Advanced search

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: 

  • Solar air-conditioning training for energy professionals
    January 4, 2019

    Solar air-conditioning training for energy professionals

    Around 40 attendees from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe benefitted from a three-day training course on Solar Cooling and Air Conditioning at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, late last November. The course, aimed at solar energy professionals,...
    Share/Save
  • Quality and certification can push solar markets
    January 2, 2019

    Quality and certification can push solar markets

    That a wider use of quality standards in the solar thermal sector leads to increased internationalisation and cost saving for manufacturers was the conclusion of those listening to a webinar on Solar Standards and Certification on 12 December. Organised by the IEA SHC’s Solar...
    Share/Save
  • IEA SHC supports historic buildings expert network
    December 20, 2018

    IEA SHC supports historic buildings expert network

    The 3rd International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings (EEHB 2018), which took place in Sweden in September, proved to be the perfect location to show the work of IEA SHC Task, Renovating Historic Buildings Towards Zero Energy. Task Coordinator...
    Share/Save
  • What simulation tools to use for SHIP?
    December 5, 2018

    What simulation tools to use for SHIP?

    As use of solar heat in manufacturing is still at an early stage, planners and engineers require tools to model and compare differently sized systems and ideas for process integration. In August 2015, researchers working on SHC Task 49, Solar Heat Integration in Industrial Processes...
    Share/Save
  • Sun meets 90 % of district heat demand in Tibetan town
    November 27, 2018

    Sun meets 90 % of district heat demand in Tibetan town

    On 29 and 30 October, the Solar Academy of the IEA SHC Programme held a 1.5-day training course on solar district heating in Lianyungang, at Sunrain Solar Energy’s headquarters. It provided around 150 researchers, engineers, planners, other technical staff and students from organisations...
    Share/Save
  • PVT and seasonal storage: innovative technologies in Spain
    November 15, 2018

    PVT and seasonal storage: innovative technologies in Spain

    Local production of PVT panels and systems which achieve high solar fractions by using seasonal storage: This is the main objective of Spanish start-up company Abora, based in Saragossa. It has already installed several hot water PVT systems at multi-family houses, sports centres and...
    Share/Save
  • Israeli firm offers large variety of PVT systems
    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...
    Share/Save
  • Quality principles for solar air conditioning systems
    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....
    Share/Save
  • Online database on advanced PCMs
    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...
    Share/Save
  • Canada’s diverse market declined in 2017
    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...
    Share/Save
  • “Excellent material for sorption-based solar energy storage”
    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...
    Share/Save

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Find out more by following this link. Accept