News
Global electricity demand for air conditioning to triple by 2050
“Growing demand for air conditioners is one of the most critical blind spots in today’s energy debate,” Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, said as he presented the findings of The Future o......
Read MoreDaniel Mugnier Is New IEA SHC Chairman
The new chair of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, also known as IEA SHC, will be Daniel Mugnier, a leading expert in solar cooling. Mugnier, who heads the R&D department at French-based Te......
Read MoreEurope’s first-ever renewable heating and cooling target
After night-long negotiations, the European Parliament and Council have reached an agreement on the Renewable Energy Directive for 2030. At long last, discussions that started in November 2016 came to......
Read MoreLand secured for Big Solar Graz
Big Solar Graz has reached a significant milestone by purchasing the land on which to construct a solar field and a seasonal storage system. In mid-June, the project partners told the local press that......
Read MoreEU labelling: “Solar devices to be classified as heaters”
The German-based Solar Heating Initiative has developed a new calculation method to label solar thermal systems based on the Ecodesign Directive 2005/32/EC. It put the method, which allows for a fair ......
Read MoreThree labels in Europe – what are the differences?
Labels and trademarks should give the end-consumer a clear feedback on the quality and performance of the labelled product. Currently there are three labels available for solar products or solar assis......
Read MoreOptimised control strategy for solar district heating in Italy
Despite its small size, the solar district heating system in Lodi, close to Milan, is one of few in Italy to feed surplus heat into a local network. In March 2017, Linea Reti e Impianti, the public ut......
Read More“Racing down the renewable electricity pathway only”
The Renewables 2018 Global Status Report illustrates the sharp difference in growth between the renewable electricity and heat markets. Whereas PV had another record year, with newly installed capac......
Read MoreIndia needs massive awareness-raising campaign
India’s opportunities and challenges around solar process heat for industry, or SHIP, were the central topic of a session at the 3rd Solar India Expo in May. First, representatives for both currentl......
Read MoreRising demand for solar heat in large buildings and industry
By the end of 2017, the market for solar heating and cooling had grown by 472 GWth, which again made it the largest for solar energy in the world. The one for photovoltaic systems gained 402 GWp to b......
Read MoreGreen hotel in Italy’s mountains
Solar thermal performs well even in high-mountain areas during winter season. The installation shown in the photo is proof that combining solar and other renewable technologies, such as biomass boiler......
Read More12,000 m² of concentrating solar planned in Brazil
A consortium of around 10 companies is planning to build a 12,000 m² concentrating solar plant in Jaborandi, Bahia state, to the northeast of Brazil’s capital. This combined process heat and power s......
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