market development

February 9, 2021
Demand for clean space heating rebounds in Germany

The German solar heat market is back on a growth path. In a joint press release published on 4 February, the BSW Solar and BDH associations said the newly installed collector area increased by 26 % in 2020, amounting to 643,000 m² (450 MW_th) or about 83,000 new solar...
March 30, 2020
Stable solar thermal sales despite booming PV sector

The Indian solar thermal market remained resilient in 2019, maintaining a high level of sales after two years with double-digit growth (17 % in 2018 and 26 % in 2017). According to a survey carried out by Malaviya Solar Energy Consultancy, the total glazed collector area installed in India...
January 24, 2020
UK: “Solar heat has fallen out of awareness against PV”

When the British Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) started in November 2011, solar thermal specialists all around Europe were enthusiastic about the implementation of a pure performance-based incentive for non-domestic applications. Unfortunately, the programme did not become the expected...
January 24, 2020
Why was there such a drastic drop in the demand for solar water heaters in the UK?

The British Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for homeowners was a successful programme. Between 2014 and 2019, in total 47,641 homes received funding for renewable heating systems. After a good start with high demand for solar thermal solutions in 2014 and 2015 the number of applications...
January 6, 2020
Chinese market keeps shrinking, but exports on the rise

At the beginning of December 2019, the Chinese Solar Thermal Utilisation Specialisation Committee (CSTIF) held its annual conference, which gave attendees the opportunity to learn more about the latest trends in the solar thermal market. Xiaoli Zhang, Director of CSTIF, which is part of the...
December 28, 2019
Solar heat champions

Last year brought the European solar heating and cooling sector back on track for growth, the Solar Heat Europe association based in Brussels, Belgium, emphasised in a press release published on 13 December. The newly installed collector area in the 28 EU member countries and Switzerland...
September 22, 2019
Berlin-based technology pioneer shuts down collector production

German OEM manufacturer KBB Kollektorbau has announced plans to shut down its collector and absorber production in Berlin after 25 years. Stephan Fintelmann, Managing Director of KBB, said he will put the company’s modern 11,000 m² office and production building, situated in the city’s...
September 4, 2019
Uncertain prospects for growth in Italy

Figures from different sources have painted a mixed picture of Italy’s solar thermal market in 2018. According to Assotermica, the country’s Association of Manufacturers of Equipment and Components for Heating Systems, the sector declined by 8 % in 2018 compared to the previous year, mainly...
September 1, 2019
Danish SDH market reaches new milestone

Denmark has consolidated its lead in the global solar district heating market, as capacity topped 1 GW_th in August. The 112 solar district heating plants that are now in operation throughout the country total 1.1 GW_th (around 1.6 million m²), according to statistics...
August 24, 2019
Australian market under pressure from multiple sides

For the second time in a row, the Australian solar heat market showed modest growth (6 %) in the number of glazed collector systems as the new collector area totalled 183,200 m² (128 MW_th) in 2018. The above chart is based on preliminary data provided by Dr David Ferrari, who...
August 21, 2019
Germany: Big incentives fail to stop market decline

Despite a booming building sector and a national support programme, the German solar thermal sector had to grapple with another decline in sales, this time by 10 %, in 2018. Statistics compiled by the associations for the solar and heating industries, BSW Solar and BDH, indicate the...
August 12, 2019
Sales increased in 10 of the key markets 2018

Approximately 33.3 GW_th of new solar thermal capacity was commissioned in 2018, increasing total global capacity by 2 % to around 480 GW_th. China accounted for about 74 % of global additions, followed by Turkey, Brazil and the United States. While China’s gross...