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This report is a deliverable of the “Global Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative”, jointly funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)and the International Copper Association. In Latin America the commitment for SWH deployment has been supported by the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE).

This report was written by the Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA), which helps provide electricity to the indigenous NANA Region of Kotzebue, Alaska. It reports on test efforts at installing solar thermal heating systems in a number of homes in Alaska that were in need of home heating assistance.

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

The Australian solar thermal market has not actually recovered since the boom year 2009. According to the Head of the Renewable Department of Rheem Australia Pty Ltd, Chris Mundy, the total installed collector area in 2011 again decreased by around 13 % to 100,000 systems. In 2009, around 150,000 systems had found a buyer in Australia. The company is still advertising the subsidies that have been granted around the country, but these subsidies will stop in June 2012. This means that economic prospects will likely remain difficult this year.
Source: www.solahart.com.au

The Indian state of Rajasthan has strongly supported the market for solar thermal technology. Since 2004, the state in the northwest of India has had a comprehensive mandatory law for solar water heaters: Solar energy use has been an essential requirement in setting up new hospitals, sports complexes, swimming pools, hostels, barracks, hotels, industrial buildings in which hot water is needed to process the goods, as well as public buildings and residential buildings with a plot size of 500 m² and above. In 2011, the state government has also granted an indirect subsidy to residential users of Solar Water Heaters (SWH). Having come into force three months ago, the scheme allows every SWH user to receive a rebate on its electricity bill of INR 0.25 INR/kWh of electricity, capped at a maximum of INR 300 per month – independent of the age of the system.
Photo courtesy: Jaideep Malaviya

This case study was written by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. It focuses on the city of Belo Horizonte, which is the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and recaps their experience in passing a solar thermal hot water heating system mandate for their city.

Since December 2011, a total of 81 solar air collectors by German manufacturer Grammer Solar have supplied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin with sun-heated air. The air collector system is part of an energy savings contract that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has drawn up together with the German Energy Agency (dena) and the energy efficient building specialists of YIT Germany GmbH in 2011. The overall aim is to save more than EUR 600,000 in operation costs and around 1,780 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.
Photo: Grammer Solar

This report was compiled by Manaar Zuhurudeen, a Research Assistant at The Saylor Foundation, and posted on Saylor’s website as part of their efforts to support online higher education for free. It supplies and covers the essential information on how the different types of solar thermal water heating technologies.

An organisation to support solar energy in Argentina is the Solar City Network (Red de Ciudades Solares), which places the emphasis on solar water heating. Part of their work consists of non-commercial conferences and exhibitions, which take place in various cities across the country. The latest event supported by the Solar City Network took place in Mendoza in November 2011 and attracted more than 600 visitors. Local media even spoke about 1,000 people visiting the Mendoza Solar.
Photo: National University of Cuyo

The paper was presented by Mr. Jacques Bony and Mr. Stéphane Citherlet from the Laboratory of Solar Energetics and Buildings Physics (Switzerland) in the framework of Task 44 of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme. It presents the energy and economic performances of facilities coupling heat pumps with air heater equipped with solar thermal collectors. The study was done employing a TRNSYS-type dynamic simulation.