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Within 6 years, the Chinese solar thermal industry increased its export business 12-fold, from USD 20 million in 2005 to USD 250 million in 2010. In 2011, the newly installed collector area in China has jumped up another 18 % to 57.6 million m2 (40.3 GW_th). Putting the focus on solar technology has proven to be the right step: Nowadays, significantly more new solar water heaters are being installed per year than gas or electric water heaters (see chart). These and other market figures were presented by the retired head of the China Solar Thermal Industry Federation (CSTIF), Zhentao Luo, during the IEA SHC roadmap workshop in Beijing in November 2011 (see attached presentation in Chinese).
Source: CSTIF/CREIA

The Australian solar thermal market has not actually recovered since the boom year 2009. According to the Head of the Renewable Department of Rheem Australia Pty Ltd, Chris Mundy, the total installed collector area in 2011 again decreased by around 13 % to 100,000 systems. In 2009, around 150,000 systems had found a buyer in Australia. The company is still advertising the subsidies that have been granted around the country, but these subsidies will stop in June 2012. This means that economic prospects will likely remain difficult this year.
Source: www.solahart.com.au

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

Since December 2011, a total of 81 solar air collectors by German manufacturer Grammer Solar have supplied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin with sun-heated air. The air collector system is part of an energy savings contract that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has drawn up together with the German Energy Agency (dena) and the energy efficient building specialists of YIT Germany GmbH in 2011. The overall aim is to save more than EUR 600,000 in operation costs and around 1,780 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.
Photo: Grammer Solar

An organisation to support solar energy in Argentina is the Solar City Network (Red de Ciudades Solares), which places the emphasis on solar water heating. Part of their work consists of non-commercial conferences and exhibitions, which take place in various cities across the country. The latest event supported by the Solar City Network took place in Mendoza in November 2011 and attracted more than 600 visitors. Local media even spoke about 1,000 people visiting the Mendoza Solar.
Photo: National University of Cuyo

In May 2011, the Bulgarian government published its new Renewable Energy Act, with considerably less favourable conditions for investors in wind farm and photovoltaic projects. However, it removed some hurdles for installing solar collector systems on residential housing by eliminating construction permits for solar water heater installations. Solarthermalworld.org has asked some solar thermal system providers if this new requirement supported market development. The photo shows a solar thermal installation in the village of Lozen in the south-west of Bulgaria.
Photo: Frank Stier

The Programme for an Increased Usage of Biomass and Solar Energy in Households in Slovakia, which was launched in April 2009, has now exceeded its budget. Although applications were accepted until 30 October 2011, the Ministry of Economy had already announced on 27 October 2011 that the number of subsidy applications had overtaken the funds available for the programme. All submitted applications are going to be evaluated in order of their submission date. The map illustrates the geographical spread of the approved applications depending on the respective solar sector and is published by the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA).
Source: www.siea.sk

Since July, the world’s biggest solar thermal plant has gradually come into operation. It produces heat for a women’s university in Saudi Arabia, the Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University inaugurated at the end of 2011. From July onwards, students and staff have been moving onto the campus and with heat demand increasing, the covers have been removed one by one from the six solar fields. The photo shows the collector field on a warehouse – the buildings in the background all belong to the university.
Photo: AEE Intec

One organisation to promote solar water heaters in Argentina is the NGO Forum for Social Housing and Energy Efficiency (Foro de Vivienda Social y Eficiencia Energética, FOVISEE). The first 33 solar systems have already been installed in a social housing project in Moreno, a district of the country’s capital Buenos Aires. In the long term, FOVISEE aims to install 100 systems in the district – and is looking for a partner which will help finance the project. The photos show a family in Moreno who benefited from a solar water heater set up on their roof.
Photo: FOVISEE

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