

A breakthrough in solar pool heating technology when introduced a decade ago in 2000, Sunlite™ and its vented counterpart, Ecolite™, still hold the title of the lowest cost solar thermal collector on the planet, per square foot. Aquatherm maintains two patents – one on the products, and one on the innovative insert-molding manufacturing process.

Another unique feature of the Sunlite™ and Ecolite™ products, up to 48 square feet of solar collector can be packaged in a lightweight 27” tall by 13” square box, as well as installation hardware. Convenient to inventory and easy to handle, the product is designed specifically with the retail, distribution, and do-it-yourself markets in mind.

Though the heating of water is measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs), the combined solar thermal capacity of 25 million square feet of the low-temperature unglazed polymer solar collector can also be expressed as 8.53 gigawatts (GW). By comparison, New York City‘s annual power consumption is approximately 5 GW.

The standard, which is required by most U.S. states, concerns the safety, durability and toxicity of products that are used in public or commercial swimming pools, spas and other recreational water facilities like water parks.

“The certification of Aquatherm helps assure homeowners and operators at recreational water facilities that their passive solar radiant heaters are free from unacceptable levels of contaminants and perform and continue to perform effectively under the intended use conditions,” said Dave Purkiss, General Manager for NSF International’s Water Treatment and Distribution program.

Certification testing includes: material safety, corrosion resistance, design and construction, product marking, dimensional testing, hydrostatic pressure testing at 1.5x the working pressure, design burst pressure testing at 2.0x the working pressure, head loss or pressure loss testing, 20,000 cycle high/low pressure testing, high temperature burst pressure safety testing, marking, and labeling requirements.

“Now, more than ever, pool owners need to be assured that the only byproduct of their solar pool heater is warmer water and a longer swimming season,” said Dave Sizelove, Aquatherm’s President & CEO. “With the addition of Sunlite, all Aquatherm products are now listed NSF-50, which means we can provide that piece of mind.”

At the time of this release, Aquatherm is still the first and only manufacturer to receive NSF-50 certification for its solar pool heating systems.