IEA SHC News

National Day shines light on future potential and market realities
At the German National Day at the beginning of November entitled “Solar Technology for the Future”, the heat experts clearly pointed out the huge gap that currently exists between long-term potential studies and the actual market development of solar heat technologies.
Posted: 2024-11-16

Solar Heat Europe becomes official member of the IEA SHC Programme!
Solar Heat Europe is now an official Sponsor member of the IEA SHC Programme, becoming the first international industry association to join. This milestone further enhances the collaboration between these two leading organizations in the solar heat sector.
Posted: 2024-10-24

Berlin National Day Agenda is now online
The Berlin National Day on November 5, 2024 = which is being held in conjunction with the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program Executive Committee Meeting in Berlin, Germinay.  Check out the agenda.
Posted: 2024-10-15

“Extremely good and optimistic atmosphere”
EuroSun in Cyprus attracted around 200 visitors from over 40 countries. They all recognized that solar heat technologies are an important pillar of the energy supply on this island. 92 % of the houses, 53 % of the hotels and a considerable number of industrial companies use solar heat.
Posted: 2024-09-06

Newheat project wins IEA SHC 2024 Solar Award
Newheat’s LACTOSOL project in Verdun, France, is the winner of the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) SOLAR AWARD.
Posted: 2024-08-29

New Twist on Solar Academy Webinars
The March IEA SHC Solar Academy webinar was a little different from the usual webinars. This webinar tackled a solar heat topic – solar thermal district heating – BUT focused on a specific audience, UK policymakers, and showed how deployment successes in Austria and Germany could be replicated in the UK.
Posted: 2024-08-09

Task 67: Standardizing Thermal Energy Storage Measurement Procedures
The IEA SHC Programme and the IEA Energy Storage Programme began collaborating in 2009. In this third joint Task on Compact Thermal Energy Storage: Materials within Components within Systems (SHC Task 67/ES Task 40),
Posted: 2024-08-09

Reflections from the Chair
In June, we saw the publication of the 2024 edition of Solar Heat Worldwide. This flagship publication has been made available to the public since 2005, in a great effort from our Austrian colleagues led by Werner Weiss and Monika Spörk-Dür from AEE Intec.
Posted: 2024-08-09

Poland Joins SHC Programme
The road to membership was a bit long and winding. However, with the perseverance of the new SHC Polish Executive Committee member, Justyna Martyniuk-Peczek of the Gdansk University of Technology will now represent Poland.
Posted: 2024-08-07

SACREEE: Empowering Women in Renewable Heating and Cooling: Boosting Participation and Impact
Posted: 2024-08-07

Solar Award 2024: Five Projects Short listed
Five projects shortlisted for the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) 2024 SHC SOLAR AWARD. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony on August 29th during the ISES and IEA SHC co-organized conference, EuroSun 2024, in Limassol, Cyprus.
Posted: 2024-08-07

Solar Heat Worldwide - 2024 Edition
Posted: 2024-08-07

Poland becomes 20th member country of IEA SHC
The addition of Poland will extend the circle of member countries and organizations of the IEA SHC programme.
Posted: 2024-08-07

Call for Applications: IEA SHC TCP Secretariat
The Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme (SHC TCP) invites applications for the position of SHC TCP Secretariat. The current SHC Secretariat will stop her activity on 31 December 2024 but will progressively finish work from 2024 over a transition period until 30 April 2025...
Posted: 2024-07-31

Just published - new issue of Solar Update newsletter!
Read all about what has been happening in IEA SHC. And, please share our newsletter with your colleagues and beyond.
Posted: 2024-07-31

Solar Heat Europe/IEA SHC Joint Industry Session: Solar Heat Market Segments: State of play and prospects to reach climate neutrality by 2050
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme in collaboration with Solar Heat Europe is offereing a joint Solar Heat Industry session at Eurosun 2024 in Limassol, Cyprus on August 28, 2024.  The event will be free of charge and will provide testimonials from industry experts with a focus on the various market applications for solar heat...
Posted: 2024-07-26

Have you registered for EuroSun 2024 yet? There is still time!
There are several conference discounts available and they can be combined! ISES Members or IEA SHC Members and Task Experts (-50€), Presenting author of an accepted oral or poster presentation (-50€), Participants who do not reside in a European country (-50€), and Participants who reside in a lower income country (-50€).
Posted: 2024-07-01

