Originally, the Brazilian Labelling Program, PBE, was supposed to become mandatory in July 2014. Now, in 2015, the industry is still waiting for the so-called compulsoriedade to become reality. The label has so far only been mandatory for solar water heaters intended for the federal social housing programme Minha Casa Minha Vida. In January the press department of INMETRO confirmed per email that there was already a new deadline for manufacturers: From September 2015 on, Brazilians may only produce or import collectors and tanks adhering to the technical requirements for quality based on standard ABNT NBR 15747, which is European norm EN 12975-2 adapted to Brazilian climate conditions. INMETRO also confirmed that resellers would still be allowed to buy non-conforming products until March 2016.

The future headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) represent the first office building in Abu Dhabi to be awarded the 4-Pearl Estidama Construction Rating Certificate. According to the Estidama website, the 2010 rating system was the first building certification code to be adopted in the Middle East. A solar water heating system together with a 1,000 m² PV rooftop generator is designed to produce 10 % of the overall building complex with almost 32,000 m² of floor space.

Change is coming to the world’s solar thermal markets: Single-family homes – currently the most important sales segment – are going to lose their significance in the future. Most solar thermal manufacturers across the globe predict their sales to be dominated by other segments over the coming years. These are just some of the results from international survey ISOL Navigator December 2014, a study published by German agency solrico. 365 solar collector manufacturers and solar thermal system suppliers from all corners of the globe participated in the survey.

IEA-SHC Task 42, entitled Compact Thermal Energy Storage, has entered into its final year and will end in December 2015. In February 2015, 44 scientists met for the 13^th Experts Task Meeting in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the characterisation and development of materials for latent heat storage systems. This included phase change materials (PCM) like paraffin and thermo-chemical materials (TCM), such as sodium hydroxide solutions or zeolites. During the three-day meeting, the task members also visited the cogeneration plant Simmering in Vienna. The photo shows them in front of two pressurised water tanks with a total volume of 11,000 m³.

Surface treatment, food, chemical, textile and leather are the five industry sectors with the greatest potential for utilising solar thermal systems in Pakistan. Solar heat below 100 °C can contribute 5.6 million MWh per year to these five industries if 7.1 million m² of collector area is installed in the country, although with long payback periods of between 10 and 20 years. These are some of the results of a market study which looks at Solar Thermal Energy for Industrial / Commercial Use in Pakistan, Egypt and Morocco and was commissioned by the International Finance Cooperation (IFC). Two Austrian companies, CES clean energy solutions and S.O.L.I.D., won the tender to carry out the study, which was completed in March 2014.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published two technology briefs last week. The 40-page documents, one entitled Solar Heat for Industrial Processes, the other Solar Heating and Cooling for Residential Applications, give a brief global overview of the market and technology development, including some recommendations for policy makers. It is the first time that the solar thermal sector is in the focus of a technology brief. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with one of the authors, Ruud Kempener, Technology Roadmap Analyst at the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre in Bonn, Germany.