Based in Brussels, the International Copper Association (ICA) Europe is the leading advocate for the copper industry in Europe. As ICA’s European branch, the organisation represents companies that mine, smelt and recycle copper for use across the economy, in the electricity system, buildings, transport and industry. Through a team of policy, industry and scientific experts, ICA Europe promotes copper as an essential material for achieving the EU’s ambition of a resilient, climate-neutral Europe and seeks to ensure that EU policies enable the sustainable production of copper to serve Europe’s future needs.
Solarthermalworld.org was initiated by ICA Europe 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 ICA Europe has supported the hosting of the website until 2021 as well as the content gathering continuously since 2008.
Please see below our most recent articles:
Growing interest in concentrating solar heat in central Europe
Concentrating collectors that provide heat or steam for large energy consumers are still far and few between. In 2020, 35 projects with a total aperture area of 16,300 m2 (11 MWth) were put up around the globe, with the most capacity added in China and Turkey, However, according to the …
Start-ups develop new high-temperature storage solutions
At the end of May, representatives for Norwegian EnergyNest, Swedish Azelio and US Malta joined a webinar organised by Spanish agency ATA Insights to talk about their companies’ innovative, cost-competitive thermal storage systems. The three tech start-ups offer clients intraday solutions that store clean, surplus solar heat or electricity generated …
Large prefab SDH collectors: design and yields
Collector size is key when designing solar thermal systems for use in district heating and industry. Roughly speaking, the larger the individual collectors, the easier it will be to install a system by crane and configure it to provide temperatures outside the usual range. In all, nine companies based in …
IEA Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap: 400 milestones but very few for solar thermal
At an online press conference in May, IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol made some surprisingly forceful statements about the global net-zero emission targets for 2050 – statements that have since been widely quoted in the media. “This is not a race between nations but a race against time. And …
“Together with ABB Robotics we can speed up the roll-out”
The Swedish company Absolicon Solar Collector has joined forces with ABB Robotics to sell complete automated production lines for parabolic trough collectors throughout the world. The company has so far signed 13 letters of interest with investors on various continents. The idea is to reduce technology costs by producing collectors …
The opportunities and risks of stock market financing for young solar thermal companies
More and more solar thermal companies are financing their growth by issuing shares. The most recent example is Tigi from Israel with its IPO on 21st March 2021. Some Scandinavian project developers such as Absolicon, Savosolar and Clean Industry Solutions Holding Europe as well as the Chinese Solareast Holding with …
Germany’s biggest solar-heated house nears completion
This summer, the first families will be able to move into Solardomizil III, Germany’s soon-to-be-largest showcase of residential solar thermal design. The multi-family property is being put up by FASA, a solar thermal-only construction firm founded in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The core component of the …
Energy Community aims for 0.01 % to 3 % solar share in heating sector
Vienna-based Energy Community’s launch of a Heating and Cooling Network in September 2020 was a clear indication that it wants to move beyond its current focus on renewable electricity and support sustainable heating and cooling. In early May, it published a discussion paper on district heat tariffs, in which its …
Dutch green heat tariff prompts record-size SHIP plant
Flower farmers and brothers Jeroen and Marco Mol have saved about 875,000 m3 of gas a year since starting up a new 10.5 MWth collector field in April 2020 in Nibbixwoud in the Netherlands. To implement the project, they partnered with G2 Energy, a Dutch company that provided them with …
Winners named in Helsinki Energy Challenge for carbon-neutral district heat
An expert panel has now picked four winning ideas from the 252 submitted for the Helsinki Energy Challenge, which gave stakeholders in the energy market a chance to put forward their solutions for carbon-neutral district heating in Finland’s capital by 2035. One award went to the HIVE consortium, which was …
Uncapped funding for large solar heat plants in Austria
The Austrian Climate and Energy Fund has increased the budget of its grant scheme for large solar thermal plants and is now offering EUR 45 million in 2021 and 2022 for conducting feasibility studies, putting up new systems as well as monitoring them. If the budget is exhausted, the government …
IKEA to invest EUR 4 billion in clean energy
By 2030, furniture retail giant Inter IKEA Group intends to minimise its carbon footprint and even get climate-positive while continuing to grow its business. The goals set by IKEA’s sustainability strategy People & Planet Positive published in August 2020 include the aim to generate more renewable energy than will be …
