Apricus opened a new 80,000-square-foot factory in April to meet an increasing demand for its residential and commercial solar thermal water heaters [see Sustainable Industries’ “2007 Top Ten Green Building Products”].

The new facility, which is equipped with Apricus’ own solar collectors, would allow Apricus to increase its capacity to 34 megawatts a year. Michael Humphreys, the company’s founder and president, says he expects business to double or triple in 2008. An Apricus system, which costs an average homeowner about $6,000 delivers an eight to ten percent return on investment, according to the company. 

Apricus, which is headquartered in Nanjing, China, has offices in the United States, Europe, Australia. Its solar thermal collectors are sold through dealers in nearly all 50 states. The company recently signed a contract to provide over 500 collectors on the roof of an industrial building in Canada, which is one of the largest solar thermal installations in the world.