Where were solar water heaters invented?

Answer 1

In the 1870s, Englishmen, Maughan invented the first instant water heater. Little is known about Maughan's invention, however, his invention influenced the designs of Edwin Ruud.

Edwin Ruud, a Norwegian mechanical engineer was the inventor of the automatic storage water heater in 1889. Ruud emigrated to Pittsburgh where he pioneered the early development of both residential and commercial water heaters. He founded the Ruud Manufacturing Company

Answer 2

I am not really sure when solar hot water was invented. It is the sort of thing that is so easily conceived that it could have been done in the nineteenth or even eighteenth century. It could have been invented by different people in different times.

The earliest solar hot water that seems to be well documented is its use in Southern California in the 1920's. In much of the rest of the country, hot water was often prepared as a byproduct of heating or cooking with wood or coal. Since heating was not a constant problem in southern California, and cooking was often done outdoors to keep kitchen heat out of the house, hot water was a separate issue. There was so much sunshine there that it seemed a shame to use fuel or electrical power to heat water.