IEA SHC Solar Academy's July webinar!
We hope you will join us for this dive into the latest market data and trends. Register here: https://www.iea-shc.org/iea-shc-solar-academy-solar-heat-worldwide-2024-harnessing-solar-thermal-energy-for-a-sustainable-future
Posted: 2024-07-01

IEA SHC Solar Award 2024 Shortlist
Five nominations are shortlisted for the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) 2024 SHC SOLAR AWARD. The Award will be presented on 29 August during EuroSun 2024 in Limassol, Cyprus. This year's IEA SHC Solar Award honors a project that reduces costs and emissions by incorporating solar thermal technologies in an industrial process. The recipient of the 2024 Solar Award will be one of our five finalist projects from France, Kenya, Spain, Uganda, and the United States.
Posted: 2024-07-01

Solar Heat Worldwide: two more new world's largest solar heat plants
Solar heat is a versatile technology that now provides heating services to 122 million customers worldwide. The recently published Solar Heat Worldwide study, edition 2024, contains the latest data on all the relevant applications - residential water heating, district heating, process heat, cooling and drying.
Posted: 2024-06-21

See you this August at EuroSun 2024 in Limassol, Cyprus
Looking forward to seeing you in Cyprus!
Posted: 2024-06-17

Press Release: IEA SHC Solar Heat Worldwide Released
The 2024 edition of Solar Heat Worldwide by the IEA SHC Programme underscores the resiliency and changing landscape of solar heat. Notably, this year’s report includes a dedicated section on PV Generated Heat (PGH), highlighting system concepts and installations. To illustrate some of the report's key data, we have developed a series of infographics. Both the report and infographics are free to download at https://www.iea-shc.org/solar-heat-worldwide.
Posted: 2024-06-11

Nominations Open for IEA SHC Solar Award!
Share your success! Nominate a solar thermal installation for process heating or cooling by April 15.
Posted: 2024-03-20

EuroSun 2024 - Final call for papers ends 7 April
Don't miss the opportunity to submit your latest and most impressive solar findings! Final deadline is 7 April.   Conference themes, click here.   How to submit your abstract, click here...
Posted: 2024-01-29

SHC Task 66 Industry Workshop: Solar Energy Buildings--Design, Planning and Operation in Practice
Join us February 6th for this free, virtual workshop. Pre-registration required by Jan 31: email Claudia Scholl-Haaf claudia.haaf@igte.uni-stuttgart.de
Posted: 2024-01-18

SHC 2024 Solar Award - Call for nominations
Submit your program that has reduced costs and environmental impact by providing solar thermal heating or cooling to an industrial process(es). Nominations can be an individual business, business consortium, regional, provincial or national entity, or an associated entity (e.g., developer, designer, builder). Online submission: https://www.iea-shc.org/solar-award/nomination Deadline: 15 April 2024 Ceremony: EuroSun 2024 conference, August 26-30 in Limassol, Cyprus Details: Recipient will receive free conference registration and travel stipend
Posted: 2024-01-12

New Work: In the Pipeline
Two projects are under development and scheduled for approval at the June 2024 IEA SHC Executive Committee. Interested in joining? If from an IEA SHC member country, you are welcome to join the planning stages, simply contact the Task Organizer.
Posted: 2023-12-22

SOLERGY: Solar Thermal Collector Label Now Available in North America
The Solar Rating Certification Corporation (ICC-SRCC) and DIN CERTCO partnered to expand the SOLERGY label to North America.
Posted: 2023-12-22

ECREEE Hosts Solar Training in Cape Verde
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) has been working for a number of years to expand its membership beyond the OECD countries, as we believe that the challenges posed by the transition to a sustainable energy supply based on renewable energy can only be met in cooperation with all global players.
Posted: 2023-12-22

December 2023 Solar Update Newsletter is online!
I’m happy to share with you the new and last issue of the Solar Update newsletter in 2023. It’s another full issue with great articles on what’s happening in our Tasks and TCP.  Feel free to share the newsletter with your colleagues and beyond...
Posted: 2023-12-21

Joint Seminar on Large Thermal Energy Storages for District Heating held in Turkey
The online seminar on "Large Thermal Energy Storages for District Heating" organized by TTMD together with its international collaborators the IEA Energy Storage (ES) TCP and the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) TCP was held on November 24, 2023...
Posted: 2023-12-04

