Netherlands

• TramStore21 Report: Building Sustainable and Efficient Tram Depots for Cities in the 21st Century – Solar Thermal Systems (2012)-

  This report compares experiences of solar thermal technology for the five benchmark tram depots of the TramStore21 project. For the project, five European partners – from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Italy – have worked since 2008 at pooling existing best practices and know-how for the construction of four benchmark tram depots.

• More Research Needed for New Storage Materials-

  If solar energy is to be the primary or only source of heat for houses in the future, there will arise a need for storing it more efficiently. Materials have to be found that are able to hold more energy than water, but with less volume and higher loss. Task 32 of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Solar & Cooling programme was working on this issue. The scientists presented their results at the Eurosun 2008 in Lisbon, at the beginning of October.

• Netherlands: Feed-in Tariff Might Help Cope with Duurzame Warmte Stop-

  Last year’s sudden stop of the incentive programme Duurzame Warmte resulted in a drawback for the Dutch solar thermal industry. Still, Arthur de Vries from Holland Solar is convinced that 2012 and 2013 will be different: Probably even within the first quarter of this year, the Netherlands is going to have its own feed-in-tariff for renewable heat. Energy performance of new and existing buildings will be tested under stricter requirements and several provinces have launched their own incentive programme. The figure shows the annual installed solar thermal capacity in the Netherlands. It has increased significantly since the start of the Duurzame Warmte programme in September 2008.
  Figure: ESTIF

• The Netherlands: Housing Companies Install Fixed Price Solar Systems-

  Starting in January 2011, the Energy Performance Coefficient (EPC) building code in the Netherlands has set new and stricter limitations on housing construction. Although solar is not the only option to meet the new standards, it turns out to be the most economical solution in some of the projects. ZEN Renewables has just won a tender to install solar systems in two building projects in the centre of Holland. They will deliver energy to a combined number of 280 housing units.

• Netherlands’ Subsidy Programme Expands the Market-

  Since 2006, the solar thermal market in the Netherlands has enjoyed an annual growth rate of 20 – 30%. The currently biggest pieces of the pie go to glycol-drainback solar combination systems (<6 m²). The new incentive programme “Duurzame Warmte” (Sustainable Warmth programme) now offers an even greater opportunity for solar thermal installations. As Arthur de Vries, secretary of the association Holland Solar, said: “We expect this market instrument to be a decisive factor in quickly expanding the market for households.”

• ESTIF Statistics at Intersolar: Highs and Lows in the European Solar Thermal Market-

  More detailed market figures can be found in this year’s ESTIF booklet: The 16-page market report is going to be published at the Intersolar Europe in Munich. For the first time, the report will include a map showing key figures as well as articles with background information on solar cooling and large solar thermal systems. Source: ESTIF

• Market Report for Enlarging Solar Thermal Systems in Multi-Family-Houses and Hotels in Europe (2007)-

  Solarge is a European co-operation project promoting the installation of collective solar thermal systems (CSTS) with collector areas of 30m2 and larger. The project looks in particular to multi-family buildings, hotels, public and social buildings. This report, which has been revised in 2007, compiles and assesses data relative to 8 national CSTS markets.

  The research looked, among other points, to the level of development of the national solar thermal market and to what extent the political and legislative framework hampers or promotes the development of CSTS.

• Solar Thermal Heating User Guide (2007)-

• The Market Potential of Micro-CHCP (2009)-

  This is a study assessing the market potential of small scale Combined Heating Cooling and Power (CHCP) in several European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). The study is one of the final deliverables of the PolySMART Project (POLYgeneration with advanced small and medium scale thermally driven air-conditioning and refrigeration technology), an integrated project partly funded by the European Commission under 6th Framework Programme.

