International Energy Agency’s Solar Heating and Cooling Programme
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Programme has over 35 years of international collaborative work in the field of research, development, demonstration (RD&D) and test methods for solar thermal energy and solar buildings. The results of this work are available for researchers, policy makers, industry, utility and business representatives, builders, architects and teachers
The IEA SHC Programme is a member-based Programme with 20 member countries and 5 member organizations. Its mission is “To enhance collective knowledge and application of solar heating and cooling through international collaboration to fulfill its vision of solar thermal energy meeting 50% of low temperature heating and cooling demand by 2050.”
Highlighted in the section below are some of our most recent publications:
“Stability testing is needed to investigate the market readiness of compact thermal energy storage materials”
Stability is a key issue when evaluating new phase-change materials (PCMs) or thermochemical materials (TCMs) for thermal energy storage. A loss of stability may reduce the storage capacity and/or the thermal power exchange over the operational life of compact thermal energy storage (CTES) systems. This is why the researchers of …
How planners use tools to assess solar potential in neighbourhoods
Digital tools play an increasingly important role in urban planning. Researchers from the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme have cooperated on solar neighbourhood planning within Task 63 to describe how planners have used tools for irradiation assessment and a visual programming environment in selected new housing developments as well …
Analysing 126 solar energy buildings across Europe
The revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings directive tightens the energy standards for buildings across the European Union. The member states are to establish national building renovation plans that transform existing buildings into zero-emission buildings. IEA SHC Task 66 Solar Energy Buildings will contribute to this discussion by gathering …
Tips and tricks regarding design and success factors for SHIP
It is generally a big challenge to contract and design solar industrial heat projects (SHIP). The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Task 64 on Solar Process Heat aims at supporting planners and investors, to stimulate market growth. In the most recent IEA SHC Solar Academy webinar, three task experts shared …
Solar district heating solutions providing higher temperatures
A well-attended second meeting of the research group IEA SHC Task 68 Efficient Solar District Heating took place at the beginning of November. A total of 51 participants from 15 countries – a mix of scientists and industry representatives – registered for the two-day virtual meeting. Country reports about Germany …
Life cycle assessment for solar thermal systems
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme will start a cross-sectoral research group on life cycle and cost assessment (LCA). The objective is to develop guidelines on methodology and to define the parameters for location and system-specific economic and ecological assessment. The IEA SHC executive committee has commissioned the German …
Optimised PVT and heat pump combinations for heating and cooling of buildings
In combination with the Eurosun 2022 conference, the second IEA SHC Task 66 industry workshop entitled “Solar thermal and/or PVT combined with heat pumps as an innovative energy supply solution” took place at the end of September in Germany. Four speakers from industry presented new developments for a sustainable and …
Future potential of solar cooling
The energy demand for air-conditioning is growing faster than any other energy consumption in buildings. The main share of the projected growth for space cooling comes from emerging economies and will more than triple by 2050 to 6,000 TWh/a globally. What could be the contribution from PV and solar thermal …
IEA SHC Solar Award winner: social housing project in Namibia
The ORVI Social Housing Project in Namibia has won the IEA SHC 2022 Solar Award. Leonhard Eins, Managing Director of the Namibian company Solsquare Energy, received the award during EuroSun 2022 at the end of September (see photo). Helvi IIeka, Centre Head of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the …
Small carbon footprint of large solar field in France
Green technologies also have a carbon footprint. Energy is used for raw materials, production, transport and operation. Life cycle assessment (LCA) for renewable energy technologies is, however, a relatively new field of research. But it is growing rapidly in importance, as it provides valuable insights into the carbon footprint of …
EuroSun 2022: Renewables enable crisis-proof heat supply and energy security
480 solar experts from more than 50 countries gathered in Kassel from 25 to 29 September 2022 for EuroSun 2022 – the International Conference on Solar Energy for Buildings and Industry. The joint event of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA …
Heat pumps: Competition or complement in district heating?
For decades, the Danish solar district heating sector has been a shining example for the world. And with the help of combining heat pumps with solar thermal, the market could again lead the way by contributing to Denmark’s 2030 aim of a 70 % carbon emissions reduction. Hence the question …
