TASK 71: Life Cycle & Cost Assessment for Heating & Cooling Technologies

The main Task objective is to prepare for upcoming regulations and initiatives on a political level and to improve further and visualize the environmental sustainability of the products. The solar heating and cooling industry should be well aware of the overall lifecycle-energy and environmental performance of their products, thereby considering production and use as well as end-of-life treatment. Environmental hot spots have to be assessed to ensure clean product development. A validated scientific basis of data and models is essential for a sustainable process or material development and to optimize the coupling of different heating/cooling technologies and systems like heat pumps, electrical heating/cooling by PV, condensing fossil combustion, etc. A joint action of industry and research to promote international collaboration for the sustainability of renewable heating technologies is needed. Heating technologies will be considered first, and if cooling experts can still be recruited, cooling technologies will also be included.

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IEA-SHC Solar Heating & Cooling Programme International Energy Agency

IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme

The Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme (SHC TCP) was established in 1977, one of the first programmes of the International Energy Agency, to promote the use of all aspects of solar thermal energy. The SHC TCP's work is unique in that it is accomplished through the international collaborative effort of experts from member countries and the European Union.

The benefits of this approach are:

  • accelerates the pace of technology development
  • promotes standardization
  • enhances national R&D programmes
  • permits national specialization
  • saves time and money

Collaborating Organizations

 

What's New
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  • Market and technology trends in the global PVT sector - Europe is the leading region worldwide for PVT technology. Of the global 1.6 million m2 of PVT collectors in operation, 64 % are installed in Europe. The leading countries are France, Germany and the Netherlands.
  • Task 63: 10 Questions on Solar Neighborhood Planning and Design Strategies - 10 key questions, 12 authors, and 2 years of drafting time led to a comprehensive paper on planning and design strategies for solar neighborhoods published in the journal Building and Environment. Maria Wall, the Task Manager of IEA SHC Task 63 on Solar Neighborhood Planning, spearheaded this initiative.
  • Task 64: Solar Thermal at Work - The inauguration of the 30 MW parabolic trough plant at the Heineken factory in Seville, Spain, on 30 September 2023 was exactly on time.
  • Task 65: Sunbelt Chiller – An Innovative Solar Cooling Adaption - In 2016, air conditioning accounted for nearly 20% of the total electricity demand in buildings worldwide and is growing faster than any other energy consumption in buildings. The main share of the projected growth in energy use for air conditioning comes from emerging economies.
  • Task 70: Making the right decisions, now! - The new IEA SHC LED Guideline for the Promotion of Lighting Retrofitting provides suggestions for accelerating the replacement of old lighting systems, harvesting the "low hanging fruits" and managing daylight. With lighting being responsible for about 15% of electricity consumption and about 5% of global CO2 emissions, it needs to be brought up to date with climate protection, energy sovereignty, and economic efficiency while ensuring user comfort at the same time.
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Solar Heat Worldwide

NEW EDITION!

Solar Heat Worldwide 2020Solar Heat Worldwide 2020

Our annual statistics report, Solar Heat Worldwide, details the positive impact of solar heating and cooling technologies on climate protection. -- Read More

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Publication Highlight

Solar Heat Integrations in Industrial Processes

Solar Heat for Industrial Processes (SHIP) is at the early stages of development but is considered to have enormous potential for solar thermal applications. The industrial sector accounts for approximately 30% of the total energy consumption  in OECD countries. And, the major share of the energy needed in this sector is used for heating and cooling buildings and production processes at temperatures from ambient up to approximately 350°C. This is a temperature range that can be addressed with solar thermal technologies. -- View PDF

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