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:
Step by step, the Bulgarian city of Smolyan is aiming to become an energy-positive city
At the beginning of October 2023, the EU project +CityxChange came to an end with a final conference in the Norwegian city of Trondheim. Since its launch, the two lighthouse cities Trondheim (Norway) and Limerick (Ireland), together with their so-called follower cities Alba Iulia (Romania), Pisek (Czech Republic), Võru (Estonia), …
Decarbonization – a winning card for industry
Decarbonization of heat in industry is now getting a lot more attention in Brussels. The Member of Parliament Beatrice Covassi together with Solar Heat Europe organized an event at the EU Parliament on 11 October under the title “Enabling industrial decarbonization”. The 10 MW solar industrial heat plant at malt …
Guaranteed yields are standard for new solar district heating plants in Germany
Solar thermal energy is still unknown territory for many district heating companies. Contractually guaranteed solar heat yields from the turnkey provider of the collector field are therefore the rule and mitigate the risk for the investor. We spoke with Christoph Bühler, Division Manager at the German SDH plant designer Ritter …
New developments in geomembranes for pit heat storages
Large solar thermal systems need large heat storage capabilities. Especially if the solar heat is to contribute significantly more than 25 % to a district heating network. Pit thermal energy storage (PTES) is a cost-effective way to build large heat storage facilities with 100,000 m3 and more. A key component …
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 …
