The World's Larges Laundromat contains 153 washers, 147 dryers, and 36 water-heating roof panels.  Tom Benson, owner, says he did it for purely financial reasons, but his customers thank him daily for helping the environment.

Heating water is a wasteful business, and laundromats need a lot of hot water.  The solar system is a basic solar hot water heater, just a bunch of flat black panels with water running through them, no fancy photovoltaics needed.  Every year, Tom Benson's laundry saves about $25,000 in energy costs thanks to solar heating. 

Though the cost of the system will be generating excess cash in five years, and Benson's Chicago locale is by no means ideal for solar, very few laundromats have embraced solar water heating.  But as energy prices continue to climb, laundromat owners will likely follow Benson's example.

Via USA Today

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