Global Solar Thermal Energy Council -

France: Qualisol – A Quality Scheme for Installers

Baerbel Epp — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0100

Qualit’EnR manages the solar thermal installers label Qualisol and offers a wide range of services to qualified installation companies, such as: listing on the web portal (www.qualit-enr.org), free technical assistance, advertising and communications material and the Qualit’EnR newsletter.

Energy Cost and its Impact on Regulating the Buildings’ Energy Behaviour (2007)

Raquel Costa — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:33:14 +0100

This research paper issued by the Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering of the Aristotle University Thessaloniki relates to the historic evolution of energy building regulations.

Ventilation Performance of Solar Chimney with Built-in Latent Heat Storage (2006)

Raquel Costa — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:43:36 +0100

This document was prepared by two researchers from the Osaka University, Department of Architectural Engineering. It describes the prototype solar chimney with PCM (Phase Change Material) storage, together with a numerical model for predicting air flow rate in a solar chimney and temperature of aluminum plate, air and PCM.

Case Study on Measures to Support Solar Water Heating (2007)

Todd Costello — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:12:12 +0100

This paper was prepared by the research center, LEPII, and the World Energy Council in 2007.

The report breaks down the total installation capacity, worldwide and identifies the largest installing countries in the world by per capita, cost and total systems.

It includes case studies on individual countries including Austria, China and Mexico. The case studies define the market, barriers, incentive measures and main issues. Te main issues talk about market growth and what’s stunting it or what is needed to grow it further.

South Africa: Harvesting the Sun with Western Cape’s Housing Project

Baerbel Epp — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0100

Thermosiphon systems on the roofs of social housing blocks in South Africa: Almost all of the 210 flats that are part of the newly built housing project in Steenberg, a suburb of Cape Town, have been equipped with a solar water heater of local system supplier Hotmix (Pty) Ltd.
Photo: Bruce Sutherland / City of Cape Town

Solar Water Heating – How California Can Reduce Its Dependence on Natural Gas (2007)

Todd Costello — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:30:15 +0100

This report was written in cooperation with the Environment California Research & Policy Center and the Frontier Group in 2007.

The report starts with a summary of exactly what solar thermal systems do, how they can have a positive effect on natural gas consumption and stating that the renewed interest in solar hot water can be traced back to the energy crisis of the 1970s.

The Challenge of Solar Thermal Forecasting (2009)

Todd Costello — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:21:19 +0100

This report was prepared by the company Bright Source and submitted to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

The report draws conclusions on solar thermal forecasting, based on several factors including sun position, solar field design, thermal mass/inertia issues, operating strategies, back-up technologies, and current plant status.

It has charts and graphs to show how factors such as sun position, heliostat orientation, shadowing and blocking can affect the energy flux on the receiver.

Solar Hot Water Feasibility Study for St. Norbert College (2005)

Todd Costello — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:29:34 +0100

This report was prepared by Solar Mining Company and funded by the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program. St. Norbert College is located on the Fox River in De Pere, Wisconsin. At the time of this report, they had a district hot water network that uses two separate heating plants, and buildings at the end of this water system experience a loss of hot water during peak demands.

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

Baerbel Epp — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0100

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

Inspection Checklist Solar Water Heaters (2007)

Raquel Costa — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:33:11 +0100

This is a template document used for inspections in solar water heating systems.

This template document was produced in the framework of the MED-ENEC Project (Energy Efficiency in the Construction Sector), an EU funded project promoting cooperation between EU and MEDA countries in energy efficiency.

This short inspection checklist includes different sections on general data about the system, visual inspection, testing and measurements, user opinion and action list.