News | Solarthermalworld

January 13, 2022
Global Solar Certification Network and Solar Heating Initiative join forces

“Unite for solar heat” is the idea behind a new alliance forged between the Global Solar Certification Network and the Solar Heating Initiative. “Our plan is to develop joint marketing and communication campaigns, and the relaunch of the GSCN website will be the first output from this new...
January 11, 2022
Lessons learned from three years promoting SDH in the Western Balkans

The interest in solar district heating has increased significantly in Serbia since the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) started to finance prefeasibility studies for SDH plants in January 2019. Furthermore, Serbia adopted a...
January 10, 2022
Feasibility studies on 13 solar heat plants underway in Austria

Solar district heating has turned around the steadily declining solar thermal market in Austria. As reported at the Austria Solar organisation’s annual meeting in December, solar heat was in high demand all over the country last year. Of particular note was the second quarter, in which...
January 4, 2022
IEA SHC Award 2022 recognises outstanding social housing projects

The IEA SHC Solar Award 2022 will recognise an organisation or individual that implemented a solar heating or cooling project in the last five years to cut energy consumption and costs in social housing. In order to win, the nominees will have to demonstrate that the use of solar thermal in...
December 29, 2021
Molten salt: suitable heat-transfer fluid for concentrating collector fields

In a parabolic trough collector demo plant run by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Évora, Portugal, molten salt is used as a heat-transfer fluid instead of thermal oil. The advantage of molten salt is its stability at higher temperatures. Whereas thermal oil cracks at above 400 °C,...
December 17, 2021
Cautious optimism for the coming years in Spain

The Spanish residential solar thermal market is showing signs of resurgence. After a decline of 8 % in 2020 due to Covid-19, the market experienced 1 % growth in the first half of 2021, according to the solar thermal association ASIT. Solar PV seems an ever-harder contender, sometimes...
December 8, 2021
Between three and eight million heat pumps in 2030

The German heat pump industry expects high growth rates in the next years. The latest heat transition reports predict between three and eight million heat pumps in operation in German buildings by 2030 to fulfil the climate goals (see chart below). By the end of 2020, a total of 1.4 million...
December 6, 2021
New tool provides over 150 solutions for historic building retrofits

A new web application named HiBERtool helps practitioners find the perfect solution for the conservation of historic buildings. The tool explains more than 150 retrofit measures, which range from increasing a building’s energy efficiency to providing solar energy on site. With just a few...
December 2, 2021
Spain: Solar district heating on the starting blocks

The Spanish solar district heating market is still in its infancy. Among the 500 district heating networks in operation across the country totalling more than 1.6 GW_th only seven use solar heat, according to the Association of District Heating and Cooling Companies (ADHAC)....
November 29, 2021
Automated factory for polymer collectors in Norway

Inaventa Solar has now started operating a fully automated production line for solar collectors with polymer absorbers in Jevnaker, Norway. It took about 18 months from placing the order to commissioning the new, unique production equipment, on which the start-up spent around EUR 4 million...
November 26, 2021
Big plans for heat pumps but not for solar hybrid systems in the Netherlands

The Dutch association Holland Solar is disappointed about the latest proposal from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate regarding the national subsidy scheme ISDE for renewable energy solutions. In a letter dated 28th October the ministry announced plans to increase...
November 23, 2021
#EnergyEfficientLighting: Dynamic research group publishes 16 reports

The success of highly energy-efficient lighting designs hinges on more than technological ingenuity. Other key make-or-break factors are smart control strategies and the interaction of lighting users with the built environment. Under the auspices of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling...