Newsletter - Solarthermalworld.org Newsletter May 2014

In this issue

Germany: Insolvency of Long-Standing Collector Manufacturer

Austria: “Unlock the power of your ideas”

Great Britain: Domestic Renewable Heat Incentives with Extensive Rules

Europe: Pedro Dias Appointed New ESTIF Secretary General

Lebanon: Solar Thermal Included In Official Vocational Training

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This newsletter is a good example of the wide range of topics that solarthermalworld.org reports about every month: from do-it-yourself groups for women and men in Russia (see photo) and Europe industry news on the acquisition and close-down of Bluetec by Alanod to the new policy paper of the International Energy Agency and the statistics of the incentive programme in Uruguay. Since its creation in 2008, the web portal has grown into a database of around 3,500 news articles, scientific papers, studies and presentations. In addition, solarthermalworld.org now offers a new and advanced search tool at the left of the page. The tool combines the keyword search box and the tag-based filter, which had so far been used independently to search the database. The user can filter entries based on keywords, country, type (news and non news terms), market sectors and pillars of market development. The results can be sorted by either Relevance (number of clicks) – for example, ‘High to low` – or Date created, for example, ‘Newest first`.

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The editorial team

Russia / Ukraine workshops
Alanod purchases Bluetec
Study of International Energy Agency
Uruguay

Germany: Insolvency of Long-Standing Collector Manufacturer
by Bärbel Epp

The news about the insolvency of Wagner & Co Solartechnik in April has shocked the German solar thermal sector. The appointed preliminary insolvency administrator, Dr Jan Markus Plathner, solicitor at Brinkmann & Partner, stated in a press release that Wagner initiated insolvency procedures on 22 April 2014. The company, which was founded in 1979, is one of the longest-lived solar thermal system suppliers in Germany. It has been producing collectors for almost 30 years and has sold more than 1 million m² of collector area. The Managing Director Andreas Knoch sees “a good chance for a new beginning. We are confident that we can manage the crisis with the help of the insolvency administrator and our clients.”

Austria: “Unlock the power of your ideas”
by Bärbel Epp

“Solar heat is a must-have” is one of eight theses which a group of solar thermal experts developed during the First International Solar Forum in the Austrian town of Bad Aussee at the beginning of April. Initiator of the two-and-a-half-day workshop was Austrian company Sunlumo, a service provider of research and development in the solar thermal sector. Sunlumo gathered a selected group of 16 German-speaking experts from inside and outside the solar thermal sector, among them researchers, engineers, marketing and sales strategists, association representatives, designers, inventors and philosophers. The aim of this meeting was to brainstorm “revolutionary new guidelines that would serve as a wake-up call for stakeholders and the public,” Sunlumo’s Managing Director, Robert Buchinger, explains.

Great Britain: Domestic Renewable Heat Incentives with Extensive Rules
by Chris Laughton

The domestic Renewable Heating Incentive (dRHI) for England, Wales and Scotland has been launched on 9 April 2014. For solar thermal, the dRHI will pay the end-user tariff at a rate of 0.192 Pound Sterling (GBP)/kWh for 7 years. The dRHI applies to biomass boilers & stoves, ground-source & air-source heat pumps heating and solar thermal DHW for single homes. The subsidy is for properties capable of getting a domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which confirms the property is a domestic dwelling. Other requirements are that the property should also have a Green Deal Assessment (GDA) and where the GDA recommends installing loft and cavity wall insulation, these must first be fitted before applying for the dRHI. There are initial costs to the user to first obtain the EPC and GDA.

Europe: Pedro Dias Appointed New ESTIF Secretary General
by Stephanie Banse

ESTIF’s Board of Directors has appointed Pedro Dias to serve as new Secretary General of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation. The former deputy general follows in the footsteps of Xavier Noyon, who left ESTIF at the end of March. Accordingly, the association has reduced its staff from four to three permanent employees – a result of the persistent sales crisis in the European solar thermal industry and the decrease in the number of ESTIF members. However, the association will soon engage two interns to complement the workforce.

Lebanon: Solar Thermal Included In Official Vocational Training
by Bärbel Epp

Around 50 teachers took part in the Training of Trainers at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Beirut, Lebanon, at the end of March. The three-day course gathered teachers from most of the key institutions of vocational training in Lebanon in order to explain the new teaching material added to the curriculum and to hand over the course handbook, which serves as a guide to what the teachers should teach. The Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) held the workshop in the frame of the Global Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative, GSWH, which will run out at the end of April 2014.

NEWS TICKER

Portugal: “Good legislation, bad economy”

European Solar Days: Raising Awareness in Eastern European Countries

India: National Housing Bank Grants Subsidised Loans

Puerto Rico: New Solar Thermal Programme to Benefit Low-Income Families

Austria: Search for Innovative Incentive Schemes

Germany: Intersolar Europe and Solar District Heating Conference Cover Numerous Topics