In Massachusetts, a new support programme for large-scale solar thermal systems has come into effect recently. Building owners can now apply for grants of up to USD 25,000 (residential and commercial systems) or even USD 30,000 (systems on public buildings) thanks to the Commonwealth Solar Hot Water Commercial Pilot Program. Pre-studies can also be funded with up to USD 10,000 – applicants have only to pay 25 % of the costs themselves and will receive the remaining as a grant. The new programme is an addition to the Commonwealth Solar Hot Water Residential Program (up to 4 residential units), which came into effect in February 2011 and subsidized 200 systems so far.

Because of a comparably lower price, vacuum tube collectors are becoming more and more popular in India. Based on a capacity of 100 litres of warm water per day, an average thermosiphon system with flat plate collectors is sold at INR 20,000 (EUR 208), whereas a solar water heater with a vacuum tube collector costs on average INR 16,000 (EUR 167). To protect the business of the around 60 flat plate collector manufacturers in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a memorandum on 20 October 2011. Its most important sentence says that, “manufacturers shall import no components other than ETCs (Evacuated Tube Collectors)”.

Austrian collector manufacturer Tisun GmbH started operating a new type of absorber production machine at the beginning of November 2011. Developed and delivered by Austrian machine supplier DTEC GmbH, the special feature of the Pulsspeed 278/556 Bender is its ability to bend and laser-weld parts in a single production step. DTEC have patented the three-dimensional head which bends, forms and welds the piping to the absorber plate. One employee is enough to operate the machine.