China

• Romania: Signs of Recovery at Bucharest’s RomTherm -

  The Romtherm, the international exhibition for heating, cooling and air conditioning, has become a meeting point for solar thermal system suppliers in Romania. Installation companies in the field of heating, cooling and renewable energies have greatly appreciated the trade fair. The 17^th Romtherm opened its doors in the capital city of Bucharest at the end of April, with 92 exhibitors on an area of 7,000 m². According to the organiser, Romexpo, the fair has attracted approximately 4,000 visitors.
  Photo: Mihai Vintila

• Solar Thermal China 2013, Beijing- Solar Thermal China is a pure business to business exhibition in China dedicated to the CSP and solar thermal market. Taking place over 3 days, Solar Thermal China creates a trading platform for Chinese and foreign industry professionals to showcase their latest solar thermal products, technologies, and services. As integral part of the umbrella event Clean Energy Expo China (CEEC), Solar Thermal China shares CEEC’s resource and takes advantage of its position as a leading trading and knowledge-sharing platform for the entire clean energy industry in China.
• Intersolar China 2012, Beijing- The international solar industry is meeting at Intersolar China for the second time this year. In no other Asian country has the market for solar energy developed so dynamically over the last year as in China. Last year, Intersolar China became part of the worldwide network of international Intersolar exhibitions and conferences, which also includes global events in Munich, San Francisco and Mumbai. This year, around 250 exhibitors are expected to present their latest products and services from the areas of photovoltaics and solar thermal technologies across an exhibition space covering 11,000 square meters. The annual exhibition takes place from 12 to 14 December 2012, at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) in Beijing. The Intersolar China Conference begins the day before, on December 11, and ends on December 13, 2012, the second day of the exhibition. Around 500 industry experts from China and around the world are expected to attend the conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Beijing.
• China: Workshop on Building-integrated Solar Energy-

  The International Metal Solar Industrial Alliance (IMSIA) and the newly founded China Association of Building Energy Efficiency (BISE) have started off their official cooperation at the beginning of March by organising a first shared workshop on Building-integrated Solar Energy in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The objective of the new initiative is to increase the share of energy-efficient buildings and the use of renewable energies in the construction sector.
  Photo: IMSIA

• Turkey: New Vacuum Tube Factory-
  Since the government raised the import tax on vacuum tubes in July 2011, Turkey’s national solar thermal industry has undergone some thorough restructuring. Only one month later, seven of the nation’s solar thermal system suppliers and manufacturers teamed up in an effort to construct their own vacuum tube manufacturing unit. The idea behind the unusual cooperation among competitors is that all of the seven companies involved in the project can purchase coated double-glass vacuum tubes from the mutually financed company. The manufacturing unit under the name of Solarsan will be set up in Nazilli, a city in the western province of Aydın. 
• Germany: Haier’s Loss Leader Strategy-

  Internationally operating Haier Group, the world’s fourth largest appliance manufacturer, has caused quite a stir prior to the IFH/Intherm (Trade Fair for Sanitation, Heating, Air Conditioning, Renewable Energies ), which took place in Nuremberg, Germany, at the beginning of April. The fax that the Chinese group’s German sales office, Haier Deutschland GmbH, had sent to plumbers and distributors in Southern Germany showed a bargain price of 666 Euros for an entire solar thermal hot water system.
  Photo: Matthias Hüttmann

• Poland: Tremendous Growth in 2011 -

  Last year, the Polish solar thermal market exceeded all expectations: While Poland became one of the fastest growing markets in Europe, the installed collector area grew by 70 % to 248,000 m² (174 MW_th), according to Aneta Więcka, solar thermal market expert at the Institute for Renewable Energy (IEO).

• South Africa: University of Pretoria’s 672 m² Solar Thermal System-

  The University of Pretoria is extending its Onderstepoort campus and this extension also includes a 672 m² solar thermal system. The system provides warm water to the new energy-efficient flats accommodating a total of 550 students. Onderstepoort - or OP, as it is commonly known - is located in Pretoria North and is home to South Africa´s only Veterinary Institute. Holms and Friends, formerly Omnibus Engineering, has recently completed the university project. With it, the member of the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (SESSA) has just set up one of the currently largest glazed installations in Southern Africa.
  Photo: Holms and Friends

• China: Utopia Garden Sets New Standard for Architectural Integration -

  The solar installations above the apartment blocks of the “Utopia Garden” Project in the Chinese city of Dezhou attract attention even from a distance. The 504 vacuum tube collectors have been placed horizontally in a massive metal casing that has the form of a wave and covers the entire roof of the building. The solar fields with a gross collector area of around 1,400 m² consist of pressurised heat-pipe vacuum tubes, which harness the sun on the roof and feed it into a central heating and cooling system that runs through the entire building complex.
  Photo: Himin Solar

• “If you start in the solar thermal market today, you’ll be big in 2 or 3 years”-

  Hongzhi Cheng is Deputy Secretary-General at the China Solar Thermal Industry Federation (CSTIF), based in Beijing, and Head of the company The Sun’s Vision, located in Dezhou, Shandong province. He has had more than 15 years of experience in the solar thermal sector - first in the industry, and with The Sun’s Vision since 2006. His team, which consists of thirty people, has been responsible for a number of publications: books, a monthly magazine and the websites www.21tyn.com and www.CSTIF.com. The Sun’s Vision carries out the annual market survey of the Chinese solar thermal market. Solarthermalworld.org met Hongzhi Cheng in his office in Dezhou.
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• USA: Slowdown in 2009 while Imports go up-

  Slowdown in the US: After the 2008 peak, the total sold area of medium temperature collectors decreased by 5 % in 2009, to 204,700 m². Exports amounted to only 2,100 m² of collector area, which means that the newly installed collector area in the United States in 2009 adds up to a total of 202,500 m².
  Source: Energy Information Administration

• Concentrating Solar Power: Global Outlook 09-

  This 2009 report looks into the global outlook of concentrating solar power (CSP). The report first looks into the different CSP technologies and makes a comparison based on the advantages and disadvantages. The report also provides an overview of the CSP development by region. For certain countries per region a more detailed assessment is provided. In particular, the potential of the Mediterranean and the MENA region is being assessed.

