Bafa | Solarthermalworld

October 2, 2019
Support for 90 Heat Network 4.0 feasibility studies

On 1 July 2017, the German economy ministry began its support for feasibility studies on climate-friendly heat networks and their subsequent construction. At the time of writing, BAFA, the government agency managing the Heat Network 4.0 programme, said it had approved 90 studies and the...
September 11, 2019
20 years of funding renewables in Germany

The start of this month marked the 20^th anniversary of the German Market Rebate Programme, also known as MAP. At the time, it was the country’s first set of funding guidelines for renewables. Since coming into force on 1 September 1999, MAP has paid out about EUR 3 billion to...
February 25, 2019
Up to 55 % investment subsidy for solar process heat

Solar process heat has been a focus of Germany’s Market Rebate Programme, or MAP, since 2013. Last year, the programme’s managers noted increased interest in MAP funding, with 76 applicants requesting grants for 12,729 m² altogether. The collector area of all systems combined was almost as...
October 27, 2017
Germany: Renewable District Heating Grants

German politicians are beginning to appreciate the benefits of solar district heating, or SDH for short. Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, BMWi, has launched District Heating Networks 4.0, a new subsidy scheme for grids which use solar, biomass or waste heat to meet at...
October 15, 2017
SHC Solar Award: Five Finalists with Successful Support Policies

Administrators of successful solar thermal support schemes are in the focus of this year’s Solar Award of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC). The jury has chosen five finalists, of which one will receive the SHC Solar Award during the IEA SHC’s joint conference with ISES...
April 21, 2017
Germany: Process Heat Supply from Vacuum Tubes and Air Collectors on the Rise

There is a distinct difference between the make-up of the German solar process heat segment and the country’s solar thermal market in general and it concerns the type of collectors used. One in four collectors used in solar process heat systems is an air collector, although the technology...
November 11, 2016
Germany: “Performance-based incentives for all solar thermal plants”

In spring 2015, Germany´s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) introduced a performance-based incentive for solar heating as an alternative to the scheme offering incentives based on collector area. Recently published statistics have shown the new programme to grant...
May 4, 2016
Germany: Symposium Debates Renewable Heating Market Ups and Downs

During the first quarter of 2016, solar thermal suppliers in Germany sold around 3 % more systems than they did over the same period last year. This is indeed good news after 2015 turned out to be another disappointing year with a 10 % drop in sales, adding only 805,000 m² (563 MWt_h...
August 31, 2015
Germany: Label for Existing Heating Boilers to Increase Retrofit Share

Finally some good news from Germany, the largest market in Europe, which declined for four years in a row between 2011 and 2014. After a very sluggish first quarter in 2015, demand for solar thermal systems was increasing over the summer months because of the...
March 27, 2015
Germany: 174 Solar Process Heat Applications in 2.5 Years

Over the last two and a half years, the German Market Rebate Programme for Renewable Energies, MAP, has been subsidising half of the net costs associated with...
March 24, 2015
Germany: National Subsidy Scheme Gets Significant Amendment

On 1 April 2015, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, BMWi, will increase the subsidies for renewable heating systems – solar thermal, biomass boilers and heat pumps – within the German Market Rebate Programme for Renewable Energies, MAP. The main reason for taking...
May 24, 2014
Germany: Strong Decrease in Retrofit Market for Solar Combi Systems

According to the German solar industry association, BSW Solar, and the German heating industry association, BDH, the country saw an 11 % decrease in newly installed solar collector area in 2013, bringing market volume down to 735 MW_th (1.05 million m²). The analysis...