Qualisol

This is a presentation delivered by Mr. Noureddine Ketari from the Tunisian Institute Aptitudes during the Regional Workshop on Standardization and Certification of Solar Water Heaters organized by the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) in Tunisia.

The economic situation in Tunisia two months after former President Ben Ali left the country is back to normal. Material supply is available without delay, the grants of the incentive programme are paid and even the demand for solar water heaters slowed down only a bit. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with Amjed Sibai, Managing Director of Sines Industries, one of the largest collector and tank manufacturers in the country, about the current business situation in Tunisia. Sines was founded in 2005 by him and his brother Ismail Sibai, who transferred the technology from their Greek partner which has been in the solar thermal market since 1976.

The 5th European Solar Thermal Energy Conference (estec) will take place in Marseilles, France, on 20 and 21 October 2011. The international event is organised by both the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) and the French solar energy association Enerplan and, supported by Ademe, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency.

The Brazilian installer label Qualisol has recently gained greater visibility in the market. Not only does CAIXA, the national mortgage bank for the housing sector, now require installers to provide a Qualisol label to take part in the social housing programme My Home My Life (Minha Casa Minha Vida), but also some of the energy utilities' efficiency programmes accept only installers which are Qualisol certified.

Quality label for installers: By adapting French installer certification Qualisol, Tunisia's market development project Prosol has already entered “the 3rd Dimension” of quality control since its launch in 2005. Training is provided by the National Chamber of Renewable Energies (CNSEnR) after which installers will have to pass an exam to use the label in shop windows, ads, offers and invoices. Tunisia is a perfect example of quality-oriented solar thermal market development.

The quality of solar water heaters is improving steadily. Evidence of this trend can be found in the results of the 8,000 Qualisol audits, which have been carried out since 2007. Within four years, the share of “excellent” installations more than doubled, from 20 to 55.5 %. The share of “poor” installations shrank from 10 to 3 %.
Source: Qualit'EnR

Qualit’EnR manages the solar thermal installers label Qualisol and offers a wide range of services to qualified installation companies, such as: listing on the web portal (www.qualit-enr.org), free technical assistance, advertising and communications material and the Qualit’EnR newsletter.

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.