Process Heat

The marketing campaign for solar hot water systems in the residential sector in Mexico, Procalsol (2007 to 2012), bore fruit: According to the annual market statistics of the National Association of Solar Energy (ANES), the newly installed collector area in households almost tripled from 53,183 m² in 2008 to 132,934 m² last year.

The first international conference dedicated exclusively to solar process heat will take place in Wels, Austria, from 3 to 4 March 2011 as part of the World Sustainable Energy Days. It is organised by the O.Oe. Energiesparverband, the regional energy agency of Upper Austria, which is also the coordinator of the Intelligent Energy Europe project "Solar Process Heat" (So-Pro).
Photo: So-Pro.

Austria shows that even in a generally difficult economic situation, a government can still expand its solar subsidy schemes: On 11 June, the Austrian environmental minister, Niki Berlakovich, introduced a new incentive programme for large-scale solar thermal systems. Photo: National Austrian Environmental Ministry

The picture shows the solar shop of Solimpeks and the office building for the engineers of the Seiso subsidiary, which is responsible for large-scale projects. Turkish solar thermal manufacturers increasingly establish separate companies to handle hotel installations or process heat applications. Photo: Ina Röpcke

This is a report prepared in the framework of the Intelligent Energy Europe project Key Issues for Renewable Heat in Europe (K4RES-H).

The report focuses on solar heat for industrial processes (SHIP), the current market status and potential, the identified barriers to growth and proposed recommendations. A selection of demonstration projects is also provided.

Solar heat for industrial processes is not yet a very developed technology, but among the various solar thermal applications, its potential is noteworthy.

This report was prepared by the Mayo Energy Agency in 2002.

Looking at the future development of the Indian solar thermal sector: The figures above show the most realistic scenario by New Delhi based consultancy Greentech Knowledge Solutions. The residential market will also dominate in the years to come, still retaining a market share of around 80%.
Source: Greentech

The UK Government is currently seeking views on the introduction of a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme to start in April 2011. Responses to the consultation are invited by Monday 26th April 2010. Details can be accessed here.

The key proposed aspects of the RHI are as follows:

The Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia (MPMSAA) and Sustainability Victoria jointly produced the Large Scale Solar Thermal Systems Design Handbook, which provides guidance in best practice approaches for designing large-scale solar hot water systems.

Solar plug'n'play solution in Brazil: The unit developed by Brazilian company E2 Solar consists of a solar roof with 16 collectors and a storage tank with a capacity of 2,500 litres.
Photo: Petrobras