Italy

July 3, 2021
Workflow stories describe use of solar neighbourhood planning tools

Experts working on the Solar Neighborhood Planning project have created workflow stories to find out which tools urban planners use and what problems they encounter while doing so. The image above is taken from a Norwegian workflow story. It shows a simulation of sunlight patterns...
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 5, 2021
SBE21 conference spotlights historic NZEBs

The SBE21 Heritage conference in mid-April involved a deep exchange of ideas between researchers, architects and practitioners about how to reduce the energy consumption of historic buildings while retaining their aesthetic features and cultural significance. The main contributors to 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 22, 2021
Strategies to promote solar envelopes

In the last four years, the multidisciplinary IEA SHC Task 56 research group worked intensively on strategies to increase the market penetration of solar envelope systems. The group has found that prefabrication, a customisable appearance and an interdisciplinary planning process can...
December 31, 2020
Denmark, Netherlands and Cyprus: Fastest-growing ST markets in 2019

Europe’s solar heating and cooling markets keep growing, Brussels-based Solar Heat Europe said in a 21 December press release. At the end of 2019, about 10.4 million solar thermal systems totalling 37 GW_th of capacity were in operation across the European Union and Switzerland, 3...
December 20, 2020
Assessing lighting quality in commercial buildings

How effective are integrated daylighting and electric lighting solutions in raising comfort and saving energy? To answer this question, a group of researchers working under the auspices of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme have taken a closer look at field studies of commercial...
December 18, 2020
Surface synergies and conflicts in smart cities

Surface area is an important but limited resource in cities that aim to become climate neutral. It can be used to, for example, generate heat or electricity via active solar systems, improve air quality via greening, or provide cooling thanks to highly reflective and emissive materials....
December 17, 2020
Booklet describes 28 Positive Energy Districts

By 2025, the European Union aims to have supported the design, deployment and replication of 100 Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) through its Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan. PEDs represent a new and complex approach that requires the involvement of a large number of stakeholders...
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...
October 3, 2020
Guidelines on how to assess renewable district heat potential

As district heat will be one of the key pillars of a decarbonised heat sector, authorities, utilities and energy service providers are eager to explore the opportunities that local sources of clean energy could provide for the DH market. To this end, a consortium led by consultancy Ambiente...
August 27, 2020
Little support for PV-thermal despite high yields

PVT applications do not receive nearly as much support as solar thermal or PV systems do. Incentive schemes especially often do not include funding for PV-thermal components. In addition, special PVT grants are offered only in Germany but not in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands,...