Interdisciplinary author team answers ten questions concerning planning and design strategies for solar neighborhoods
10 key questions, 12 authors and two years of drafting time led to a comprehensive paper on planning and design strategies for solar neighborhoods, which has just been published by the journal Building and Environment.
Posted: 2023-11-24

EuroSun 2024 Announced
ISES News Release: ISES and the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme are pleased to announce EuroSun 2024 - the ISES and IEA SHC International Conference on Sustainable and Solar Energy for Buildings and Industry - to take place from 26 - 30 August 2024 in Limassol, Cyprus.
Posted: 2023-11-13

There is high potential for using solar energy in wastewater treatment
In a circular economy the efficient supply of carbon-free energy and the recovery of resources as well as the treatment of wastewater must go hand in hand.
Posted: 2023-10-19

Deep insights into solar market development on the global, national and sector-specific levels
Solar Heat Worldwide 2023 reports mixed growth for solar thermal. While solar thermal markets grew, particularly in Europe, the global market was overshadowed by declines in the two largest markets, China and India.
Posted: 2023-08-04

New Publications Online
You won’t want to miss the new reports highlighted below. You can read them online or download them for free. Our complete library of publications – online tools, databases, and more – dating back to the start of the SHC Programme can be found on the IEA SHC website under the tab “Publications” or under a specific Task.
Posted: 2023-07-26

Solar Cooling for Emerging Economies
Our solar cooling work will continue! In June, the Executive Committee approved the development phase for a new Task on Solar Cooling for Emerging Economies.
Posted: 2023-07-26

New Task Under Development: Using Radiation to Produce Hydrogen and Other Fuels
The demand for “green” energy sources is on the rise! And as countries strive to decarbonize, hydrogen is emerging as an essential commodity.
Posted: 2023-07-26

Task 62 Interview with Christoph Brunner
The SHC Programme finalized its work on Solar Energy in Industrial Water and Wastewater Management (SHC Task 62) at the end of 2022. To learn first-hand about the Task’s impact, we asked the Task Manager, Christoph Brunner of AEE, to share his thoughts on this 4-year project.
Posted: 2023-07-26

Solar Energy’s Potential for Water and Wastewater Treatment
Within the industry’s transition to a circular economy, sustainable wastewater treatment and recovery should be reached without excessive strain on limited energy supplies and by decreasing fossil energy consumption.
Posted: 2023-07-26

Montmélian is Still as Sunny as Ever After a Decade
The advantage of public action is that it allows projects to be implemented over the long term. This is precisely what the town of Montmélian (Ville de Montmélian), aka Montmélian la Solaire, can boast when it comes to solar energy.
Posted: 2023-07-26

European Solar Research Infrastructure for Concentrated Solar Power Begins Operation
EU-SOLARIS ERIC, the European Solar Research Infrastructure for Concentrated Solar Power, held its constitutive meeting and first General Assembly on January 12th, 2023, marking the beginning of its operation.
Posted: 2023-07-26

China’s Solar Thermal Market Shifting from Individual Installations to Large-scale Projects
In 2021, the cumulative operation capacity of solar thermal systems in China reached 481.94 million square meters, accounting for 72.8% of the world’s installed area.
Posted: 2023-07-26

Lucio Mesquita of Canada Elected New SHC Executive Committee Chair
Lucio Mesquita of Natural Resources Canada is a familiar face to many of us and a longtime Task participant starting with Task 25 on Solar-Assisted Air Conditioning of Buildings in 1999.
Posted: 2023-07-26

Solar Heat Worldwide – 2023 Edition Now Online
Our flagship report, Solar Heat Worldwide 2023 is the most comprehensive evaluation of solar heating and cooling markets with data from 71 countries.
Posted: 2023-07-26

“Solar thermal is uniquely positioned to support low-carbon economies”
Dr Lucio Mesquita from Natural Resources Canada will chair the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) for the next two years. He was elected during an Executive Committee meeting in June in France.
Posted: 2023-07-25

Innovations in the front-running solar district heating country Denmark
The Danish solar district heating sector is a role model for the world. Researchers from IEA SHC Task 68 Efficient Solar District Heating met in the Danish capital Copenhagen for a project meeting and visited two innovative solar district heating examples.
Posted: 2023-06-09

