market opportunities

August 3, 2021
Germany’s solar heat success story in 2020 and beyond

In 2020, the German market for solar heat grew by 26 % – more than any other major solar thermal market around the globe, according to the new Solar Heat Worldwide 2021 report (see chart above). Speaking at an IEA SHC Solar Academy in June, Harald Drück, a researcher at German University of...
June 4, 2021
Some good news from COVID-plagued Brazil

Brazil’s solar thermal market continued to grow in 2020 despite the pandemic taking a heavy toll on the country. According to annual statistics compiled by national solar thermal association ABRASOL, the newly installed glazed and unglazed collector area increased by 7.2 %, to 992 MW_th...
May 20, 2021
Europe holds top spot for SHIP incentives

Spain has recently launched an investment grant scheme focused on industrial solar heat, joining an already long list of European countries – including Austria, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands – that have created similar programmes. In the last three months of 2020, Spain’s...
May 19, 2021
Uncapped funding for large solar heat plants in Austria

The Austrian Climate and Energy Fund has increased the budget of its grant scheme for large solar thermal plants and is now offering EUR 45 million in 2021 and 2022 for conducting feasibility studies, putting up new systems as well as monitoring them. If the budget is exhausted, the...
March 10, 2021
Rush on industrial solar heat in Germany

In Germany, demand for high-temperature solar process heat is growing rapidly. In the past months, Soliterm, a western German provider of turnkey solar process heat (SHIP) solutions, has conducted an ever-greater number of prefeasibility studies in several sectors, especially in the food...
February 27, 2021
PV-Thermal: Major markets and most sought-after technologies

IEA SHC Task 60, Application of PVT Collectors, shows how a fruitful collaboration between industry and research can lead to a thorough analysis of current and future technological developments. Besides developing a series of standardised key performance indicators to assess the...
February 9, 2021
Demand for clean space heating rebounds in Germany

The German solar heat market is back on a growth path. In a joint press release published on 4 February, the BSW Solar and BDH associations said the newly installed collector area increased by 26 % in 2020, amounting to 643,000 m² (450 MW_th) or about 83,000 new solar...
December 3, 2020
IRENA identifies solar heat potential in central and south eastern Europe

The 18 countries participating in the Central and South Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity Initiative (CESEC) could use renewables to meet 34 % of their energy demand by 2030, with solar thermal installed in buildings being the cheapest replacement option for fossil fuel equipment. These...
November 21, 2020
Technical and market assessment of solar cooling in the Caribbean

IEA SHC Solar Academy’s first online training sessions on solar heating and cooling in the Caribbean have been well received by those attending the event. About 30 consultants, agencies for energy efficiency and renewables, researchers, manufacturers, grid operator and CCREEE staff...
November 14, 2020
“Solar thermal cooling reduces the strain on the power grid”

Global IEA Solar Heating and Cooling research platform Task 65, called Solar Cooling for the Sunbelt Regions, aims to provide countries in Africa, Asia and the MENA region with specifications and know-how of solar thermal and PV air conditioning. To achieve this, researchers and...
November 4, 2020
High expectations in Brazil despite Covid-19 worries

The solar thermal market in Brazil grew by about 6 % in 2019, adding 1.32 million m² (0.93 GW_th) despite a turbulent economy. The surge came in part due to new commercial customers that require large quantities of hot water and followed four years of steadily declining...
September 14, 2020
NewHeat secures EUR 13 million loan to finance 5 solar heat plants

French project developer NewHeat has successfully closed a EUR 13 million finance deal with Triodos Bank, Germany, and Crédit Coopératif, France, to cover the costs of putting up five solar heat plants with a total capacity of 28 MW_th. The project pool comprises the industrial...