IEA SHC

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:

November 5, 2018
Israeli firm offers large variety of PVT systems

Homes, hospitals, hotels, industrial facilities and greenhouses (see photo): These are some of the many uses for turnkey PV systems produced by Millennium Solar, an Israeli business which was set up in 1999 and specialises in PV-Thermal (PVT) technologies. Founder and Managing Director Ami...
October 25, 2018
Quality principles for solar air conditioning systems

The latest generation of solar air conditioning systems comes in a vast variety of configurations. As shown in the diagram above, their source of energy is either solar heat or electricity. Some include storage tanks and can provide hot water or space heating in addition to space cooling....
October 22, 2018
Online database on advanced PCMs

Compared to water, phase change materials (PCMs) offer more capacity to store heat in tanks. As a consequence, researchers in all corners of the world have been developing new materials and their properties. To ensure the employment of a shared methodology and the use of equivalent terms to...
October 19, 2018
Canada’s diverse market declined in 2017

The solar thermal market in Canada, a long-term member of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, is comparatively small: Only 24,953 m² of collector area was installed last year. On top of this, the recently published Survey of Active Solar Thermal Collectors, Industry and Markets...
October 15, 2018
“Excellent material for sorption-based solar energy storage”

Microporous hydrophilic substances such as zeolites are recognised as promising materials for very efficient energy storage. Solar thermal systems are used to dry the material and store all of the thermal energy inside without losses until water is returned into the structure to release...
September 13, 2018
New at IEA SHC: Solar neighbourhood planning

Case study reporting by research platform Solar Energy in Urban Planning has recently concluded with the publication of an interactive map...
September 6, 2018
Producing hot water underneath natural slates

A state-of-the-art solar thermal system has been installed under the slate roof of a castle in Ghent, Belgium. Roll-bonded Thermoslate absorbers measuring 44 m² have been integrated into the space between the wooden trusses and natural slate tiles of the historic structure built in the 12...
September 5, 2018
New standard to improve energy performance of historic buildings

Maintaining the exterior of a historic building while raising energy efficiency is not necessarily a contradiction. The new EN 16883:2017 standard, Conservation of cultural heritage, provides guidance on how to improve the energy performance of historically significant structures....
July 25, 2018
Lessons learned from urban solar projects

Cities and municipalities are thought to play a decisive role in transforming energy systems. Urban planners, municipal stakeholders and consulting firms need case studies to demonstrate that solar energy can be integrated successfully into new and existing urban neighbourhoods. It is why...
July 20, 2018
Combining the strengths of collector technologies

Task 55 of the IEA SHC Programme is currently studying the benefits of systems equipped with both flat plate and parabolic trough collectors to supply thermal energy to district heating networks. Preliminary results from a project in Taars, Denmark, have been encouraging, indicating how...
July 11, 2018
Solar district heating potential of small towns in Europe

Most small European towns connected to a district heating network have enough land available for a solar field to meet 20 % of heat demand. In all, 93 % of the identified solar heat potential can be produced at a price of less than 50 EUR/MWh. These are the key findings from a study by...
July 9, 2018
Water-energy nexus in industrial sector

Water and energy are the most important resources globally. The term ‘water-energy nexus’ was coined to underline their close connection, and the phrase has become increasingly popular with international environmental organisations. In mid-June, a new research platform, Solar energy in...

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