There is a lack of land available in Germany for solar district heating systems due to the complexity of the land-use plan procedure. Renewable district heating plants should be privileged according to paragraph 35 of the German Building Regulations, otherwise decarbonisation of the heating sector will not be possible. 

“We have an increasing number of new large projects in the pipeline”

Finnish turnkey solar heat system provider Savosolar aims to maintain a strong liquidity base for the increasing number of large solar heat projects it has in the pipeline. At an extraordinary general meeting on 1 October, its shareholders approved the issue of up to EUR 20 million in new shares and options.

New Smart Solar Water Heating for 2030 research platform

Solar thermal and solar PV water heaters are rapidly evolving to include smart controls and better manufacturing and installation standards designed to improve their durability and performance. The IEA SHC will support the rollout of these smart technologies in different regions around the world.

China’s future role in the IEA SHC Programme

The Chinese solar thermal market shows a varied picture of demand. While subsectors such as solar space heating are booming, total market volume continues to decline. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with two professors at the China Academy of Building Research, He Tao and Ruicheng Zheng, about the drivers and barriers behind these trends.

“Energy taxes and emission trading systems complement each other”

Internalizing the costs of pollution into energy prices – this has been one of the key objectives of CAN Europe for many years. In this context, two EU documents are of major importance: the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive and the Emission Trading System for buildings.

Skopje’s Green City Action Plan favours district heating
by Frank Stier

Many times during winter, Skopje in North Macedonia holds the unfortunate record of being the capital with the worst air quality in Europe. Hence, in 2020, Skopje adopted the Green City Action Plan which proposes several measures to lower carbon emissions, including an expansion of Skopje’s district heating network, and the installation of solar collectors on public and residential buildings.

IEA SHC Solar Cooling Task: “We can make a difference”
by Bärbel Epp

US project developer ergSol is a true pioneer. The company is not only putting up large commercial solar heat systems in California, but also supports the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling programme by heading the demonstration subtask of global research network Task 65 – Solar Cooling for the Sunbelt Regions.