On 20^th September 2012 the UK Government opened a consultation on their plans to expand the current non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (RHI) to include the domestic sector. Under the new framework, four core renewable heating technologies will be eligible for the domestic RHI: solar thermal, air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers. Although the proposal document gives some pieces of good news for solar thermal, there is a high degree of frustration in the UK industry that this consultation is causing yet another delay in the domestic RHI.

Uniclima, the French union for the heating, cooling and ventilation industry, presented its latest take on the French solar thermal market in 2012 at a press conference in Paris on 18^th  October. Compared to the previous year, the market remained, all in all, stable by the end of August 2012. Each type of solar thermal technology, however, took a very different path throughout the year. The collector area installed for domestic hot water in residential buildings decreased by 14% over the first eight months of 2012. Combi systems, which deliver energy for hot water and space heating again declined this year. Only the sector of solar hot water for multi-family houses showed an increase of 20% compared to 2011.

This time, the Eurosun took place in a beautiful coastal town in Croatia, Opatija, in the middle of September 2012. The Eurosun 2012 was already the ninth European conference of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES). It was hosted by the Croatian Solar Energy Association, HSUSE, and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rijeka. The photo shows Professor Bernard Franković, Conference Chairman, President of ISES Europe and Professor at the University of Rijeka.  In the solar thermal sessions, the experts discussed the benefits and challenges of solar process heat.The organisers were satisfied with the more than 100 conference participants and the 170 scientific papers presented and published during the event.

The Chinese government is taking further steps to consolidate the market and improve quality. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and China’s Ministry of Finance have launched a new initiative to support the distribution of high-efficiency solar water heaters (SWH). Since 1 June 2012, SWH with sizes between 80 and 600 litres have been subsidised at different rates, which vary between Renminbi (RMB) 100 and 550. Eligible systems must fulfil level 1 or 2 of the new China Energy Label.