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IEA SHC: Broadening the range of research topics and the membership base
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme has strengthened its worldwide presence and broadened its range of research topics. During its Executive Committee meeting in Norway in June 2023 it welcomed Poland as a new member. Poland was among the top five countries in terms of new solar installations in …
Difficult market environment for residential solar thermal providers in Germany
Fewer and fewer solar collectors are being bought in Germany: the negative trend from the previous year continued in the first quarter of 2024. Sales of solar collectors fell from just under 500 MW of capacity in 2022 to 263 MW in 2023 (see chart below). In previous years, the …
Innovative trends on the still declining Chinese market
Despite numerous innovative trends, the Chinese solar thermal market continues to shrink. In 2023, 15.3 GW of collectors were installed in China, 8 % less than in the previous year. This number also includes a small portion of exported collectors. The annual industry report from the Chinese Solar Thermal Industry …
Solar Heat Worldwide: two more new world’s largest solar heat plants
Solar heat is a versatile technology that now provides heating services to 122 million customers worldwide. The just published Solar Heat Worldwide study, edition 2024, contains the latest data on all the relevant applications – residential water heating, district heating, process heat, cooling and drying. Two dynamically growing technologies – …
Market and technology trends in the global PVT sector
Europe is the leading region worldwide for PVT technology. Of the global 1.6 million m2 of PVT collectors in operation, 64 % are installed in Europe. The leading countries are France, Germany and the Netherlands. The largest PVT markets outside Europe in terms of capacity in operation are South Korea, …
Further growth expected in Brazil – the third largest solar heat market globally
Brazil was the third largest solar thermal market in the world after China and India in terms of newly installed collector area in 2023. The Brazilian industry reported sales of 1.83 million m2 of glazed and unglazed collectors (1,281 MW) – a plus of 2.8 % compared with 2022. The …
Fine-tuning phase change materials
Compact thermal energy storage can be achieved with a large number of materials. To reduce costs, a high energy density of the storage material at optimal temperatures is desirable. The storage research group of the Spanish institute CIC energiGUNE has worked on different ways to optimize phase-change materials (PCMs) to …
ENGAGED – a multi-stage framework for participatory urban planning
Stakeholder engagement is a hot topic in the discussion about positive energy communities or districts. Some understand it as simply informing citizens during the planning process to avoid conflicts. Others see it as an opportunity to promote virtuous energy behaviour that supports the integration of solar technologies. Still others see …
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