After France had become involved in a couple of EU-supported projects as a newcomer, the country is now ready for take-off in the solar district heating market. Monitoring data from the first two French pilot plants show performance to be quite good and the systems to be highly reliable. There is also a new strategy document being devised to advance the development of solar district heating in the French region of Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes.

The Indian Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) has successfully tested a vacuum tube collector system for space heating at extreme altitudes. The testing site, a troop shelter, was set up last year in the region of Ladakh at 5,360 metres above sea level, and the tests were conducted there over the winter. The system stores solar heat harnessed during the day in a phase-change storage tank and uses it to keep the 90 m² shelter warm at night. During the test run, the inside of the shelter showed between 7 and 10 °C while the temperature outside was minus 30 °C.

There is now nothing in the way of constructing an impressive solar heating and cooling installation in Nicaragua. At the end of September, the last signatures were placed under the contract documents for a 4,450 m² collector field which will supply air conditioning and warm water to the Hospital Militar Escuela Dr. Alejandro Dávila Bolaños in Managua, the capital city of the central American nation. The Austrian turnkey system supplier S.O.L.I.D had been struggling for over three years to receive financing for the 4 million EUR project in form of a soft loan, a financing instrument for developing countries.

After having announced plans to sharply increase energy prices across the country, the Argentine government is said to approve new legislation for promoting solar thermal technology. A new bill, which is expected to be passed by the end of 2016, is thought to create a number of financial incentives, soft loans and a binding obligation for solar water heaters in public buildings. However, the domestic market has already been experiencing remarkable growth, since President Mauricio Marci ordered a 260-litre system equipped with a flat plate collector from Energe, one of Argentina’s major solar thermal suppliers. The photo shows the president (middle) and a team from the company at the new solar thermal installation.

From 11 to 14 October, more than 300 experts in solar energy met in Palma de Mallorca for the EuroSun 2016 conference. Organised by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) in cooperation with the University of the Balearic Islands, the conference is attended mainly by scientists and industry stakeholders from the solar heating and cooling sector. But for the first time, speakers also included well-known specialists from the photovoltaics sector. Ten video interviews illustrate the wide range of opinions on solar heat and solar electricity market and technology development.