European Copper Institute (ECI) contributes to political debate, directly and through stakeholder platforms, sharing its expertise of copper-based products and technical building services and their contribution to the Commission goal of a carbon-neutral building stock. ECI has a considerable knowledge base and multidisciplinary expertise in technology, chemical policy and life cycle relating to copper and its applications. It also has established outreach channels aimed at supporting its advocacy towards the EU institutions.
Solarthermalworld.org was initiated by ECI in 2008 with the aim of providing stakeholders from research, public and private sector all around the globe with first-class information about solar heating and cooling to stimulate market growth. The ECI has supported the hosting of the website as well as the content gathering continuously since 2008.
Please see below our most recent articles:
Green Heat subsidy scheme in Flanders supports concentrating solar heat plants
Flanders, the northern region of Belgium, will see a series of concentrating solar process heat systems go into operation in the next year. The starting point is the 2.5 MW parabolic trough collector field at Avery Dennison, a leading global packaging and materials manufacturer in Turnhout, inaugurated at the beginning …
Solar air heating and drying – an attempt to assess the world market
Solar air heating for space heating and drying is one of the most economical uses of solar thermal. The 2,500 m2 unglazed solar air heating façade at Turkish Aerospace Industries in Ankara, for example, will pay for itself in only 2.4 years according to the project developer Solarwall Turkey. Solar …
Quick facts on Solar Investment Tax Credits prior to and under the IRA
The federal Solar Investment Tax Credits are an important funding instrument for the solar PV and solar thermal market in the USA. In the current version, set out in tax code section 25d for private individuals and section 48 for commercial customers, the tax credits for solar thermal energy are …
Producers point to forced electrification and cheap natural gas as barriers for solar thermal in the US
For many years already, solar thermal for residential and commercial use in the United States has been eligible to benefit from Solar Investment Tax Credits (ITC) and diverse federal and regional incentive programmes. However, as Solar Heat Worldwide data shows, over the last year the newly installed flat plate and …
USD 8 million injection into the lean structure of new Glasspoint
Glasspoint has closed its Series A funding round with USD 8 million. The US-headquartered, privately held company will use the money to increase project development activities in the field of solar industrial steam plants. According to a press release from 31 July the leading investor was 300PPM, a newly founded …
Supply chain constraints in concentrating solar thermal
The demand for heat above 100 °C in industry is huge. More and more project developers offer solutions with concentrating collectors that can provide heat between 100 and 400 °C. On the regularly updated World Map of SHIP Turnkey Suppliers, the number of concentrating collector providers has now grown to …
Polish heating device market with interesting ups and downs
2022 was the second consecutive year of growth in the Polish solar thermal market. Solar collector sales increased by 11 % after growth of 17 % in 2021. According to Janusz Staroscik, President of the Association of Heating Appliance Manufacturers and Importers in Poland (SPIUG), sales mainly increased towards the …
New milestones on the German solar district heating market
Germany was the largest solar district heating market in Europe in 2022. According to market statistics from the German institute Solites, four solar district heating plants with a total power of 24 MW started operation last year, among them the largest German plant in Greifswald with 13.1 MW. This is …
Hopes of improved market framework at the French General State of Solar Heat Conference
The French solar thermal industry is confident about 2023. The 10th edition of the recognized annual conference Etats Generaux de la Chaleur Solaire (General State of Solar Heat) counted a record number of participants – 120 in person and more than 500 online. The one-day event was jointly organized by …
Entry into solar shares at low market values
The project business in the solar thermal sector is still in the red. High project development costs for rather small projects are dragging down the balance sheets of the companies. Accordingly, the share prices of listed companies have lost value in recent years. We asked Max Deml, Editor-in-Chief of the …
Spain´s solar thermal market impacted by various new policies
Spain’s solar thermal market contracted again in 2022 by 12 % according to the latest market survey by the solar energy association ASIT. New emerging segments are PVT and solar industrial heat (SHIP). Although sales in these two technologies are still small, sector representatives expect double-digit growth in the years …
EED & RED III – two amended directives to lead the way to climate neutrality
The European institutions have agreed on stricter binding targets for renewables and stricter rules for energy efficiency. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council ended the so-called trilogue and agreed on amended versions of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). In …
