China

A major order for two Austrian companies was announced at a press conference in the middle of August: Austrian engineering company Solid - represented by its two CEOs Christian Holter (middle) and Franz Radovic (right) - signed a contract with the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) to deliver, install and operate a solar heating and cooling installation with 3,900 m² of collector area in Singapore. The Raiffeisen-Landesbank of Steiermark (RLB-Stmk) will be responsible for financing the investment of around EUR 4 million together with the OeKB, the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.
Photo: Solid

Brazing, soldering and welding specialist Dr Shin from South Korea: The Managing Director of Korean machinery equipment supplier SK Brazing presented several improved products for the manufacturing of tanks and collectors at the Intersolar North America in San Francisco in July 2010.
Photo: Bärbel Epp

The 4th International Solar Cities Congress (ISCC), organized by Dezhou Municipal Government and sponsored by Himin Solar Energy Group, will be held will be held from 16 to 19 September 2010 in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China. The event takes place in a new conference centre that will source 95% of its energy needs from renewable energy and will feature a 5000m2 solar system, a solar desalination plant and a solar energy theme park.

Collector manufacturer Solar City New Zealand Ltd and system integrator Solar Technology Systems Ltd have merged to form one of New Zealand´s largest solar businesses. 

This document relates the status of the green economy initiative in 8 countries.
The Green Economy Initiative (GEI) was designed by the United National Environment Programme to assist governments in “greening” their economies by reshaping and refocusing policies, investments and spending towards greener sectors.

The document refers different technologies and renewable energy sources, including the usage of solar thermal and CSP in China and Tunisia.

The US-based Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) is on the fast lane. Within only one and a half years SRCC has increased the number of accredited test labs from two to fourteen. Collector and system suppliers that want to enter the US-market can now address test institutes in Australia, Spain, Canada, Germany, China and Switzerland, as well as the US.

The result from the second tender round of the national rural incentive programme in China: more companies with higher-priced products qualified for it. This year's price limit was RMB 5,000, a substantial increase from the RMB 4,000 last year (10 RMB is about 1 EUR).
Source: CRED

In 2008, the global solar thermal market grew by a significant 35%. The main reasons behind such a strong upward trend were the high growth rates of glazed water collectors in China (+35 %), Europe (+63 %) and North America (+42 %). Graphic: AEE Intec

The pioneer of solar thermal technology in Syria: Nabil Kadi Kran started producing flat plate collectors and solar tanks in the Middle Eastern country 30 years ago. He recently had to cope with a decrease in his company's sales due to cheap imports of vacuum tube collector systems from China.
Photo: Bärbel Epp

Since 1976 in the solar thermal business: Salvador Steffani is the founder and General Director of the collector manufacturer Captasol. His company is initiator of the newly founded Renewable Energy Industry Association FAMERAC and member of the National Association of Solar Energy (ANES).
Photo: Captasol