HOT TOPICS
LATEST NEWS
IEA SHC Award 2022 recognises outstanding social housing projects
The IEA SHC Solar Award 2022 will recognise an organisation or individual that implemented a solar heating or cooling project in the last five years to cut energy consumption and costs in social housing. In order to win, the nominees will have to demonstrate that the use of solar thermal …
Molten salt: suitable heat-transfer fluid for concentrating collector fields
In a parabolic trough collector demo plant run by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Évora, Portugal, molten salt is used as a heat-transfer fluid instead of thermal oil. The advantage of molten salt is its stability at higher temperatures. Whereas thermal oil cracks at above 400 °C, molten nitrate …
Cautious optimism for the coming years in Spain
The Spanish residential solar thermal market is showing signs of resurgence. After a decline of 8 % in 2020 due to Covid-19, the market experienced 1 % growth in the first half of 2021, according to the solar thermal association ASIT. Solar PV seems an ever-harder contender, sometimes battling for …
Between three and eight million heat pumps in 2030
The German heat pump industry expects high growth rates in the next years. The latest heat transition reports predict between three and eight million heat pumps in operation in German buildings by 2030 to fulfil the climate goals (see chart below). By the end of 2020, a total of 1.4 …
New tool provides over 150 solutions for historic building retrofits
A new web application named HiBERtool helps practitioners find the perfect solution for the conservation of historic buildings. The tool explains more than 150 retrofit measures, which range from increasing a building’s energy efficiency to providing solar energy on site. With just a few clicks, users will get solutions tailored …
Spain: Solar district heating on the starting blocks
The Spanish solar district heating market is still in its infancy. Among the 500 district heating networks in operation across the country totalling more than 1.6 GWth only seven use solar heat, according to the Association of District Heating and Cooling Companies (ADHAC). Project developers report that there are barriers …
Automated factory for polymer collectors in Norway
Inaventa Solar has now started operating a fully automated production line for solar collectors with polymer absorbers in Jevnaker, Norway. It took about 18 months from placing the order to commissioning the new, unique production equipment, on which the start-up spent around EUR 4 million. The money was raised by …
Big plans for heat pumps but not for solar hybrid systems in the Netherlands
The Dutch association Holland Solar is disappointed about the latest proposal from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate regarding the national subsidy scheme ISDE for renewable energy solutions. In a letter dated 28th October the ministry announced plans to increase investment grants from 20 to 30 % by 1st …
#EnergyEfficientLighting: Dynamic research group publishes 16 reports
The success of highly energy-efficient lighting designs hinges on more than technological ingenuity. Other key make-or-break factors are smart control strategies and the interaction of lighting users with the built environment. Under the auspices of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, both of these factors were now thoroughly analysed …
Founders of Clean Heat Forum contemplate a variety of strategies
During last week’s COP26 in Glasgow, the UK government launched a Clean Heat Forum to accelerate the decarbonisation of heat used in buildings. The platform will be managed under the umbrella of the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), founded at COP21 in Paris in 2015. “As the UK, …
Launch of Solar Thermal Yearbook 2021
Solar thermal energy is indispensable for the energy transition, but just as indispensable is informing the interested public about the state of the art and the wide range of possible solar heat applications. This is the motivation of the editorial team for launching the first English language edition of the …
Standardised yield assessments for industrial solar heat plants
The yield of solar process heat systems as simulated during feasibility studies has a decisive influence on the profitability of the respective investment. Therefore, simulation tools play an important role in the project development phase. Currently, however, project developers use a large number of simulation tools, whose results may differ …
RECOMMENDED
EVENTS
© 2021, Solarthermalworld. All rights reserved. Site by Cube Five Studio.