• China: Fully integrated Vacuum Tube Production Line now also at Tsinghua-

  Tsinghua is the fifth Chinese manufacturer to inaugurate an almost fully integrated vacuum tube production line. At the end of April, the company based in Beijing invited stakeholders from politics, research and the solar thermal sector to visit the factory. Himin was the first to commission automated production lines in Dehzou in 2009. The Linuo Group celebrated the opening of its new factory in Zhangqiu, Jinan province, in July 2010. Sunrain/Micoe followed in October 2010 with the inauguration of a new factory in Luoyang, Henan province. And Sunshore has produced vacuum tubes at its new factory site since the beginning of the year 2011. Photo: Tsinghua

• India: Solar Thermal Manufacturing Industry to Grow Further-

  The dynamic market growth in India has produced an entire row of successful manufacturers of absorber coatings over the last few years, including Bhagyanagar India Ltd and Maharaja Techno Chromes. Both companies use the Nalsun Black Chrome Coating technology and also sell complete absorber fins to collector producers. The photo shows the fin coating process at Maharaja Techno Chromes.
  Photo: Maharaja Techno Chromes

• China: Beijing Mandates Solar Hot Water Systems-

  On 1 March 2012, Beijing followed many other large Chinese cities in introducing its own solar thermal mandatory law. The new regulations are stipulated in document No. 3/2012, “Beijing Urban Construction Applications Management Approach”. Article 9 describes the scope of the new regulations: Newly built residential houses of up to 12 floor - as well as hotels, schools, hospitals, and swimming pools - are obliged to install a solar thermal hot water system if no waste heat is used to cover domestic hot water demand. The photo shows a block of flats in the city of Jinan, 400 km southeast of Beijing, in which a solar obligation has already been in place for several years.
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• China: Architects and Engineers Surveyed on Solar Obligations -

  “The solar mandatory laws in provinces and cities in China constitute a very good policy. Only the implementation methods seem rather inappropriate in some cases,” Joseph Huang summarised the results of a study among architects and engineers in the Chinese solar thermal sector in a presentation held at the conference Solar Thermal Power Forum in Beijing in February 2012. The study was carried out on behalf of the Chinese International Metal Solar Industry Alliance (IMSIA). Huang himself is Project Manager Building Energy Management at the Chinese office of the International Copper Association (ICA) and also founded the IMSIA in November 2010.
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• Australia: Country's largest Solar Cooling System on Hospital -

  The largest solar cooling plant built in Australia so far has been running since April 2011. The solar-assisted cooling installation is a project by the Echuca Regional Health, a public hospital in Echuca, around two and a half hours drive north of Melbourne.
  Photo: Echuca Regional Health 

• Germany: Solar Thermal Experts Discuss Cost-Cutting Strategies -

  The solar thermal industry is facing major challenges: Costs of storage and collector components have to be reduced even further if large solar plants are to offer investors competitive prices for heating. Hence, 170 industry representatives and scientists from all around the world came together at the international industry conference SMEThermal 2012 in Berlin at the beginning of February 2012 to explore cost-cutting strategies during a round-table discussion.
  Photo: Solarpraxis AG / Therese Aufschlager

• Portugal: Full Architectural Integration of Solar Thermal Technology-

  The architectural integration of solar thermal collectors has long been a concern to the industry. Portuguese company Sunaitec has now patented a new solution for the residential sector. According to General Manager Amílcar Lopes, 25 systems with the so-called ‘Multifunction Solar Structures’ have already been installed in Portugal. A first installation is also planned in Brazil. Sunaitec has been showcasing the multi-purpose solar thermal systems on several international events, including the Expo 2010 Shanghai and the GreenSolutions 2011 in Mexico.
  Photo: Sunaitec

• China's Solar Thermal Industry: Threat or Opportunity for European Companies? (2003)-

  This is an article wrote by Li Hua from the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. Li Hua speaks about the Chinese solar thermal market and how it has experienced a fantastic growth without any government subsidies.

• China: Industry Increased Export Business 12-fold-

  Within 6 years, the Chinese solar thermal industry increased its export business 12-fold, from USD 20 million in 2005 to USD 250 million in 2010. In 2011, the newly installed collector area in China has jumped up another 18 % to 57.6 million m2 (40.3 GW_th). Putting the focus on solar technology has proven to be the right step: Nowadays, significantly more new solar water heaters are being installed per year than gas or electric water heaters (see chart). These and other market figures were presented by the retired head of the China Solar Thermal Industry Federation (CSTIF), Zhentao Luo, during the IEA SHC roadmap workshop in Beijing in November 2011 (see attached presentation in Chinese).
  Source: CSTIF/CREIA

• India: CEO Panel Calls for Increased Efforts in R&D -

  The discussion panel of the solar thermal industry was one of the star attractions at the Intersolar India conference, which took place at the Leela Kempinski Hotel in Mumbai in the middle of December. The panel consisted of the CEOs of leading solar water heater manufacturers (from right to left): Davinder Kaushal (Inter Solar Systems), D. V. Manjunatha (Emmvee Solar), Sanjay Jinturkar (Sudarshan Saur), Tarun Kapoor (Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), Hemant Revankar (Bipin Engineers), Gurminder Singh (Racold Solar), Sankar Dev Kunnath Kalam (Photon Solar) and Thyagamandlu Ananth (Nuetech Solar). The discussion was moderated by Jaideep N. Malaviya (standing on the left), CEO of the Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI).
  Photo: Intersolar

