There has been a change in the Brazilian Labelling Programme, PBE: The National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology, INMETRO, has simplified solar thermal certification in its new decree (Portaria n.° 159), which was published on 19 March 2015 (see the attached document) and will become mandatory in September 2015. The decree is INMETRO’s response to the criticism expressed by stakeholders from the Brazilian solar thermal industry during last year’s public consultation process. Back then, DASOL, the Solar Heating Department of the Brazilian Association of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Heating, ABRAVA, had asked the government to take the hassle out of certification by not forcing small companies to implement a quality management programme as required by certification model 5 or to test samples of production batches as demanded by model 7. These had been the two options established by basic decree Portaria n.° 352 published on 6 July 2012.
An open source database to support investment in solar thermal technologies through improved transparency on costs and heat prices in buildings and industry.