Greenonetec

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

Austrian collector manufacturer Tisun GmbH started operating a new type of absorber production machine at the beginning of November 2011. Developed and delivered by Austrian machine supplier DTEC GmbH, the special feature of the machine is its ability to bend and laser-weld parts in a single production step. “We have patented the three-dimensional head which bends, forms and welds the piping to the absorber plate,” explains DTEC’s Managing Director, Michael Dietl. The photo shows the multi-functional laser head with its tools installed in the factory.
Photo: Tisun

The global breakthrough of solar thermal will depend on how well the industry masters the challenge of cost-effective tank and collector manufacturing. This is the key issue of the 3rd SMEThermal conference on 7 February 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The international event is dedicated exclusively to process optimization, automation, and new materials in the solar thermal industry. The organizer, Berlin-based Solarpraxis, launched the complete programme at the end of October (see attached pdf).

In March 2011, German machinery supplier Felss Burger GmbH delivered an automated bending machine for the production of serpentine absorber pipes to Austrian collector manufacturer Greenonetec. The machine achieves a high production capacity of 72 meanders (1.2 x 2 m²) per hour. A robot removes the finished serpentine absorber pipe from the machine, places it on a pallet, grabs a piece of cardboard and puts it on top of the pipes.
Photo: Greenonetec

Kioto Clear Energy wants to establish itself as a solar thermal system supplier on the international solar thermal markets. The Austrian company group, which owns 50 % of OEM collector manufacturer Greenonetec, presented its “Sonnenheizung” (solar heating) at the international heating fair ISH in Frankfurt in March. The photo shows Helmut Walten, Manager of the Solar Thermal Division at Kioto Clear Energy, and Robert Kanduth, founder and chairman of the board of Kioto Holding.
Photo: Bärbel Epp

The new President of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) is Robin Welling, Managing Director of Austrian collector manufacturer and system supplier Tisun, as well as Managing Director of Tisun LLC in New York. At the beginning of December, Welling was elected in Brussels by the General Assembly for a two-year period. He takes over from Olivier Drücke, who held the position between 2008 and 2010.
Photo: Tisun

Austrian OEM collector manufacturer Greenonetec runs four robots at its new assembly line for tray collectors supported by seven workers. With a cycle time of around one minute, the highly automated production line is one of the fastest in the world.
Photo: Greenonetec

Three partners, one project: Representatives from all three participating companies - Millennium Energy Industries, Jordan, and Greenonetec and AEE Intec, both based in Austria - met for their kick-off meeting at the collector factory of Greenonetec.
Photo: Greenonetec

Jubilee collector on display in the headquarters building: This collector panel completed in December 2009 the total of 3,000,000 m² of produced collector area Turkish manufacturer Ezinc Metal San. has produced since it started production in 1983. Photo: Ezinc

Next April, a laser welding machine from the Austrian machinery supplier Dtec will come into operation in the Viessmann Factory in Falquemont, France.
Photo: Dtec