GTZ

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.

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.

Final agreement: André Eckermann (left), Programme Director of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and Victor Manuel Borrás Setién, head of Infonavit, shook hands during the official launch of the 25,000 solar roof programme in Mexico in the middle of June. The programme is financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Photo: GTZ

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.

Small thermosiphon systems are in the focus point of the new 25,000 Solar Roofs Programme of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Mexico.

Photo: GTZ Mexico

Commercial use of solar water heaters is gaining momentum in Mexico. Hotels, public swimming pools and industries used about 30 % of the 165,632 m² (116 MW_th) of collector area installed in 2008 to cover their demand in hot water or heating (see the following figure), concluded a market study by the national solar industry association ANES (Asociación Nacional de Energía Solar).

The objective of this paper is to analyse and evaluate international experiences with the promotion of solar water heaters at household level.

During the compilation of this study, it became apparent that responsible organisations did not pay much attention to a distinct monitoring and an explicit evaluation of promotion programmes. The study shows which promotion measures resulted particularly successful, which difficulties occurred during their implementation and how these circumstances possibly could have been avoided.

Social housing in Mexico with solar water heaters: Tecamac is a typical suburb of Mexico City, where inhabitants can purchase apartments at a reasonable price. Photo: GTZ Mexico