Thermal Solar Gains Ground Across Mexico, Latin America

Q: What are the main advantages and applications of solar water heating in Mexico today?

A: Solar water heating is a technology that has existed for many years. In fact, Módulo Solar is a company that has been in the market for over four decades. This technology has the important characteristic of being a clean and renewable way to produce heat, which may sound very general, but there are many applications where you need to heat a fluid. It is about being able to generate hot water, generate steam, or even produce goods in industry. Many industrial processes require hot water. For example, all bottled beverages like milk, soda, or beer must be pasteurized, and these are processes that require hot water or heat generation. The advantage of solar technology, compared to what people more commonly know, like gas or electric heaters, is that it performs the same function, but it does so more cheaply, with energy savings, and in a sustainable way. That is, without burning fossil fuels and without emitting pollutants into the atmosphere. Globally, the solar energy market is huge, and in Mexico, it is a market that has seen significant growth. In fact, today Mexico is among the Top 10 countries with the highest number of solar water heaters installed per year. We are leaders in this area and even have very strong industries in the country that manufacture this technology, and companies like ours currently export to more than 15 countries.

Q: Why has solar thermal technology grown more rapidly in the last decade?

A: The technology has been around for many years, but the real boom has happened practically over the past 15 years. This has to do, first of all, with greater awareness of the importance of saving, not just energy, but also money, for households, businesses, and industries. Secondly, there is also greater environmental awareness, leading to a push for sustainable technologies that reduce emissions. This growing awareness has enabled significant market growth, which has gone hand-in-hand with technological development. Like in any market, when demand increases, economies of scale bring prices down. The same thing has happened in the photovoltaic solar sector, which is used to generate electricity. Although it is also a decades-old technology, it has experienced accelerated growth in the past 10 to 20 years due to price drops, improved efficiencies, and technological advancements. A great advantage of this particular technology is that it can adapt to the needs of each specific application and, of course, its price has come down significantly.

Q: How does Modulo Solar approach the development of custom solar heating solutions?

A: We create solutions that improve efficiency, reduce costs, and most importantly, offer tailored packages. The need to heat water in a home is not the same as for an industrial process, or the needs of a hotel that uses hot water for laundry, guest rooms, and so on. Each application requires a different technological package, and what we develop are products that meet those specific needs. One very important area is performance measurement, the same way you measure performance in electrical systems, you can also do it with thermal systems. Today, for example, if you install a solar water heater in a hotel with web-based monitoring thanks to the Internet of Things, you can see in real time how much energy you are saving each day, what temperature you are reaching, and how much hot water is being delivered. That is very important, because in the energy sector, especially in electricity, there is a lot of measurement and data. You get your electricity bill at home, showing how much you pay and how much you consume. But with gas, it is much harder. You know how much you pay for gas, but very few people know how much gas energy they consume. At most, you might know how many kilos or liters of gas you used, because your bill says so, but people generally do not know the energy details. That is why it is so important that we have developed online monitoring tools for performance, savings, and system operation that allow end users to measure their energy savings and performance.

Q: How would you describe the current adoption and market penetration of solar thermal technology in Mexico?

A: There are many challenges, but also many opportunities. This has been a technology that has been adopted across different sectors in interesting ways. For example, in housing, 10% of homes in Mexico now have a solar water heater. That may sound like a small number, but considering that Mexico has more than 35 million homes, that means 3.5 million households now have solar water heaters. Quietly and gradually, the market has been growing. Today, when you look up at rooftops, you often see solar heaters. That speaks to a huge opportunity.

In the industrial sector, we see a similar behavior. We are also global leaders. Mexico has the most large-scale solar thermal installations for industrial heat generation in the world. There are over 200 large-scale industrial installations across diverse industries: pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and automotive, among others. 

While growth has been substantial, challenges remain. In renewable energy in general, the main challenge is that we compete against so-called conventional fuels like gas. People see gas as the status quo. There often is no environmental awareness, and people are also not used to thinking long-term. A solar water heater may have a higher upfront cost than a conventional heater, but once you add up the cost of gas, you recover your investment in two or three years. That is something most end users do not factor in. People only look at the cost of the equipment, not the cost of operating that technology. So that is a big educational challenge: getting people to compare and understand the true cost of technologies. The second issue is environmental. Climate change is undeniable, and we all need to do our part. I think it is no longer just about awareness, it is about regulation. In many parts of the world, Europe, parts of Asia, and even the Americas, there are mandatory standards. In Mexico City, for example, there is a regulation requiring solar heaters. If you build a new home or a business with more than 30 users, you are required to install a solar heater that covers between 35% and 70% of your hot water needs, depending on your project. This is an environmental regulation from the Ministry of the Environment, and it is a very good one. The goal is to reduce urban pollution. Here is a final figure: Mexico City alone has 2.5 million gas heaters that are turned on every morning and night so people can go about their day. Imagine the pollution generated by those devices, no one inspects them, no one maintains them. You only fix your gas heater when it breaks. That is where some of the biggest opportunities lie.