• ISH 2011: Solar Trends in the Heating Industry -

  The ISH is becoming increasingly international. At the beginning of this March, the world´s largest trade fair for bathroom, building, energy and climate technology in Frankfurt, Germany, has counted significantly more international visitors than ever before. 35 % of the 204,000 trade visitors came from abroad (2009: 29 %), whereas the total number of visitors almost stagnated (+1.5 %). The ISH is the trade fair of the European heating industry. The five largest corporations - Bosch Thermotechnik, Vaillant, Viessmann from Germany, BDR Thermea, Netherlands, and Ariston from Italy - dominated Hall 8 with huge stands. Solarthermalworld.org presents some of the trends it discovered in the solar thermal product portfolio of Europe's heating business.
  Photo: ISH 2011
  
  

• 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

• Eco-energy Labelling: Good Consensus for Solar Thermal Industry-

  

   

  The European Solar Thermal Industry Federation is optimistic that the regulations for the energy labelling of dedicated water heaters in the framework of the Ecodesign Directive (2005/32/EC) are going to be adopted in good consensus in mid-2011. During the last few months, ESTIF's ecodesign and labelling task force, “has changed the content of the energy labelling and come up with a solution that broadens its scope and opens interesting perspectives for our industry,” Xavier Noyon states in an interview with the magazine Sun & Wind Energy.

• Israel: The History of Punching Machines-

  There are two suppliers of punching machines from Israel challenging each other to have been the first to market on the market: Ravid Solar Solutions and Dagan Machine Engineering. The history of both companies shows certain parallels, as both companies were founded by former employers of Israeli collector manufacturers. The photo shows a fully automated punching machine by Ravid Solar Solutions.
  Photo: Ravid Solar Solutions

• Solar Thermal Power 2020: Exploiting the Heat from the Sun to Combat Climate Change (2003)-

  This study is a product of a partnership between the European Solar Thermal Industry Association (today's ESTELA) and Greenpeace. It provides information on the current state of solar thermal technology, and develops a scenario for where the solar thermal market could be by the year 2020.

• European Solar Days: Around 6,600 Events in 17 European Countries-

  Everything revolves around the sun: 17 European countries participate in the 3rd edition of the European Solar Days from 1 to 16 May 2010. Around 6,600 events are planned for this year’s campaign, involving several hundred thousand citizens at a local level.
  Photo: Fotostudio Pflueg

• SOLAIR: Survey of Available Technical Solutions and Successful Running Systems - Cross-Country Analysis-

  This paper compares existing databases of knowledge on the solar cooling applications from across Europe with SOLAIR’s own database. References are made to the SACE (Solar Air-Conditioning in Europe) project and the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC) of the International Energy Agency.

  According to the Report, previous databases concluded that 70 solar cooling installations were present in Europe in 2004 with the majority residing in Germany.

  SOLAIR’s database had a different focus and therefore includes data such as:

• Renewables for Heating and Cooling (2007)- This document, prepared by the International Energy Agency, comes as a follow-up of the 2006 seminar “Renewable heating and cooling – from RD&D to deployment technology and policy” aimed at exploring guidelines and policy initiatives to boost technology development and market deployment for renewable heating and cooling (REHC).
• 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

• Transition to Solar Thermal – Roadmap of Holland Solar (2007)-

  With this 2007 roadmap, the Dutch solar thermal association Holland Solar, sets out a future perspective for solar thermal market development in the Netherlands based on three timeframes i.e. 2015, 2030 and 2050. The document has to be seen in the discussion on the energy transition process and underlines that a change in cultural behaviour is needed to which all stakeholders, especially companies, authorities and research institutes, have to contribute.

• Solar Thermal e-Learning: Education without a Classroom-

  Electronic »e-Learning« programmes for solar heating are beginning to gain popularity with training centres in the UK. These are designed to assist training centres in teaching solar domestic hot water installation techniques to apprentices and engineers. Source: www.elearning-shop.co.uk

• European Solar Days Kick-off Today-

  The second European Solar Days are celebrated from 15 to 22 May with more than 500.000 citizens participating in 7.000 events in 15 European countries.

