Solar Payback

July 30, 2020
Solar systems dry apricots and supply space heating in northern India

Solar dryers are an excellent investment for farmers drying apricots in India’s northern Himalayan region. These systems can have the fruit ready in just 2 days, whereas drying takes about 20 days out in the open. Called SolDry, they each consist of a 5.2 m² vacuum tube collector...
May 3, 2020
Growing calls for carbon taxes and mandatory quotas

It has been quite difficult to close deals with clients for putting up industrial solar heat (SHIP) systems, as these types of projects take a long time to be developed. Only 27 out of the nearly 80 companies listed on the SHIP Supplier World Map managed to start up at least one SHIP...
May 2, 2020
Where to look for the world’s most experienced SHIP suppliers

China and Mexico are the hubs of the global solar industrial heat (SHIP) supply industry. Five of the companies that completed the most SHIP projects by the end of 2019 are from China and four from Mexico; another two each are based in Germany and India (see chart above). These are the...
April 26, 2020
Industrial sector sees record-breaking capacity additions in 2019

In 2019, solar heat capacity additions reached record-breaking levels in industrial sectors around the world, coming to 251 MW in total. The countries at the top of the list were Oman (180 MW), China (53 MW), Mexico (3 MW), India (2 MW) and Germany (1 MW). Ranked by the number of new SHIP...
December 5, 2019
Industrial solar heat strategy and training

The SHIP training course that took place in São Paulo from November 12 to 14 was well-received by those attending it. Almost 40 engineers, planners and industry representatives participated in the three-day event held by Pedro Horta and Fanny Hübner, of ISE - Fraunhofer Institute for Solar...
September 27, 2019
The multiple ways to promote solar heat

The first-ever Intersolar Mexico, which took place in early September, offered a platform to promote solar heat in more ways than one. On the third of this month, a Solar Heat Workshop drew in over 40 industry professionals (see photo). Furthermore, the Heat Changer Challenge was kick...
September 19, 2019
SWH performance label proposed in India

In mid-August, the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency hosted a debate with stakeholders in Bengaluru to discuss its proposed Standards and Labelling (S&L) rules on solar water heaters. The primary objective of the S&L programme will be to allow consumers to make informed choices...
August 5, 2019
Solar heat conference at Intersolar Mexico

National solar energy association ANES is one of the partners to support the first Intersolar Mexico, which will take place from 3 to 5 September in Mexico City. ANES President Dr Angélica Quiñones believes the event will be a good opportunity to strengthen the links between academia,...
May 16, 2019
Heat supply contracts: Popular but hard to implement

A popular business model for solar thermal companies is a heat supply contract. More than 80 % of the businesses shown on the global map of turnkey systems providers for industrial solar heat, also known as SHIP, see these contracts and ESCOs as important means to boost sales. Almost the...
April 25, 2019
Mexico, China and India lead global SHIP market

In 2018, suppliers of industrial solar heat technology commissioned 104 systems with a combined collector area of at least 57,283 m² (40 MW_th). The number of systems was nearly identical to that a year earlier, when 107 installations came online. At the end of last year, at least...
March 26, 2019
C&I solar heat gains popularity in Mexico

The Mexican solar thermal market continued to grow slightly in 2018. The newly installed collector area was up by 4 %, although some government programmes were stopped or changed because of last year’s presidential elections. Flat plate, vacuum tube and unglazed collectors each took a third...
March 19, 2019
New Brazilian government has no appetite for solar

Brazil has just been through a tough election process: The new government is quickly shifting focus, abandoning nearly 16 years of social policy in favour of economic development. Now, the main objective is to improve the economy, which has been in crisis mode since 2014. As a consequence,...