Standards , Certification

This paper was created by M. Lopes Prates, J. Cruz Costa, J. Farinha Mendes, and Maria João Carvalho of Portugal’s Department of Renewable Energies at INETI, the National Institute of Engineering and Industrial Technology. The focus of this paper is on the legislative and regulatory frameworks of the Portuguese government, pertaining to solar thermal technology, and their effect on the industry and its market.

This pamphlet was created by the public-private partnership of the German company MAN Ferrostaal, the German Energy Agency, and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Its focus is on how this public-private partnership brought a solar thermal system to a school in the Middle East, its positive social benefit, and how it is opening doors to the development of the Middle Eastern solar thermal market.

This factsheet was created by Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy; which is a public-private partnership that offers information on energy services to utility customers in Wisconsin. The focus of this factsheet is the various applications of solar thermal heating systems in commercial settings.

The history of solar heating in Brazil began in the early 1970ies with the emergence of the first factories for solar collectors. However, the development of the Brazilian market was only possible after INMETRO's creation of the Brazilian Labeling Program PBE in 1998.
Source: www.inmetro.gov.br

This presentation was made during the Regional Workshop on Solar Water Heating Certification and Standardization organised by RCREEE (Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency) in Tunisia in autumn 2009.

This document was produced by the New Zealand Solar Industries Association to help consumers on what to do in case there is a concern or a problem with an installed system.

In such situations, the issue should be raised with the supplier or installer. The supplier or installer who sold the system is responsible for all aspects of the system installed and for ensuring that the product performs adequately for the purpose for which it has been sold.

This article was created by Byron Stafford of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and was presented at the ACI New Jersey Home Performance Conference for Whole House Energy Solutions in September of 2008. It focuses on solar domestic hot water system options and capabilities for residential housing in New Jersey, USA.

This report was compiled by Ray Dracker of Solar Millennium LLC and Klaus-Jergen Riffelmann of Flagsol for California’s Integrated Energy Policy Workshop in July of 2008.

The presentation focuses on the different types of solar energy storage and how they can improve solar plants. Because of the unpredictable nature of the amount of solar radiation available for solar power plants, storage is a necessary tool in ensuring the reliability and cost-effectiveness of solar energy.

This is the final report of the EU funded project East-GSR (2006-2008), created to support the development of the solar thermal market in 5 Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). One of the main objectives of the project was to promote the performance guarantee approach for large solar thermal systems focusing on the example of the Guaranteed Solar Results (GSR) contract. The project was coordinated by the French Energy Agency ADEME.

This report was prepared in 2003 by Rob McMonagle for the Canadian Solar Industries Association.

The document describes the specific challenges that the solar industry in Canada faces and also argues against many common myths associated with solar energy. Several charts also show that Canada has more solar energy than many countries that are currently worldwide solar leaders. Several charts provide a cost/energy breakdown for various uses of solar thermal power and solar pool heating is explained in further detail.