In this issue
Ukraine: First Demonstration Projects Show the Way to Solar District Heating

China/Shandong: China’s Biggest Provincial Market to Set New Quality Standards 

Europe: 1.19 GW and 15,000 Jobs Lost Since Boom Year of 2008

Austria: Climate and Energy Fund's New Programme Subsidises Solar Houses

Romania: Former and Present Environmental Minister Brings Back Green House Programme
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Call for Submissions: Second Solarthermalworld.org Research Video Competition

Dear Reader,

Solarthermalworld.org is currently holding its second-ever video competition for researchers. Are you a scientist specialised in solar thermal heating and cooling? Then send us an up to 3-minute video or animation explaining in brief the objectives and findings of your current research projects. All videos will be uploaded to a YouTube channel specifically created for this competition, as well as to Solarthermalworld.org and to social media platforms. The best videos or animations will be awarded prizes at the international SHC 2014 conference in Beijing from 13 to 15 October. The winners will receive an iPad or a conference ticket. Use the unique opportunity to make your research known across the globe! The 54 videos on Solarthermalworld.org's own YouTube channel have already shown that we can give solar heating and cooling a voice on this popular online platform. 

 

Have a good read and sunny regards

The editorial team

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Ukraine: First Demonstration Projects Show the Way to Solar District Heating
by Vladislava Adamenkova
The district heating networks from Soviet times are theoretically well supplemented by solar thermal heat. However, except for Poland, solar thermal district heating is in its infancy in Eastern Europe. Bulgaria and Romania do not yet have any plans or projects to combine district heating with Solar thermal, but the Ukraine has already planted the first seeds. The municipal utility Mariupolteploset, one of the biggest heat supplying companies in the Ukraine, has installed three solar fields that feed into district heating networks in the district Donezk in Eastern Ukraine between 2008 and 2012. Other municipalities also announce the first solar district heating demonstration plants when modernising local energy stations and distribution systems.
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China/Shandong: China’s Biggest Provincial Market to Set New Quality Standards
by Simon Goess
 
Shandong is among the Chinese provinces with the most advanced solar thermal industry in China. Simon Goess (left), a researcher from the Netherlands, has recently carried out a number of interviews with stakeholders to understand how the province fosters innovation. The photo shows the interview with Dr Yuwu Li, Head of the Solar Application Product Inspection Laboratory in Shandong’s capital city Jinan. Li expects a quick development of building-integrated solar water heating systems and establishes new standards.
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Europe: 1.19 GW and 15,000 Jobs Lost Since Boom Year of 2008
by Bärbel Epp
It’s a disaster. There is not much more to say about the statistics of the solar thermal market in Europe. The newly installed capacity dropped again, this time by 11% compared to the previous year, down to 2.14 GWth.  All large markets were shrinking – even Poland and Denmark, whose market volume had grown significantly in 2012. According to the annual studies by the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), the sector has lost 1.19 GWth (1.7 million m²) and around 15,000 jobs all across Europe since the boom year of 2008.
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Austria: Climate and Energy Fund's New Programme Subsidises Solar Houses
by Stephanie Banse
 

On 13 June 2014, the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund launched the subsidy scheme Demo Projects Solar House 2014, a new incentive programme for private builders. The stated aim is to gain practical experience with buildings in which at least 70 % of the heat is supplied by solar thermal energy. The programme offers a total of EUR 700,000 in investment grants in 2014 to integrate solar thermal technology into about 40 houses during a first start-up phase. The photo shows Ingmar Höbarth (left), Managing Director of the Climate and Energy Fund, and Andrä Rupprechter, Austrian Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, at the kick-off event for the new funding programme.

Photo: Thomas Preiss / APA

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Romania: Former and Present Environmental Minister Brings Back Green House Programme
by Mihai Vintila
It looks like the Romanian solar thermal sector is benefitting from the frequent changes at the head of the country’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, MMSC. During a press conference on 20 May 2014, Attila Korodi, Minister for the Environment since the beginning of March 2014, announced the reactivation of the Green House Programme, Casa Verde, which was halted in 2011. As the former head of the same ministry, Korodi was responsible for the implementation of Casa Verde at the end of 2008. It took some time, however, until the programme could finally start in June 2011. During the press conference, Korodi said that he wanted to review the pending applications from 2011 and planned to subsidise 13,000 systems in 2014. 
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NEWS TICKER
Cyprus: Solar Thermal Industry Off to New Frontiers
Brazil/Israel: Long-Term Strategic Partnership in Marketing and Product Development
Austria: Prototypes of Selective Electrothermal Coating
Europe: 10 Years of Solar Keymark – 1,600 Collector and 220 System Certificates
USA: Solar Hot Water System on Newest High-Rise in San Diego Central
India: Concentrating Solar Thermal Test Centre and Website
Guatemala: Growth without Subsidies
REN 21: Solar Thermal Contributes Significantly to Hot Water Production
Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings: “Smart integration of home automation with heating technology”
Germany: SunOyster’s New Approach to Combine PV and Solar Heat