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In July of 2011, the city council of Rosario - a city located between Buenos Aires and Santa Fé - agreed to establish a solar ordinance. However, to put it into practice, the authorities would have to also work out and publish an actual regulation. In December 2011, the environmentalist organisation Taller Ecologista, which put a lot of effort in getting the solar ordinance passed, published its recommendations on how to draft the regulation, including system definitions and technical specifications.
Figure: Taller Ecologista

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

On 22 December 2011, the Polish Ministry of Economy presented the draft of a new Renewable Energy Sources Law. It includes a renewable building obligation for the private and public sector, as well as a one-time tax deduction for private solar thermal customers (in addition to the grants offered by the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, NFOŚiGW). The new regulations are thought to boost the Polish solar thermal market in the long term. At first, the RES Law was said to be introduced on July 1, 2012. However, delays in legislative procedures will most likely postpone the new regulations to later this year, so that they are going to take full effect in 2013.
Source: Wikipedia

The commercial solar thermal market is gaining importance in South Korea. According to the Korea New and Renewable Energy Center (KNREC), only 43 % of the glazed and subsidised collector area in 2010 was installed in residential housing. The majority of systems were set up in public buildings because of a mandatory renewable law, and in social welfare facilities due to a 50 % investment subsidy. The KNREC pie chart of the collector market in 2010 adds up to 69,805 m². The statistics do not include thermosiphon systems (not subsidised by the government), as well as certain not certified types of imported vacuum tube collector systems.
Source: KNREC

This case study focuses on the City of Toronto Vehicle Maintenance Garage and their switch to a solar thermal air heating system.

The garage hosts the town’s garbage trucks and other work vehicles, so there was a need to both ensure airflow, and because of the cold temperatures of Toronto, ensure reliable heat. So the town installed three solar heated fans that provide the interior of the garage with a steady stream of fresh air that has been heated by the sun.

Document available in both French and English.

Carlos F. C. Faria is the founder of Brazilian consultancy Studio Equinócio - SE and former director of the Brazilian solar industry association ABRAVA. Studio Equinócio is dedicated to the development of solar energy in Brazil. The company works in partnership with industries, associations, banks, local governments and energy utilities to establish a solar energy network in Latin America. At the Eurosun 2010, solarthermalworld.org spoke with Carlos Faria about what drives the market in Brazil.
Photo: Eurosun

State-owned Azerenergy Construction Company (AZENCO), which is based in Azerbaijan in the Caucasian region, started producing solar thermal collectors at the beginning of August and will very soon produce solar tanks, too. The investment was initiated by a state programme, which aims at installing solar heating systems in public buildings.

A satisfying record: The Indian city of Rajkot in Gujarat state, Western India, has seen the installation of more than 16,000 residential systems and over 700 commercial solar water heating systems since the Municipal Corporation implemented a solar building bye-law in March 2004.
Photo: Jaideep Malaviya

This is a brochure from the ProSTO Project, an EU funded project aimed at supporting European local authorities in planning, developing, introducing and managing efficient solar thermal ordinances (STOs).

In October 2009, both the Chamber of Senators and the Chamber of Representatives of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay approved a far-reaching solar thermal energy law (Nº 18.585), which lays down several steps to further extend the solar obligation stipulated in it, with each step coming into effect after a certain time span (see details in the following table).