Spotlight on the South African solar thermal market
Over the last decade the South African market has stagnated at around 140,000 m2 of newly installed collector area annually.
Posted: 2023-06-07

Certification and labelling of new collector types
GSCN and the Solergy label are continuing to grow together. More than a year ago, the Global Solar Certification Network and the Solar Heating Initiative, which developed the Solergy label, agreed to cooperate.
Posted: 2023-05-06

Solar Academy Webinar in March offers insights into certification and labelling
Do not miss out the 1st IEA SHC Solar Academy webinar 2023 about the Global Solar Certification Network and Solergy.
Posted: 2023-03-06

The Solar Decathlon Europe Report is now Available
We published this week the SDE 21/22 competition source book (open access, online) with all results, project descriptions and a cross analysis Solar Decathlon Europe Report and a related research article (open access, online) Research Article As the SHC has been official partner of the event and supporter of a special award (illustrated in the book on page 11 and cited in the research paper), we thought we'd provide links here for all to view...
Posted: 2023-03-01

Solar Thermal Trends 2023
As 2022 comes to an end and 2023 begins, our team of SHC Task Managers wants to share trends they see coming in their fields of expertise. We hope that by taking the time to stop and think about where solar thermal is headed, we can stay one step ahead of the technological advances and market changes...
Posted: 2023-01-05

Solar Thermal Partners
Heat Changers and the IEA SHC Programme understand the significance of Solar Heat in the push to reach a carbon-neutral world. With our new partnership, we look forward to demonstrating why Solar Heat is pivotal for our changing energy sectors...
Posted: 2023-01-05

Inaugural ISES & IEA SHC EuroSun
At the first jointly organized EuroSun between ISES and IEA SHC, having over 480 solar experts from more than 50 countries gather in Kassel, Germany, was a welcome post-pandemic sight. And the silver lining was having Kassel University, the conference host, provide the perfect backdrop for drawing together new and experienced solar experts...
Posted: 2023-01-05

2023 Kicks Off With Two New Projects
Two new Tasks were approved at the December SHC Executive Committee Meeting. Both Tasks, one on lighting and the other on life cycle and cost assessment, highlight the breadth of work undertaken by the IEA SHC Programme.
Posted: 2023-01-05

Solar Geysers Beat the Limescale Blues in Limpopo
Families and members at Airforce Base Makhado in Limpopo are reaping the benefits of yet another energy efficiency project – this time, solar geysers designed to reduce the damage of limescale buildup and the amount of electricity used to heat water in domestic housing...
Posted: 2023-01-05

Country Report: France in a Dynamic Solar Thermal Renewal
The planets seem to be aligned once again for solar thermal in France. The solar thermal market is finally on the rise again, with 53,600 m2 installed in 2021 compared to 46,130 m2 in 2020, an increase of 16% after eight years of decline...
Posted: 2023-01-05

ORVI Social Housing project wins IEA SHC 2022 Solar Award
ORVI’s housing project provides a simple, affordable, sustainable solar water heating option for 58 locally built homes.
Posted: 2023-01-04

S-@ccess Conference - April 26-28, 2023 - Mallorca, Spain
  The SHC TCP is pleased to be a Supporting Organization of the 4th International Conference on Solar Technologies and Hybrid Mini-Grids to Improve Energy Access on April 26-28, 2023 at the University of the Balearic Islands in Palma de Mallorca, Spain...
Posted: 2022-10-14

EuroSun 2022: Renewables enable crisis-proof heat supply and energy security
480 solar experts from more than 50 countries gathered in Kassel from 25 to 29 September 2022 for Eurosun 2022 - the International Conference on Solar Energy for Buildings and Industry.
Posted: 2022-10-07

Orange River Vineyard (ORVI) Social Housing project in Aussenkehr, Namibia wins 2022 SHC Solar Award.
ORVI's housing provides a simple, affordable, sustainable solar water heating option with locally built homes. Ms. Helvi IIeka, Centre Head, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of the Namibia Energy Institute, Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), and Mr. Leonhard Eins, Managing Director of Solsquare Energy (Pty) Ltd, received the award on behalf of the ORVI Social Housing project during EuroSun 2022
Posted: 2022-09-28