• Solar Energy Activities in IEA Countries 2005 - This 2005 report on solar energy activities in IEA (International Energy Agency) Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC) countries provides an overview of national activities and key trends of a total of 13 countries. Detailed information is offered on national solar activities, notably on the status of government policies, funding levels, R&D, technology advances, and commercial development. Each report further concludes with an outlook for solar over the next five years in that country.
• Market Report for Small and Medium-Sized Solar Air-Conditioning Appliances Analysis of Market Potential-

  This Report focuses on the 8 participating countries’ markets to the SOLAIR project and provides a market review and analysis of small and medium-sized solar air-conditioning (SAC) appliances.

  This Report begins with a comparison with all countries markets’ status quo that is presented in a very digestible format of graphs and key data. The main section of the Report looks in depth at each country and provides an overview based on the following issues:

• Concentrated Solar Power as Part of European Energy Supply (2006)-

  This document from 2006 has been prepared by the Technical University of Delft - the Netherlands. The paper states that CSP is a way to ensure a more sustainable energy supply in the EU while contributing to the Kyoto targets.

• Eindhoven's Energy Policy Plan (2002)- Despite the known benefits and the improvements in equipment, technology and in system efficiency happened lately, reality shows that solar thermal energy applications is still not used as often as other renewable energy sources. To change this fact, local Dutch authorities committed themselves to create and assure an effective implementation of climate protection action plans in their municipalities. In Eindhoven, in The Netherlands, several projects promoting and supporting implementations of thermal solar energy installations have been developed by the municipality.
• Solar Heating Systems for Houses (2003)-

  This book from 2003 presents the collaborative work of international experts from research, industry and academia in the IEA solar heating and cooling programme's Task 26, Solar Combisystems

  The book details methods for analysing and optimising combisystems for different house types and introduces standardised classification and evaluation processes and design tools for these systems. Furthermore the book addresses the need for guidelines in selecting and designing the appropriate system according to the specific needs of the building and the local environment.

• Harnessing Solar for District Energy: Europe Leading the Way- This article offers an outline to the solar district heating market in Europe and in particular outlines the trend to diurnal storage and heat-driven cooling applications. A SWOT analysis of the industry points to technical and non-technical barriers for market development, but highlights that among others combined heating and cooling offer advantages to the sector. The greatest potential for market development is foreseen for Germany, France, UK, Poland, Netherlands and Belgium. Information on centralised solar heating plants is also included.
• Holland Solar celebrates its 25th Anniversary-

  Celebrating 25 years of Holland Solar: Amersfoort won the award for the best solar thermal community in the Netherlands. The picture shows Pauline Sparenburg from the climate and energy administration of Amersfoort accepting the award at the celebration.
  Photo: Holland Solar

• European Solar Days- The next European Solar Days will be celebrated from 1 to 16 May 2010 in 16 European countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia , Spain, Switzerland, Denmark , Norway, Netherlands, UK, Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Sweden. The two weeks event is coordinated by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) in close co-operation with the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) and supported by 24 organisations at a national and European level.
• The Dutch Energy Investment Allowance (EIA) 2009 Guide-

  This document is a guide from 2009 that helps Dutch companies take advantage of the EIA tax relief programme giving a direct financial advantage when investing in energy-saving equipment and sustainable energy. Entrepreneurs may deduct 44% of the investment costs for such equipment (purchase and/or production costs) from their company's fiscal profit, over the calendar year in which the equipment was purchased. Investment costs up to a maximum of EUR 113 million, may be reported per calendar year.

• Energy Investment Allowance since 1997-

  The Netherlands government supports the expansion of solar thermal resources. The Energy Investment Allowance (EIA) programme for entrepreneurs in the Netherlands supports sustainable energy and energy-efficient technologies since 1997. Entrepreneurs who invest in renewable energy can deduct 44 % of the investment costs of the renewable energy application from their total taxes.