China

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

One organisation to promote solar water heaters in Argentina is the NGO Forum for Social Housing and Energy Efficiency (Foro de Vivienda Social y Eficiencia Energética, FOVISEE). The first 33 solar systems have already been installed in a social housing project in Moreno, a district of the country’s capital Buenos Aires. In the long term, FOVISEE aims to install 100 systems in the district – and is looking for a partner which will help finance the project. The photos show a family in Moreno who benefited from a solar water heater set up on their roof.
Photo: FOVISEE

The discussion panel of the solar thermal industry was one of the star attractions at the Intersolar India conference, which took place at the Leela Kempinski Hotel in Mumbai in the middle of December. The panel consisted of the CEOs of leading solar water heater manufacturers (from right to left): Davinder Kaushal (Inter Solar Systems), D. V. Manjunatha (Emmvee Solar), Sanjay Jinturkar (Sudarshan Saur), Tarun Kapoor (Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), Hemant Revankar (Bipin Engineers), Gurminder Singh (Racold Solar), Sankar Dev Kunnath Kalam (Photon Solar) and Thyagamandlu Ananth (Nuetech Solar). The discussion was moderated by Jaideep N. Malaviya (standing on the left), CEO of the Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI).
Photo: Intersolar

Russian architect and professor Pavel Kazantsev has won the Energy Globe Award for his solar-heated house Solar-5. The house has been adapted for the far east of Russia, around the city of Vladivostok. While the FEFU university in Vladivostok has already built a small version of the house, called Solar-5M, the first full-scale Solar-5 house for a private owner is now under construction as well. In a next step, Kazantsev and his team have decided to set up a model house, which will be open to the public.
Source: Pavel Kazantsev

Because of a comparably lower price, vacuum tube collectors are becoming more and more popular in India. Based on a capacity of 100 litres of warm water per day, an average thermosiphon system with flat plate collectors is sold at INR 20,000 (EUR 208), whereas a solar water heater with a vacuum tube collector costs on average INR 16,000 (EUR 167). To protect the business of the around 60 flat plate collector manufacturers in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a memorandum on 20 October 2011. Its most important sentence says that, “manufacturers shall import no components other than ETCs (Evacuated Tube Collectors)”.

Chinese company Hejia Solar Energy presented a new collector type at the All-Energy Australia 2011 trade fair in Melbourne in October 2011. The collector’s automated coverage prevents the system from overheating during daily operation. The participation in the fair was organised jointly by the Chinese manufacturer of the new collector type, Heijia Solar, represented by Chief Engineer Pan Kexue, as well as CEO and owner of Hejia Solar, Wu Guosheng, and the Australian Sales Office OZ Hejia Solar, represented by Director Frank Witowski (middle).
Photo: Oz Hejia Solar

The dynamic market growth in India has produced an entire row of successful manufacturers of absorber coatings over the last few years, including Bhagyanagar India Ltd and Maharaja Techno Chromes. Both companies use the Nalsun Black Chrome Coating technology and also sell complete absorber fins to collector producers. The photo shows the fin coating process at Maharaja Techno Chromes.
Photo: Maharaja Techno Chromes

This week, the Swiss Bank Sarasin published the 12^th edition of their solar industry report, covering all three solar technologies: solar heating and cooling (ST), photovoltaics (PV), and concentrating solar power (CSP). The chapter on solar thermal identifies great differences in the market development of national markets and regions. While the Chinese market continues to shine, many European countries are suffering from decreasing or stagnating markets. Nevertheless, Sarasin predicts a great future, with a global average growth of 12% per year until 2020.

In Argentina, Jorge Follari of Innovar SRL observes a rising interest in solar thermal energy. The federal and the province governments support the installation of solar water heaters in rural schools, and the interest of private customers grows, too – especially in the northern provinces, such as Corrientes, Salta, Tucumán, San Luis, Santa Fe and Catamarca. Compared to the commonly used gas bottles, a solar system pays off in 2 to 3.5 years. On the other hand, gas and electricity are highly subsidised.
Map: Wikipedia Commons/Bleff

The Solar Thermal China 2012 will take place together with the Clean Energy Expo China 2012 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, from 23 to 25 February 2012. The B2B trading platform for solar thermal products is going to be open to trade buyers and industry professionals only. A world class conference program discussing hot topics and latest trends will be put together by an industry advisory board, attracting high profile speakers from domestic and foreign government institutions, associations, research organizations, and key enterprises.