SIDNEY -- Needing hot water for his family of four and looking for ways to save on oil, Keith Dubois opted for a solar hot water heater.

Now, a month of experience with the new technology has convinced him he made the correct choice.

"I have free hot water most of the time," Dubois said. The solar hot water systems supplies enough hot water for domestic use, including showers, laundry and dishwashing.

Actually, he's still paying for the approximately $8,000 in installation costs, but he's not paying for the oil to heat the water.

The system sounds simple enough.

Solar panels on the roof of his home hold tubes containing an antifreeze fluid that captures heat from the sun and flows into an 80-gallon tank. The heat from the antifreeze transfers to the water and the antifreeze returns to the roof for another burst of energy.

The system generates heat of about 120 degrees.

Dubois, however, still taps hot water from a 30-gallon tank heated with an oil burner.

"The cold feed line now draws hot water from the solar tank, and because I'm putting hot water in, the burner doesn't come on," Dubois said. "In a month, I've had that burner come on for three times for only a few minutes at a time."

And soon, he expects to be awash in returns on his investment in the form of a rebate check from state for $2,300 or $2,400, and a federal tax credit next year.

"Within a seven- to eight-month period, my net cost will be under $4,000, and I'm saving oil every day," Dubois said.

Information on the state's solar energy rebate program available online at www.efficiencymaine.com/renewable_programs_solar.htm/

The program is run through the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

PUC spokesman Fred Bever said 138 rebates for solar thermal and electrical systems were issued in 2007, and all the funding has been reserved for 2008.

In the two years the program operated, between June 2005 and June 2007, 152 thermal hot water systems installations received rebates, covering $190,000 in installation costs.

Before converting to solar hot water, Dubois already was familiar with solar heating technology.

"Three years ago I installed a solar heating panel on the wall of my bedroom," he said, describing a flat black corrugated collector.

"I'm into new technology," he said.

He drives a Toyota Prius to and from his job as director of financial aid at the University of Southern Maine and calculated he got 58 mpg one day last week.

Dubois' solar hot water system was installed by Augusta Fuel Co.

"Customers are asking for solar technology," said Marc Lacasse, president of AFC. "People out there are looking for alternatives."

Lacasse said the company has state-certified solar thermal installers. He said plumbing skills transfer well to solar technology since the systems involve a lot of piping. "It becomes part of your home's mechanical systems," he said. "It comes down to piping and control systems and moving your water around your home."

Lacasse said installing solar hot water requires a fairly substantial capital investment.

"The people that we're talking to are those who are environmentally conscious; they're looking for ways to be less reliant on heating fuel, natural gas and propane," Lacasse said.

Lacasse said the company had solar technology installed atop its Northern Avenue headquarters to demonstrate solar-heated hot water.

"We want people to know that we have the capability if people are looking at the sun for alternative energy."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com