Thailand

This report presents the efforts of South and South-East Asian countries in adopting and developing solar water heater product standards, accredited test laboratories and certification bodies and accredited planners/installers.

Renewable Energy Asia 2012 will take place in Bangkok from 6 to 9 June. The trade fair covers all areas of tapping, storage and distribution of energy from renewable sources and is considered as a platform for the entire Southeast Asian region. Parallel to the fair conferences and seminars inform about the current status, future prospects and investment opportunities in the energy sector in the ASEAN region.

On behalf of the Thai Ministry of Energy, German engineering company Aschoff Solar has been awarded by the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) for the company's solar thermal installation at the Sadesa leather factory in Sena. Bernd Jueckmann (left), Sales Manager at Aschoff Solar, and Carsten Aschoff, Managing Director of Aschoff Solar, received the award from the hands of Prapon Kitichantaropas (right), Director of the Solar Energy Bureau at DEDE, during a conference held in Pattaya, Thailand, on 8 July 2011.
Photo: Aschoff Solar

16,880 m² of collector area were subsidised between 2008 and 2010 in the Thailand incentive programme for commercial installations that are combined with waste heat from an air conditioner or boiler. According to the programme administrator, the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE), hotels show the biggest share within the subsidy programme, followed by process heat applications in the industry.
Source: DEDE

The government of Thailand continued to subsidise commercial solar thermal installations that are combined with waste heat from an air conditioner or boiler as of April 2011. The programme has run since 2008 and is limited to 10,000 m² in 2011. The following table puts together the preliminary regulations and conditions of the subsidy programme in 2011. In recent years, the government announced the new conditions for the following year in spring, therefore the frame conditions of 2012 will be publicly available most probably by April 2012.

This document was produced by the Solar Thermal Association in Thailand. It provides a thorough overview of the Soltherm project. The Market Development Solar Thermal Applications in Thailand project (Soltherm Thailand) is funded by the EU-Thailand Economic Cooperation Small Project Facility (EU-SPF) and jointly implemented by the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment (JGSEE), the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).

37 commercially installed solar thermal systems of between 50 and 500 m² received subsidies in Thailand over the last two years. Nevertheless, the sector shows a lack of professional service to operate these solar systems at an optimum efficiency.
Photo: STA

2010 marks the 20^th anniversary of the exhibition Entech Pollutec Asia. Since its start in 1990, Entech has gained reputation as one of the most significant environmental exhibitions in the region.

This year’s event takes place from 2 to 5 June in Bangkok together with Renewable Energy Asia and Pumps & Valves 2010. Entech 2010 will feature a broad array of environmental ideas, programs and solutions from dozens of companies. One of the exhibitors in the Renewable Energy section will be The Solar Thermal Association (STA) of Thailand.

This 2008 document from the Thai Solar Thermal Association (Stasolar), gives a summary of the state of play of solar thermal in Thailand as well as its future market development. Only recently, the government is giving more attention to solar thermal which has lead to the first solar thermal subsidy programme in 2007. 

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.