India is one of the most dynamic solar thermal markets worldwide. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, about the fast-growing market in general and the difficulties with the market statistics in particular. Kapoor confirmed that “we are well on our way to achieve the target of a total of 7 million  m² until March 2013.” For the first time the annual newly installed collector area in the fiscal year 2011/2012 reached 1 million  m² of collector area.

The roof of the Geneva International Airport has now 282 evacuated flat plate collector units with a back-side metal reflector. These Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) collectors will start working in winter this year and supply the airport with hot water and space heating. Next summer, the solar heat will run a York absorption chiller to cool the buildings as well. The manufacturer of the special collectors is Suiss-Spanish company SRB Energy. The new system fits perfectly into the renewable strategy of the airport, which wants to cover more and more of its energy consumption by alternative energies. The photo shows Cédric Petitjean (right), General Director of SRB Energy, and Dr Cristoforo Benvenuti, Vice President and CTO of SRB Energy and former researcher at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

After the boom year of 2010, the latest market research from the Taiwanese National Cheng Kung University shows a strong decline in the Taiwanese market in 2011: with 116,000  m² of newly installed collector area, last year’s figures were back to the level of 2009. The regional subsidy programme of the government of Kaohsiung city caused the 2010 sales peak of around 140,000 m² - before the programme ran out at the end of 2010. This led the authors of the study to the conclusion that the “current national subsidy programme has recently lost its momentum in terms of expanding the market.”

It was the first in France in the private food sector and one of the first in Europe – the solar cooling system in the cellar of the GICB winery in the south of France. In 1991, successful experiences with solar cooling could rarely be found and investors, as well as donors, were hesitant to endorse the new technology. “It took a lot of work to convince Michel Jomain, former Managing Director of GICB, to get together the funds needed for this ambitious project,” French engineering company Tecsol recalls in an article published in the latest issue of its magazine, Plein Soleil. The installation was designed by Tecsol engineer Louis Casals who paid a lot of attention to minimising the risk of failure. With success! Performance data over 20 years show clearly that the system kept its promises.

The Solar Keymark certification is getting more consumer-friendly: since the beginning of this year, the new certificate data sheets include a second page on the annual collector unit output for different solar radiation sites in Europe - Stockholm, Davos, Würzburg and Athens. The list shows the output at average collector temperatures of 25, 50 and 75 °C. The listed output should now give end consumers a good hint on what they get for their money.