Eurosun 2022: Engaging keynotes by a unique mix of policy and research experts
From 26 to 29 September, Kassel, Germany, will be the venue for the Eurosun 2022 conference.
Posted: 2022-09-03

Nominated projects for Solar Award described in Solar Update Newsletter
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program has nominated four outstanding projects from Australia, France, Namibia and South Africa aimed at reducing energy use and costs in social housing.
Posted: 2022-08-09

IEA SHC Solar Award 2022 Shortlist
Four nominations are shortlisted for the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) 2022 SHC SOLAR AWARD. The Award will be presented on 26 September during EuroSun 2022 in Kassel, Germany.
Posted: 2022-06-20

Solar Thermal Market Records Year of Growth
The solar thermal market saw 3% growth in 2021 after seven years of decline. Noteworthy development was reported from some of the largest solar heat markets.
Posted: 2022-06-20

Solar Award Recognizes Outstanding Solar Building Concepts
Two very convincing and transferable solar integration concepts realized in Solar Decathlon Europe buildings received the Solar Award.
Posted: 2022-06-17

16 Living Spaces for a Better World
Solar Decathlon – the world's largest construction competition for universities – will open for visitors in mid-June in Wuppertal, Germany.
Posted: 2022-06-05

Ammonia recovery to serve as fertilizer and energy fuel
Production of ammonia as a fertilizer is a huge global industry with an enormous energy demand. The Austrian institute AEE INTEC has successfully operated a membrane distillation (MD) pilot plant 24/7 at a municipal wastewater treatment plant.
Posted: 2022-05-10

Guidelines for wastewater treatment technologies in preparation
Operating a water treatment plant is a complex task in itself. If you start thinking about using solar energy to drive certain separation or disinfection processes, the task becomes even more challenging (as the graphic above shows).
Posted: 2022-03-18

EuroSun 2022 in Germany: Call for papers
The University of Kassel, Germany, will host EuroSun 2022 between 25 and 29 September. The conference will be jointly organised by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (IEA SHC) Programme.
Posted: 2022-02-09

SHC Solar Award 2022 - Call for Nominations Open!
The SHC Solar Award of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) celebrates the success of those working to increase the market impact of solar heating and cooling technologies.
Posted: 2022-01-12

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, a nominee will have to demonstrate that the use of solar thermal in their project has led to substantial achievements and measurable impact.
Posted: 2022-01-12

Solar Academy Update: Training Workshop Explores Economic and Technical Aspects of Solar Cooling in Southern Africa
The IEA SHC Solar Academy and SOLTRAIN (Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative) hosted with the support of SACREEE and SANEDI a specialized course for professionals on Solar Cooling for Sunbelt Regions in November at Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa...
Posted: 2021-12-20

The Role of Solar in Switzerland’s Energy Transition
Switzerland ratified the Paris Agreement on 6 October 2017, setting a commitment to reduce emissions 50% by 2030 from 1990 levels, with partial emissions reductions from abroad. As an indicative target for 2050, the Swiss government decided in August 2019 that Switzerland should aim for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050...
Posted: 2021-12-20

The Real Climate Strikers
Trade unions, which facilitate collaboration between employees to achieve strategic common employment-related goals, have a complex relationship with the solar sector that can be difficult to untangle...
Posted: 2021-12-20

Future Role of Solar Heat in the IEA’s Net Zero Roadmap
In May, the International Energy Agency published the 224-page report, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, challenging policymakers with 400 milestones that governments need to realize to achieve the 1...
Posted: 2021-12-20

#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.
Posted: 2021-11-30

Pathway to 100 % renewables: “Industry is a really hard-to-abate sector”
The world is burning more fossil fuels than ever. We need deep structural change,” REN21 Executive Director Rana Adib warned attendees at a panel discussion at last week’s Solar World Congress.
Posted: 2021-11-05

IEA SHC workshop to create 'Smart Solar Water Heating for 2030' research platform
With 57 % of the total solar heating capacity in operation globally, thermosiphon systems top the list of the world’s most used solar thermal technologies. At the same time, photovoltaic systems are also emerging as a real player for getting heat from the sun.
Posted: 2021-09-10

SICA countries join IEA SHC with some flagship projects in their region
In its current Solar Update Newsletter August 2021 the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme welcomes what is already the sixth Regional Sustainable Energy Centre to join as a sponsor.
Posted: 2021-08-28