• Argentina: NGO Promotes Solar Water Heaters in Social Housing-

  One organisation to promote solar water heaters in Argentina is the NGO Forum for Social Housing and Energy Efficiency (Foro de Vivienda Social y Eficiencia Energética, FOVISEE). The first 33 solar systems have already been installed in a social housing project in Moreno, a district of the country’s capital Buenos Aires. In the long term, FOVISEE aims to install 100 systems in the district – and is looking for a partner which will help finance the project. The photos show a family in Moreno who benefited from a solar water heater set up on their roof.
  Photo: FOVISEE

• Russia: Solar-Heated House Wins Energy Globe Award-

  Russian architect and professor Pavel Kazantsev has won the Energy Globe Award for his solar-heated house Solar-5. The house has been adapted for the far east of Russia, around the city of Vladivostok. While the FEFU university in Vladivostok has already built a small version of the house, called Solar-5M, the first full-scale Solar-5 house for a private owner is now under construction as well. In a next step, Kazantsev and his team have decided to set up a model house, which will be open to the public.
  Source: Pavel Kazantsev

• India: MNRE Memorandum Bans Import of Storage Tanks, Manifolds and Mounting Systems -

  Because of a comparably lower price, vacuum tube collectors are becoming more and more popular in India. Based on a capacity of 100 litres of warm water per day, an average thermosiphon system with flat plate collectors is sold at INR 20,000 (EUR 208), whereas a solar water heater with a vacuum tube collector costs on average INR 16,000 (EUR 167). To protect the business of the around 60 flat plate collector manufacturers in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a memorandum on 20 October 2011. Its most important sentence says that, “manufacturers shall import no components other than ETCs (Evacuated Tube Collectors)”.

• Australia: Vacuum Tube Collector with Overheating Protection-

  Chinese company Hejia Solar Energy presented a new collector type at the All-Energy Australia 2011 trade fair in Melbourne in October 2011. The collector’s automated coverage prevents the system from overheating during daily operation. The participation in the fair was organised jointly by the Chinese manufacturer of the new collector type, Heijia Solar, represented by Chief Engineer Pan Kexue, as well as CEO and owner of Hejia Solar, Wu Guosheng, and the Australian Sales Office OZ Hejia Solar, represented by Director Frank Witowski (middle).
  Photo: Oz Hejia Solar

• Swiss Bank Sarasin: World Market Reaches 45 GWth in 2011 -

  This week, the Swiss Bank Sarasin published the 12^th edition of their solar industry report, covering all three solar technologies: solar heating and cooling (ST), photovoltaics (PV), and concentrating solar power (CSP). The chapter on solar thermal identifies great differences in the market development of national markets and regions. While the Chinese market continues to shine, many European countries are suffering from decreasing or stagnating markets. Nevertheless, Sarasin predicts a great future, with a global average growth of 12% per year until 2020.

• Argentina: Solar Water Heaters for Rural Schools-

  In Argentina, Jorge Follari of Innovar SRL observes a rising interest in solar thermal energy. The federal and the province governments support the installation of solar water heaters in rural schools, and the interest of private customers grows, too – especially in the northern provinces, such as Corrientes, Salta, Tucumán, San Luis, Santa Fe and Catamarca. Compared to the commonly used gas bottles, a solar system pays off in 2 to 3.5 years. On the other hand, gas and electricity are highly subsidised.
  Map: Wikipedia Commons/Bleff

• Solar Thermal China 2012, Beijing- The Solar Thermal China 2012 will take place together with the Clean Energy Expo China 2012 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, from 23 to 25 February 2012. The B2B trading platform for solar thermal products is going to be open to trade buyers and industry professionals only. A world class conference program discussing hot topics and latest trends will be put together by an industry advisory board, attracting high profile speakers from domestic and foreign government institutions, associations, research organizations, and key enterprises.
• China: Rural Incentive Programme sees shift to higher-priced Products-

  The result from the second tender round of the national rural incentive programme in China: more companies with higher-priced products qualified for it. This year's price limit was RMB 5,000, a substantial increase from the RMB 4,000 last year (10 RMB is about 1 EUR).
  Source: CRED

• China: Huang Ming receives Right Livelihood Award -

  At the end of September 2011, the founder and President of Himin Solar Energy, one of the largest solar thermal manufacturers in China was honoured with the Right Livelihood Award. The Swedish Right Livelihood Award Foundation praised Huang Ming “for his outstanding success in the development and mass-deployment of cutting-edge technologies for harnessing solar energy”. According to the International Energy Agency's Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC), this is the first time a Right Livelihood Award goes to China. The photo shows Ming presenting the huge solar installation above the roof of International Exhibition Centre in Dezhou, Shandong province, which hosted the 4th International Solar Cities Congress in September 2010.
  Photo: Sven Tetzlaff

• IEA Study "Solar Heat Worldwide": Global Market Growth of 22 % in 2006-

  2006 was an extremely satisfying year for the global solar thermal industry. According to the new study “Solar Heat Worldwide. Markets and contribution to the Energy Supply 2006” on behalf of IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Programme the new installations grew 22 % in 2006. The authors from the Austrian research institute AEE Intec surveyed 48 countries and added up the newly installed collector area to 18.3 GWth (26.1 million m2).

