flat-plate collector

• Drake Landing Solar Community (2011)-

  This case study was created by Enermodal Engineering. It provides an overview of the Drake Landing Solar Community in Canada, and takes a look at various aspects and benefits of the installations there.

  The Solar Community features 52 house subdivisions, incorporating single-detached, two-story homes. It is the first district system in the world 90% solar fraction, produced by 800 flat-plate glazed collectors. The house heating uses solar heat directly without heat pumps for temperature increase.

  Author: Enermodal Engineering

• 1st SMEThermal - Solar Thermal Materials, Equipment and Technology Conference, Berlin-

  The European solar thermal markets are growing at high rates altogether. During the last three years alone, the average annual growth rate finally settled at an impressive 35 % margin. And, dozens of new tanks and collector manufactures opened their doors in the last two years.
  
  This rapid increase in all areas of the solar thermal industry presents a big challenge for all of its market players – component manufacturers as well as suppliers of material and machinery.
  

• Turkey: New Import and VAT Taxation for Vacuum Tubes-

  The Turkish Ministry of Economy has introduced a new calculation method for import taxes and the VAT on imported vacuum tubes. The ’Protection and Inspection Tax’ (Korunma ve Gözetim Vergisi) was made official in the ‘Public Gazette’ and has been in place since 6 July 2011. The new regulation assumes the price of a vacuum tube to be at 6 USD/kg, even if the real price is much lower. The import tax of 1.9 % and 18 % VAT are both calculated based on this assumed price. With an estimated weight of 1.6 kg per tube, import tax and VAT add up to USD 1.9 per tube. That means that the new regulation significantly increases the price of a vacuum tube, which is said to cost between two and three US dollars.
  

• 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
  

• Solar Water Heating Systems (2006)-

  This fact sheet was created by the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA). It provides information for home and business owners in Maryland on solar thermal water heating systems.

  The fact sheet begins by covering what a solar thermal water heating system typically is and looks like. From there, it delves into more detail on the differences between flat-plate collectors and evacuated-tube collectors; while recommending evacuated-tube collectors because of their higher efficiency and ability to reach hotter temperatures than flat-plate collectors.

• University of Colorado Solar Decathlon – Solar Thermal Water Heating is a Success (2002)-

  This document from 2002 goes over innovative collector technology and strategy for solar thermal water heating systems. For colder climates, they describe how evacuated tubes are more effective than traditional flat plate collectors. It has a flow chart to describe how the system is schemed.

  Read document here

   

• 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?

• 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

• 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

• Southern China: Large-scale Installations of Flat Plate Collectors-

  Utilizing China's sun power to heat water in buildings: This solar collector field of 5,450 m2 was mounted on the roofs of the prominent Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, in the southern province of Guangdong.
  Photo: Prosunpro

• Solar Thermal Systems Survey for the Lebanese Market (2006)-

  This is a survey conducted by the Lebanese Solar Energy Society (LSES) which concentrates on the collection of data from companies, products and applications of solar thermal systems in order to establish a standard for Lebanese solar thermal systems and to assess the Lebanese market supply capabilities. The survey is the first step of a project between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW).

• Solar Heat – a Winner Technology for Austria-

  “The four years of climate protection programme “klima:aktiv” in Austria was the most successful programme ever”, Robert Kanduth, the chairman of Austrian Solar Thermal Association, Austria Solar, and CEO of Greenonetec, the biggest flat-plate collector manufacturer worldwide. Kanduth was upbeat about the programmes progress at his speech at the event “Solar heat – a winner technology for Austria” at the beginning of September in Gleisdorf, Austria.

• USA: Solar Heating and Vacuum Tube Collectors are catching up- The US-American domestic solar heating and cooling market grew by 31 % in 2007, after the rapid climb of 77 % in 2006. These are figures from the annual statistics of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which publishes the official energy statistics of the U.S. Government. In total 150,000 m² of collector area was shipped last year (against 111,000 m² in 2006). The EIA assumes that only 2 % of the total shipment was exported last year; the home market volume was thus 147,000 m².
• Confident Newcomers in the U.S.- After almost 20 years of stagnant markets, since 2005 the U.S. solar thermal market is exploding. According to the official governmental statistics (www.eia.doe.gov) the market rose by 77 % in 2006 to 111,480 m² (78 MW_th). After many years of winter sleep the local industry is waking up. Interesting and self-confident newcomers enter the stage.
• Energy Company Bosch Buys Cell Manufacturer Ersol-

  Robert Bosch GmbH has taken over the Thuringian solar cell manufacturer Ersol Solar Energy AG, Germany. In August the world’s largest automotive supplier and electronics company bought up 44.76 % of the shares from the previous majority shareholder Ventizz Capital Partners Advisory AG. Since announcing the takeover in June Bosch has bought up a further 29.34 %.

• Switzerland: Comprehensive Market Survey of Swissolar-

  2008 was a very good year for the solar thermal market in Switzerland: The figure shows the annually sold collector area of different technologies. Source: Swissolar market studies Solar Energy 2005 to 2007

• Teaching Solar Thermal System Design by Use of Simulation Software (2009)-

  Due to the growth in the solar thermal industry, there is significant need for training in solar thermal system design. This document goes over the usage of simulation software in education. It allows a trial and error approach and motivates the students to make near-to-reality experiences with good and bad heating systems.

• “There is an unbeatable Cost-Effectiveness“-

  Volker Kallwellis, head of development department at Wagner & Co Solartechnik, Cölbe, Germany published the following statement in the international magazine Sun & Wind Energy 7/2009 about the advantages of flat plate collectors. Photo: Wagner & Co

• “China is a Very Good Market for Flat Plate Collectors”-

  Solarthermalworld.org spoke with Jiao Qingtai, vice president of the Chinese collector manufacturer Sunrain Solar Energy Co., at the Intersolar in Munich at the end of May about the advantages and disadvantages of vacuum tube versus flat plate collectors. Photo: Bärbel Epp

• Sun Master opens new Production Facility-

  Crowding at the start button: The new collector production unit of Sun Master in Upper Austria opened on 22 January. Photo: Sun Master