Q: Beyond water heating, what other applications are you focusing on with solar thermal technology?

A: We have been developing solutions in a very important area: air heating. With air heating, you can heat spaces, but you can also develop solutions for things like food dehydration or drying industrial products. In fact, over the past decade, we have developed specific solutions for air heating. Today, we have systems for dehydrating food, drying agricultural products, and heating spaces. The air heating segment has enormous potential. In fact, it is a global market, not just in Mexico, and it has many opportunities. We have been developing technology for that market in a very meaningful way in recent years.

Q: How have you expanded into international markets, particularly in Latin America?

A: We have the great advantage that for many years we have been working very actively in Central and South America. And, since we are a technology development company, we have been able to create solutions tailored to each region's needs. We work in countries like Panama, Colombia, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, where the thermal sector, meaning the need for hot water or fluid heating, is very different from country to country. In Mexico, for example, we are very used to gas heaters, that is the norm. But in some Central American countries, electric heaters are more common, and consumption habits are different: architecture is different and everything has to be developed locally. 

We also have some economic advantages when it comes to exporting to these countries. We have been able to develop these markets hand-in-hand with interesting local partners. Today, we are present in 15 countries across Central America and in some South American countries like Colombia and Argentina. All of this is closely tied to developing technology for local use. Another big advantage is not having a language barrier. This technology has typically been developed in Europe and Asia, but issues like local culture, habits, and knowledge are sometimes things companies from other parts of the world do not fully grasp. We, on the other hand, have a clear cultural advantage when entering Latin American markets.

Q: What are the differences between residential and industrial applications of solar thermal systems?

A: They are two completely different sectors. In a home, people want things to be simple, they do not want something complex, or anything that causes fear or maintenance issues. So in homes, solar water heaters are designed to be as simple as possible. You install the unit on your roof, and once installed, it provides free hot water practically year-round alongside your conventional heater. The main motivation in homes is saving money, people want to reduce their gas bill. Some may have an ecological mindset, which is great, but honestly, most people are driven by economic savings. That is why home systems need to be easy to install and low maintenance. In contrast, industrial projects involve technological challenges and require advanced engineering with very different requirements. In a home, you see the savings in your pocket right away, you do not need complex monitoring. But in an industrial setting, companies often want to know in detail, every day, every hour, every minute, how the system is working: how much hot water it is delivering, how much energy it is saving. They need fully automated systems with redundancy, meaning systems that can run continuously 24/7. That is the reality for many industries. Custom engineering in industrial settings is a major challenge, but also a huge opportunity.

Q: What role does the industrial sector play in energy consumption and the transition to sustainable thermal energy?
A: The industrial sector is, globally, the one with the greatest potential. Of 100% of industrial energy consumption, 74% is thermal energy, and only 26% is electricity. The most energy-intensive processes are thermal: cooking food, pasteurization, dyeing fabrics, generating steam, distillation. All of those require massive amounts of energy, and today, unfortunately, 90% of that thermal energy is still produced worldwide by burning fossil fuels. 

Unlike households, where individuals make the decisions, in industry spaces ESG is now a major driver. In fact, it is no longer just about responsibility; many multinational companies already have a very clear decarbonization roadmap with goals set for 2030 or 2040. That creates a huge opportunity for companies like ours to help decarbonize processes, eliminate gas use, and integrate these technologies alongside electrification. This, I would say, is already one of the biggest drivers in the sector: environmental responsibility and emission reduction targets. In Mexico, for instance, more than 10 states now have emissions taxes, something we did not have before. You have always paid taxes on waste or water, but emissions? That is relatively new.

Q: What are your plans for the future, both in Mexico and internationally?

A: We have an exciting plan focused on continuing to grow the domestic market and developing new technological solutions for Mexico. But we also have a strong focus on the international market. There is enormous potential in many Central and South American countries, which is where we are most active and have the strongest presence. Many of these markets are still relatively untapped, places where the technology is just beginning to emerge, where interest is just starting to grow. We have a very solid plan to keep developing local markets, not just in industry and commercial sectors like hospitality, but also in the residential sector. We currently have important projects in some countries where we are helping to develop solar water heating for homes to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

This year we will be launching a new product in the Mexican market to eliminate the use of gas for water heating in the residential sector. It is a hybrid solar heater that allows the use of solar thermal energy with electric support to eliminate gas heaters in homes in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

Módulo Solar is Mexico’s largest solar thermal company, founded in 1975, manufacturing and installing solar water heaters for homes, hotels, pools, industry, and large users. With over 320,000m² installed across Mexico and exports to Latin America and Europe, it offers integrated design, R&D, engineering, production, and deployment services.