A hot shower at an Oklahoma campground once had an unusual source: the sun above it. At Chickasaw National Recreation Area, solar collectors helped heat water for visitors using the park's comfort stations. The technology was already operating in the late 1990s, when solar energy was far less visible in everyday American life.
At Buckhorn Campground, the National Park Service used three solar hot-water systems. The largest system delivered about 18,194 kilowatt-hours of energy each year. That heat replaced electricity that otherwise would have been needed to warm the campground's water.
