collective systems

Collective systems are on the rise in France: This photo shows the youth hostel of the Association Logis des Jeunes de Provence in the city of Cannes in the South of France. Photo: Enerplan

France is the frontrunner in Europe in terms of implementing political frame conditions for solar thermal technology. The government already approved the country's energy law, the so-called “Grenelle de l’Environnement“, in 2007. Richard Loyen, Secretary General of the French Solar Energy Association Enerplan, explained that the law, “more or less anticipated the implementation of the RES Directive” when he spoke during an association workshop organized by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) in Brussels last December.

Solarge is a European co-operation project promoting the installation of collective solar thermal systems (CSTS) with collector areas of 30m2 and larger. The project looks in particular to multi-family buildings, hotels, public and social buildings. This report, which has been revised in 2007, compiles and assesses data relative to 8 national CSTS markets.

The research looked, among other points, to the level of development of the national solar thermal market and to what extent the political and legislative framework hampers or promotes the development of CSTS.

The segment of collective systems shows high growth rates in France: The main factor behind this growth are the incentives paid by Ademe, the France Energy Agency. The investment for the solar thermal system on top of this multi-storey building in Paris was €353,000 of which 39 % were subsidised by Ademe. Photo: Enerplan