• India: High Competition makes Borosil shelve Vacuum Tube Production-

  Gujarat Borosil is the only solar glass manufacturing company in India with a furnace to manufacture end-to-end low iron patterned solar glass. In 2008, the company was to launch the first vacuum tube collector with glass tubes from its own production, to be sold under the brand name Borosolar (see news: http://www.solarthermalworld.org/node/276).  However, after being questioned about the issue, Borosil has now confirmed that it has never really started the serial production of its glass tubes for vacuum tube collectors. The company rather imported some tubes and sold collectors under its brand.
  Photo: Jaideep Malaviya

• Which are the main market drivers?- Generally speaking, you can differentiate between naturally growing markets and incentive driven markets. In the former, low-cost solar water heaters are already an economic alternative for households to produce hot water instead of using fossil fuels or electricity. Some examples are: China, which is the biggest solar thermal market in the world, Cyprus which has one of the highest solar thermal capacities in operation per capita in the world, and Turkey, which is the third biggest market in the world.
  
• Which are the big players of the industry?- You have fast-growing independent producers here which focus on the production of solar thermal components only. Some of these companies are more than 30 years old, like the German Wagner & Co, the Israeli Chromagen and the US-American Sun-Earth. But the global market leaders today are newer firms like Greenonetec in Austria, the biggest flat-plate collector manufacturer in the world, which was founded in 1991 (turnover 2008: 117 million Euro). Find the ranking of the biggest flat-plate collector manufacturers here.
  
• Russia: Krasnodar Krai may become Centre of Solar Industry -

  Russian solar thermal system supplier Yuzhgeoteplo is planning to build a new solar collector factory, according to an interview by Russian business paper Delovaya Gazeta Ug with the company’s General Director Vitaly Butuzov. The company is located in Krasnodar Krai, one of Russia’s largest south-west regions at the coast of the Black Sea. The total investment volume is said to be about Russian Rouble (RUB) 52 million (USD 1.7 million). Construction will most likely begin in 2012.
  Source: http://www.welt-atlas.de

• Germany: Ritter creates Subsidiary for distributing XL Installations-

  Focusing on large-scale solar thermal installations: In August, German group Ritter Energie- und Umwelttechnik has established Ritter XL Solar, a subsidiary to exclusively distribute the group's large-scale solar thermal installations with CPC vacuum tube collectors. The CEOs of the new subsidiary are Dr. Rolf Meißner (left), Engineering, and Detlev Seidler, Marketing & Sales. Photo: Ritter
  Photo: Ritter

• China: Linuo celebrates 10-year anniversary-

  At the beginning of July, Shandong Linuo Paradigma Co. Ltd celebrated ten “golden years” of a successful Chinese-German partnership between the Chinese corporation and the German Ritter Group. Klaus Taafel (right), Chairman of the Board at Linuo Paradigma, cut the anniversary cake together with two of the company's production workers who have birthday on the same day as Linuo.
  Photo: Linuo Paradigma

• Ukraine: “A Collector is trendy and shows a certain Lifestyle”-

  With an estimated market volume of 10,000 m² in 2009, the solar thermal market in the Ukraine is still in its infancy. The two main customer groups are the new middle class and the tourism sector. By interviewing local collector manufacturers, German agency solrico analysed the potential of the Ukraine and its barriers to market development. The map shows the sites of the solar thermal manufacturers that took part in the survey.
  Map: German Energy Agency 2009

• Uruguay: Tax Benefits and Incentives planned -

  The National Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining in Uruguay is working on a decree to regulate the use and incentives for solar water heaters in the country. The National Director of Energy, Dr Ramón Méndez, said at the end of July that his draft includes regulations for the next 15 years. He further explained that the legislation aims at creating both tax incentives and mechanisms for the certification and qualification of equipment and installers. Uruguay is a small coastal country between Brazil and Argentina with only 3.5 million inhabitants and no resources of oil, gas or coal.

• Finland / Germany: T-Drill presented at Intersolar Europe-

  Munich's Intersolar in June was the first-ever German event at which Finnish company T-Drill O presented its machinery. With a focus on pipe processing for solar thermal absorbers, the company offers T-Drill machines, as well as pipe cutting, pipe end closing and end forming machines. The photo shows Timo Lehtonen, Sales Director at T-Drill, presenting the main component of a T-Drill machine: the tool that can drill and collar during a single production step.
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• Solar Cooling Market to experience big Changes-

  According to Dr Uli Jakob, Vice President of the “Green Chiller - Association for Sorption Cooling”, the solar cooling sector may soon experience a shift from small series production of a niche market to considerable manufacturing quantities. Jakob points out two signs supporting such a development: First, the approval of the IEA-SHC task 48, “Quality Assurance and Support Measures for Solar Cooling“; second, the recent market entry of big players, such as Stiebel Eltron (Germany) and Hitachi (Japan).
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• Germany: Vacuum Tube Collectors withstand 40 mm Hailstones -

  The extra-thick double-glass vacuum tubes by German company Soltark have survived a test with 40 mm hailstones at the Swiss test institute SPF Solartechnik in Rapperswil. A systematic investigation of vacuum tubes at SPF Rapperswil two years ago showed that most of the 26 tested vacuum tube collectors were damaged after several hits with 35mm hailstones. In large parts of Switzerland, however, hail with a thickness of 30 mm must be expected at least once in 50 years (red-coloured areas in the above map). More and more Swiss building insurers are adopting rules for the hail resistance of solar collectors, which the owners hope to incorporate into already existing insurance contracts.

