Last year’s outbreak of Covid-19 reduced sales of most of the largest flat plate collector manufacturers not based in China. Only a small number of non-Chinese businesses saw an increase in sales, the result of a new support policy in Germany. Chinese manufacturers, by contrast, were virtually unaffected by the pandemic.

Hydrogen-ready – the new buzzword in the heating industry
by Joachim Berner

At the ISH digital, held from 22 to 26 March, "ready" seems to be the heating industry’s new buzzword. Gas condensing boilers are H2-ready, oil heating is future fuel-ready and the sector, as a whole, says it is Green Deal-ready.

Supply chain maturity and economies of scale drive solar heat costs down
by Bärbel Epp

Europe’s solar thermal industry has achieved quite significant cost reductions since 2014, with economies of scale at the project level helping to drive down costs, Michael Taylor, of IRENA, said at a 9 March webinar titled Cheaper than Electrification: How solar heat will replace oil and gas in the EU industrial sector.

Improving the efficiency of SDH

Since the end of IEA SHC Task 55, there have been multiple calls for continuing the work of this successful research platform. In response, 44 experts met for a one-day online meeting in March to discuss the content, structure and workplan of a new Task titled Efficient Solar District Heating Systems.

Water-energy nexus in wastewater management

Solar-powered water treatment can significantly reduce industrial manufacturers’ water and energy footprints and turn municipal water treatment plants into energy distributors. Impressive demonstration systems were presented during an IEA SHC Solar Academy webinar in March.

How to design an 85 % solar-heated and 100 % solar air-conditioned house

IEA SHC Task 66 Solar Energy Buildings intend to develop and popularise a building standard focused on solar energy as the main energy source for heating, cooling and electricity generation. This sort of holistic approach has yet to become the norm when designing residential energy systems. 

SBE21 conference spotlights historic NZEBs

The SBE21 Heritage conference in mid-April involved a deep exchange of ideas between researchers, architects and practitioners about how to reduce the energy consumption of historic buildings. The main contributors were the experts of IEA SHC Task – Renovating Historic Buildings Towards Zero Energy.