『Abstract
　Solar thermal utilization, especially the application of solar water heater technology, has developed rapidly in China in recent decades. Manufacturing and marketing developments have been especially strong in provinces such as Zhejiang, Shandong and Jiangsu. This paper takes Zhejiang, a relatively affluent province, as a case study area to assess the performance of solar water heater utilization in China. The study will focus on institutional setting, economic and technological performance, energy performance, and environmental and social impact. Results show that China has greatly increased solar water heater utilization, which has brought China great economic, environmental and social benefits. However, China is confronted with malfeasant market competition, technical flaws in solar water heater products and social conflict concerning solar water heater installation. For further development of the solar water heater, China should clarify the compulsory installation policy and include solar water heaters into the current “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” project; most of the widely used vacuum tube products should be replaced by flat plate products, and the technology improvement should focus on anti-freezing and water saving; the resources of solar water heater market should be consolidated and most of the OEM manufactures should evolve to ODM and OBM enterprises.

Keywords: China; Solar water heater; Performance assessment』

1. Introduction
2. Study area and methods
3. Renewable energy development in Zhejiang
　3.1. Energy shortage in Zhejiang
　3.2. Development of non-fossil fuel energy resources in Zhejiang
　3.3. Development of solar energy resources in Zhejiang
4. Solar energy governance
5. Economic and market performance of SWH
　5.1. Cost-benefit analysis of SWH production
　5.2. Economic analysis of SWH utilization
　5.3. SWH market structure
6. Technology assessment of SWH systems
　6.1. Climate conditions
　6.2. Technology performance
7. Environmental and societal impacts
8. Conclusion and recommendations
　8.1. Policy recommendations
　6.2. Technology improvement
　8.3. Market reform
Acknowledgements
Appendix. Supplementary materials
References

Fig. 1. Fuel costs for heating water from 5 to 55 ℃ (yuan/1000L). Fig. 2. Market shares of SWH products in China and EU (2007). Han et al.(2010)による『Solar water heaters in China: A new day dawning』から