  Source: www.hagelregister.ch

• Lebanon: Check List for Solar Installations in Hospitals-

  The demonstration of best practise - a solar thermal system on the roof of the Saida Governmental Hospital - showed some technical deficiencies at second glance. The monitoring of the system led to a check list including preventive maintenance advice.
  Photo: Solarnet

• Solar Water Heating as a Climate Protection Strategy: The Role for Carbon Finance- In January 2005 (revised in November 2005), a US non profit Green Market International released this study on the possible role of solar water heatering in international efforts to reduce GHG emissions for developing nations. The Kyoto protocol's Clean Developing Mechnisms (CDM) provides the opportunity for carbon trading to support environmental protection and economic development? Markets of Solar water heating is described in 6 developing countries, namely Barbados Brazil China India Mexico and South Africa.
• Technical Assistance Report – People’s Republic of China: Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Development (2009)-

  This 2009 Technical Assistance (TA) report from the Asian Development Bank outlines the support the Asian Development Bank can give to China for, among other issues, the development of a road map for concentrating solar power demonstration and deployment in the Gansu Province. In addition, it also has as objective to disseminate the knowledge to other provinces in China.

• Viessmann: Own Production Facility for Vacuum Tubes in China-

  Viessmann will expand its own production plant for vacuum tubes near Beijing, China. The German manufacturer for heating systems had bought into an already existing German-Chinese joint venture in autumn of 2007. The German company Eurocol GmbH held 51% on the manufacturer Eurocon.

• China: Major Fairs for Solar Thermal in 2011-

  China is the largest market for solar thermal products in the world. The annual production of solar water heaters grew from 6.1 million m² in 2000 to 42 million m² in 2009. The importance of the solar thermal sector produced lots of regional and national trade fairs. Chinese Company Sunrain, the largest manufacturer of vacuum tube collectors worldwide, has recommended the visit of three fairs, which were the major events for solar thermal technology in China in 2011. The new international Solar Thermal China exhibition by German trade fair organiser Koelnmesse has additionally been added to the list below. It will take place in June for the first time.
  Photo: Koelnmesse

• Challenge of the world market: “Europe is stuck with high installation costs” -

  “Competition on price” was one of the key questions of the panel discussion at the international conference SMEthermal 2011 in Berlin on 10 February. Representatives from the major solar thermal markets worldwide discussed the challenges of the world market among them (left to right): Hakan Alas, General Manager, Ezinç Metal (Turkey), Michael Hsu, CEO, Sunshore Solar Energy – Business Development Central Europe (Austria/China) and Lucio Mesquita, Managing Director, Thermosol Consulting (Canada/Brazil). SMEthermal is an annual one-day conference dedicated exclusively to manufacturing of collectors and tanks, new materials and process optimisation. There were 160 participants from 22 different at the event.
  Photo: Solarpraxis AG / Therese Aufschlager

• 1,000 Solar Keymark Licenses for Collectors: among them 7 % from China -

  Solar Keymark is a very broadly accepted label on the European solar thermal market. More than 1,000 collector certificates have been issued since the introduction of the certification system in 2003.
  Source: www.solarkeymark.org

• MTS: International Player from Italy- Solar thermal factory in Italy: Flat-plate collectors for the MTS Group’s business are produced at this new site in central Italy. Photo: MTS Group
  

• China: New Titanium Coating by Linuo Solar Thermal Group -

  After the Group's new vacuum tube titanium coating has proven itself on the Chinese market for the past year, Linuo Solar Thermal is thinking about introducing the product also on international markets. One of the biggest manufacturers of vacuum tubes in China has so far used an aluminium-based coating for all its products. The new coating of the Sunrain group - presented at the company´s 10-year anniversary in December 2010 – is said to be based on titanium as well.
  Photo: Linuo Group
  

• Launch of ISOL Navigator: Asia moves up, while Europe lags behind -

  The ISOL Navigator has been launched at the Intersolar Europe in Munich at the 8th of June. The international study presents the current and future market development in 16 key solar heating and cooling countries. The ISOL Navigator is based on the “ISOL Index”, an international business climate index developed by German agency solrico at the beginning of 2010. This ISOL index is a point-based indicator (ranging from 0 to 100 points) showing the satisfaction of solar thermal manufacturers and system suppliers with current and expected market development. Company values are averaged to obtain country and regional indices.
  Figure: solrico

• India: Huge Effect of Print Media Publicity on Market Development -

  The last 5 years have seen a strong growth in India's solar thermal market. While adverts in television, the radio, as well as the print media are all very popular forms of raising public awareness in India, thanks to the growing literacy rate, newspaper advertisement was found to be the most effective channel to disseminate information about the solar thermal sector. Some states, such as Maharashtra, put up advert hoardings at prominent places in large cities. The poster seen in the photo lists the registered manufacturers, including their contact number.
  Photo: Jaideep Malaviya

• Cyprus: 4th International Solar Air-Conditioning Conference in Lanarca-

  Following Bad Staffelstein (Germany, 2005), Terragona (Spain, 2007), and Palermo (Italy, 2009), the 4th International Solar Air Conditioning Conference will now take place in Lanarca, Cyprus, from 12 to 14 October 2011. Over the years, the conference has grown into an important event, at which scientists and industrial researchers, product manufacturers, building designers and planners, contractors, and installers have met to exchange knowledge and experiences. The complete conference schedule is now available for download - and also attached to this news piece.
  Photo: Zenith Consulting Engineers

• India: Glass for Solar Collectors misses Customs Duty Exemption-

  In the Union Budget for financial year 2011-2012, which began at the first of April, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee granted full exemption from basic customs duty to importers of raw glass and toughened glass used in the photovoltaic industry. Some of the solar collector manufacturers found this unequal treatment difficult to accept, because PV modules and solar collectors use the same low iron glass, only in different sizes and thicknesses.
  Photo: Borosil Glass Works

