Techno-economic and reliability assessment of solar water heaters in Australia based on Monte Carlo analysis

Based on the probability model, the variable maintenance costs of solar water heaters were estimated over the product lifetime. This together with capital expenditures and fuel charges are used to compute the specific price of hot water supply for different system configurations. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is implemented to show the impact of auxiliary heating on the economic viability of the products. The results show that solar water heaters can offer significantly better long-term economic viability compared to conventional systems at moderate auxiliary energy consumptions.