• China: Micoe celebrates 10th Anniversary with 5,000 Guests-

  The 10-year anniversary of solar water heater manufacturer Micoe Solar Energy in China was accompanied by major news and events: The manufacturer, founded 2000 in Beijing, opened a new factory in the city of Luoyang in Henan province, at which it produces vacuum tubes with a new absorber coating. And, according to a recent household survey, Micoe is the second most popular solar brand in China.
  Photo: Micoe

• “Made in Taiwan is a brand name which still sells” -

  Taiwan remains a country strongly dominated by flat plate collectors. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with local solar thermal manufacturers and planners about the advantages of the technology in comparison to vacuum tubes. The photo shows an installation at the elementary school in the municipality of Jin-Yue - planned and installed by Taiwanese company Wang Aun.
  Photo: Wang Aun

• Indian-Chinese Joint-Venture produces Polymer Tanks in India -

  Indian collector manufacturer Nuetech Solar Pvt Ltd and Chinese solar system manufacturer Himin Solar Co. Ltd have signed a purchase agreement for polymers tanks, called NANO, on 18 February (from right to left): Surendra Kumar, Managing Director of Nuetech Solar, David Zhang, International Business Development Manager at Himin, Tygamundlu Anant, CEO of Nuetech Solar and Li Qianjin, Regional Manager, International Business Department at Himin.
  Photo: Nuetech

• Dominican Republic: Purchase Agreement between Sunmaxx and Retecsa-

  Installation company Retecsa from the Dominican Republic and US-American system supplier Sunmaxx have entered into a purchase agreement. Part of this new cooperation was a 4-day training in January by Sunmaxx instructor Todd Paternoster at the Retecsa company site in Santiago. Besides technical issues, the training answered questions about the advantages and energy savings of renewable energy systems, as well as how to use specialised software to design larger solar thermal projects. Photo: Sunmaxx

• China: International Metal Solar Industry Alliance founded -

  The Beijing branch of the International Copper Association (ICA) has formed the International Metal Solar Industry Alliance (IMSIA) in November 2010. “The alliance will provide a platform for its members to share best practices and cooperate in promoting copper solar thermal technologies,” Joseph Huang, Project Manager of the Building Energy Management section, explained. The alliance was officially presented to the public at a press meeting at the Beijing Hotel on 15 November 2010.
  Photo: ICA

• Solar Thermal China 2011, Beijing-

  This year, German trade fair organiser Koelnmesse launched the Solar Thermal China 2011. The B2B trading platform for solar thermal products will take place together with the Clean Energy Expo China 2011 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, from 22 to 24 June. The trade fair is going to be open to trade buyers and industry professionals only. The conference schedule is will be drawn up by an advisory council - including representatives from leading organisations, such as Tsinghua University, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the China Academy of Building Research (CABR) and leading manufacturers. In 2010, the Clean Energy Expo China (CEEC) attracted 400 exhibitors, with 4 national pavilions, and over 16,000 visitors from 44 countries.

   

• China Suzhou Solar and New Energy Exhibition 2011, Suzhou- The China Suzhou Solar Energy Festival and New Energy Exhibition 2011 will take place at Suzhou International Expo Center in the province of Jiangsu from 8 to 10 September. In 2010, the exhibition area was extended to accommodate about 2,000 exhibitors maximum. Major topics include: solar thermal applications in industrial enterprises, in the commercial and construction sector, as well as in rural areas. The fair presents technology solutions and products from all renewable sectors, such as solar thermal, photovoltaic, heat pumps, wind and biomass.
• China Solar Brand Products Expo, Wuhan-

  The 8^th China (Wuhan) Solar Brand Products Expo and the 5^th China (Wuhan) Solar Investment Expo Spring open their doors from 19 to 21 March, at the Wuhan International Convention and Exhibition Center in Hubei Province. The trade fair will focus on the following topics:

• Central Solar Industry Expo 2011, Zhengzhou- The 6^th Central Solar Industry Expo 2011 will take place in Zhengzhou, capital of Chinese province Henan, from 21 to 23 February 2011. The trade fair's organisers expect more than 1,000 exhibiting companies from the solar thermal sector. Key topics will be - among others - all the different types of flat plate and vacuum tube collectors, as well as new high efficiency solar collectors, tanks, controllers, mounting systems, machinery, solar heating and cooling systems for residential and industrial applications.
• Mexico: New Industry Association Protects Local Industry Against Cheap Imports -

  Since 1976 in the solar thermal business: Salvador Steffani is the founder and General Director of the collector manufacturer Captasol. His company is initiator of the newly founded Renewable Energy Industry Association FAMERAC and member of the National Association of Solar Energy (ANES).
  Photo: Captasol

• Laser-welded Flat Plate Collectors from China-

  Chinese collector manufacturers have recently discovered the advantages of laser welding for the production of absorber sheets. Several flat plate collector manufacturers are now working on this technology. Hailin Solar is the first to offer laser-welded collectors.

• China: Insights from the Solar Autumn Trade Fair -

  Great response: The 5^th China International Solar Energy Autumn Trade Fair in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, sparked the interest of a high number of exhibitors. Photo: Joseph Huang

• Hungary: Interesting but highly fluctuating Market-

  Over the last years, Hungary has turned out to be an interesting but highly fluctuating market for solar thermal technology. Through its subsidiary in the neighbouring country, Austrian manufacturer Tisun has been doing business in Hungary since 2008 and has already made its mark on the state's solar thermal sector. In December 2009, the company supplied the collectors for the so-called „Village House“ in Budapest, with its 1,500m² the country's largest thermal system so far. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with Michael Tschol, Tisun's Sales Director for the Hungarian market, and Balázs Szendrö, Tisun's Sales Manager on-site in Hungary.
  Photo: Tisun

• USA: Partnership to set up new Collector Production Site -

  Another transatlantic solar partnership: Adam Farrell, CEO of North American solar thermal importer and system supplier Sunmaxx Solar, and Klaus Mischensky, CEO of Austrian collector manufacturer Geo-Tec Solar Industries, announced the creation of a joint-venture at the Intersolar North America in San Francisco in July 2010.
  Photo: Sunmaxx

• Singapore: Austria delivers and finances biggest Solar Cooling Installation worldwide-

  A major order for two Austrian companies was announced at a press conference in the middle of August: Austrian engineering company Solid - represented by its two CEOs Christian Holter (middle) and Franz Radovic (right) - signed a contract with the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) to deliver, install and operate a solar heating and cooling installation with 3,900 m² of collector area in Singapore. The Raiffeisen-Landesbank of Steiermark (RLB-Stmk) will be responsible for financing the investment of around EUR 4 million together with the OeKB, the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.
  Photo: Solid

• South Korea: Improved Machinery Equipment for automated Solutions-

  Brazing, soldering and welding specialist Dr Shin from South Korea: The Managing Director of Korean machinery equipment supplier SK Brazing presented several improved products for the manufacturing of tanks and collectors at the Intersolar North America in San Francisco in July 2010.
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• New Zealand: Solar Heat Specialists merge-

  Collector manufacturer Solar City New Zealand Ltd and system integrator Solar Technology Systems Ltd have merged to form one of New Zealand´s largest solar businesses. 

• ISCC 2010, Dezhou- The 4th International Solar Cities Congress (ISCC), organized by Dezhou Municipal Government and sponsored by Himin Solar Energy Group, will be held will be held from 16 to 19 September 2010 in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China. The event takes place in a new conference centre that will source 95% of its energy needs from renewable energy and will feature a 5000m2 solar system, a solar desalination plant and a solar energy theme park.
  
• Combined Solar Power and Desalination Plants: Update on the MED-CSD Project (2009)-

  This presentation from 2009 provides an update of the MED-CSD project. The main aim of this project is the assessment of the technico-economic potential of CSP for electricity and desalination in the Mediterranean region. The presentation first gives a global overview by linking the regions suffering from water scarcity with the global potential for concentrating solar power.

• Record Year 2008: Global Market Growth of 35 %-

  In 2008, the global solar thermal market grew by a significant 35%. The main reasons behind such a strong upward trend were the high growth rates of glazed water collectors in China (+35 %), Europe (+63 %) and North America (+42 %). Graphic: AEE Intec

• Seizing the Solar Solution: Combating Climate Change through Accelerated Deployment (2009)-

  This report was published on December 2009, parallel to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit taking place in Copenhagen, to bring authorities' attention to solar energy and the relevant contribution it can provide to reducing GHG emissions.

• Developing Countries Success Stories (2010)-

  This document relates the status of the green economy initiative in 8 countries. The Green Economy Initiative (GEI) was designed by the United National Environment Programme to assist governments in “greening” their economies by reshaping and refocusing policies, investments and spending towards greener sectors. The document refers different technologies and renewable energy sources, including the usage of solar thermal and CSP in China and Tunisia.

• USA: SRCC tackles Backlogs in Solar Thermal Testing and Certification-

  The US-based Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) is on the fast lane. Within only one and a half years SRCC has increased the number of accredited test labs from two to fourteen. Collector and system suppliers that want to enter the US-market can now address test institutes in Australia, Spain, Canada, Germany, China and Switzerland, as well as the US.

• Hot Air and Cold Water: The Unexpected Fall in China’s Energy Use (2001) -

  This article published within the "China Environment Series" addresses how political and economic changes in China have impacted the implementation of energy policies. Specifically, the article describes how the growing free market economy in China has opened up opportunities for the creation of new financial mechanisms to fund environmental protection and natural resource management initiatives and policy approach in China. 

• Syria: „It is a crazy market“-

  The pioneer of solar thermal technology in Syria: Nabil Kadi Kran started producing flat plate collectors and solar tanks in the Middle Eastern country 30 years ago. He recently had to cope with a decrease in his company's sales due to cheap imports of vacuum tube collector systems from China.
  Photo: Bärbel Epp

• Is solar thermal technology still a niche market?-

  There are a number of mature markets like Israel, Austria, Barbados, China or Cyprus where solar thermal is used by a wide majority of people for heating the domestic hot water and sometimes for room heating.
  

• Which are the major solar thermal markets worldwide?-

  By far the largest solar thermal market in the world according to newly installed solar thermal capacity per year is China. In 2008, around 21 GW_th (30 million m²) were sold in China, which was around 80 % of the world global solar thermal market.

• What are the long-term future perspectives of the sector worldwide?-

  The international solar thermal market is growing constantly but with ups and downs. According to the annual study "Solar Heat Worldwide" the newly installed collector area globally grew accordingly:

  2004: 12.6 % 

  2005: 10.3 %

  2006:  22 %

  2007: 8.7 %

  The future perspective depends very much on the market development in China. In the last seven years the solar thermal market in the People’s Republic increased at an average rate of 21 % per year.

• What can solar thermal technology be used for? - There is a wide variety of applications for solar thermal technology. The most common application is the heating of pool water, the heating of domestic hot water and space heating. Not very wide spread yet are solar cooling systems, because of the complexity of the technology and the high initial investment costs.
• Eurosun 2008: Decision for Solar Thermal-

  Eurosun 2008 took place in Lisbon from 7^th to 10^th of October. Photo: Joachim Berner

• Solar Cooling at the Red Sea: Demonstration Project with a Payback Time of 30 Years-

  The Egyptian Minister for Environmental Affairs, Maged George, is being interviewed on the roof of the Environmental Affairs Agency building, which is equipped with a 82 m² vacuum tube collector system. Source: www.eeaa.gov.eg

• Barriers to Technology Diffusion: the Case of Solar Thermal Technologies (2006)-

  This joint paper from the OECD and IEA (October 2006) looks into the different barriers that exist which prevent solar thermal technologies to deliver its real potential. Next to listing the barriers, the document also looks into means to overcome these, the existing technologies & markets and identifies best practices which can be used by policy makers in both industrialised and developing countries.

  Three barriers to diffusion are analysed in more detail:

  (1) Technical barriers,

  (2) Economic barriers and

• South Africa: 2009 Study of the Solar Water Heater Market-

  Commercial systems are gaining importance in South Africa: A recent market survey by national energy provider Eskom estimates that 15% of the installed collector area in 2009 were part of large-scale solar thermal systems.
  Photo: Solar Beam

• Intersolar Europe Conference 2010: 24 Speakers from 9 different Countries-

  

  Solar thermal professionals from all over the world will once again gather in Munich, Germany, to attend the international solar trade fair Intersolar 2010, which has just recently been renamed to Intersolar Europe. Its German organizer, the Solar Promotion GmbH, announced record-breaking registration figures of 1,700 exhibitors and 60,000 visitors.

• Algeria: A Sunny State Still Waiting its Turn-

  Algeria has one of the greatest solar potentials in the world. The annual radiation ranges from 1,700 kWh/m² in the North to 2,260 kWh in the South. The solar water heater market, however, is still in a deep slumber. Waking it up is the responsibility of a new subsidy programme.
  Source: www.sunconsult.dz

• Process Heat: the Solar Thermal Challenge of the Future-

  So far solar thermal technology is mostly used for domestic hot water, pool heating and room heating. It´s often forgotten that there is a huge demand for heat below 250 °C in industry, which can easily be reached with solar thermal collectors.

  An international team of researchers working on behalf of the International Energy Agency estimated the realisable potential of solar process heat in the European Union at 100 GW_th, which corresponds to 140 million m² of collector area. T

  Today, however, a solar thermal capacity of only 13.5 GW_th is in operation across Europe. Task 33 of the International Energy Agency reported 85 solar process heat plants worldwide with a capacity of 27 MWth. However, this market segment seems to be waking up. Just recently, news about huge solar process heat installations did the rounds. There is the 13,000 m² plant in Hangzhou, China, on the roof of the textile dyeing factory Daly Ltd., which is most probably the biggest installation for solar process heat in the world. The total investment adds up to RMB 12 million (€ 1.11 million) including the tanks and mounting system. According to the project developer, the Chinese company Shenzhen Quir Solar Technology Co., Ltd, the solar collectors will save RMB 3.38 million (€ 0.31 million) per year, so that the investment will pay off within 3 years. The hot water is provided at a low temperature of 55 °C. Secondly, this summer the German brewery Hofmühl GmbH in Eichstätt will start operating a pilot plant with 1,389 m² of vacuum tube collectors, which will supply process heat between 90 and 140 °C to the brewing and cleaning processes. The owner of the system estimates a reduction of 20 % in the annual energy demand of the factory. The company is convinced that the investment will pay off and has plans for subsequent upsizing to 3,000 m². The project is being subsidised by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

  What are the main topics for the future to open this new market sector?

• The Solar Thermal Market in Thailand-

  The Thai market could reach a 40% use of solar thermal energies in ten years time if the correct policies are put into place, concludes a study presented during a Renewable Energy Conference, in 2007, in Bangkok.

• USA Market Statistic: China as Biggest Collector Importer-

  About 200,000 m² of flat plate and vacuum tube collectors were shipped throughout the US-American market in 2008, according to the annual statistics of the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The annual report was published in January 2010, four months later than announced.
  Source: www.eia.doe.gov

• New Zealand: 300 m2 for a new Swimming Pool Complex-

  The dream team: This team of installers from New Zealand-based company Solar Technology Systems needed only a few days to install 300 m² of vacuum tube collectors on the roof of a swimming pool complex.
  Photo: Solar Technology Systems

• International Comparison of Warranty Periods granted by Collector Manufacturers-

  “How long is the warranty period of your flat plate or your vacuum tube collector?” This question was posed as part of a global solar thermal industry survey to 300 collector manufacturers from 40 different countries. Figure: solrico

• Policy Measures to Support Solar Water Heating: Information, Incentives and Regulations (2007)-

  This report was submitted by the World Energy Council in 2007. It describes the different instruments used to promote the diffusion of solar panels for heating water. The measures include economic incentives, regulations and strategies to improve the quality of equipment and installations through the use of technical standards and quality labels. The report includes case studies to show as a cross-section of programmes set up in industrialized and developing countries. The case studies include the following countries: Austria, China, India, Mexico, Spain, and Tunisia.

• New REN21 2006 Global Status Report - Published in July 2006, Global Status Report shows trends in renewable investment and policies worldwide.
• Three out of a dozen: Solar Thermal Fairs in China-

  One of many regional fairs in China: the outdoor exhibition space in Zhengzhou, a city in Henan province
  Photo: Sven Tetzlaff
  

• China: Rebate Programme Increases Market Transparency-

  The result of the first bidding in the spring of 2009: 92 Chinese solar thermal system suppliers, offering a total of 806 products, qualified for the rural incentive programme. The figure shows the number of systems per price range in RMB (10 RMB is about 1 EUR).