Germany’s solar heat success story in 2020 and beyond
In 2020, the German market for solar heat grew by 26 % – more than any other major solar thermal market around the globe, according to the new Solar Heat Worldwide 2021 report.
Posted: 2021-08-08

IEA SHC Welcomes SICREEE & Its Central America Members
The Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of SICA (SICREEE) member countries are Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama...
Posted: 2021-08-07

Our Sleeping Giant at a Crossroad – Which Way Will It Turn?
Dr. Daniel Mugnier, the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme’s former Chair shares his thoughts on the future of solar thermal.
Posted: 2021-08-07

PV2heat in South Africa — Almost 12,000 Systems Installed
Through the SOLTRAIN project, coordinated by AEE INTEC and funded by the Austrian Development Agency, the Center for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa has been collecting data on PV2heat installations in South Africa since 2018...
Posted: 2021-08-07

Unexpected Solar Thermal Partnership Catalyzes Government Collaboration, Skills, Investment and Emissions Targets
One of the roles of the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) is to facilitate and coordinate renewable energy and energy efficiency research, development, and demonstration through local and international cooperation, technology transfer, and information exchange leading to the deployment and  commercialization of sustainable, efficient, reliable, costcompetitive and environmentally sound renewable  energy technologies...
Posted: 2021-08-07

Solar Heat Worldwide 2021 – a rich source of global, national and sector-specific data
In 2020, Germany was the world’s leading solar district heating market, while China saw the largest increase in the number of industrial solar heat systems added in a single country, according to Solar Heat Worldwide 2021.
Posted: 2021-07-03

New chair for IEA SHC Programme on growth path
The new Chair of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, also known as IEA SHC, is Tomas Olejniczak, an all-around energy transition and renewable energy expert at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.
Posted: 2021-06-24

Greening the Heat Supply
Solar Heat Worldwide 2021, with data from 68 countries, is the most comprehensive evaluation of solar heating and cooling markets. The 2021 edition plus key messages are available for free on the IEA SHC website.
Posted: 2021-06-22

New SDH factsheet database goes online
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme has just launched a database containing a substantial number of fact sheets about solar district heating technologies, best practices and markets.
Posted: 2021-05-26

Water-energy nexus in wastewater management
Solar-powered water treatment can significantly reduce industrial manufacturers’ water and energy footprints and turn municipal water treatment plants into energy distributors. An example of this, a demo plant in Spain producing renewably sourced hydrogen and oxygen from wastewater, was presented by Christoph Brunner, chair of IEA SHC Task 62 – Solar Energy in Industrial Water and Wastewater Management, at an IEA SHC Solar Academy webinar in March.
Posted: 2021-04-14

Improving the efficiency of Solar District Heating (SDH)
Since the end of IEA SHC Task 55 – Large Solar District Heating and Cooling Systems last December, there have been multiple calls for continuing the work of this successful research platform in some fashion.
Posted: 2021-03-26

ISES and IEA SHC partner up to host Solar World Congress 2021
In 2021, the Solar World Congress will continue as an online event offering a wide variety of digital networking opportunities. Originally, SWC 2021 was set to take place in New Delhi, India. But in light of the ongoing pandemic, the International Solar Energy Society decided to move the congress to the digital realm once again.
Posted: 2021-02-08

Using solar energy to recover acids and metals from wastewater
An IEA SHC research group led by Dr Joachim Koschikowski, of Fraunhofer ISE, has created a matrix depicting thermal separation methods for industrial wastewater treatment and resource recovery. As part of Task 62, Solar Energy in Industrial Water and Wastewater Management, launched by the IEA SHC programme in October 2018, the group took a closer look at which industries could benefit from using solar heat to reclaim acid and metals from wastewater streams.
Posted: 2021-01-28

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 buildings using innovative monitoring technologies.
Posted: 2020-12-21

IEA SHC & IEA ECES Collaboration Makes Advances in Thermal Energy Storage
Thermal energy storage is key for integrating renewable heat sources into an energy system --from domestic applications to district heating and from industrial applications to the power sector...
Posted: 2020-12-16

Material and Component Development for Thermal Energy Storage
The IEA SHC Programme concluded its joint project with the IEA Energy Conservation through Energy Storage (ECES) Programme on Material and Component Development for Thermal Energy Storage (SHC Task 58/ECES Annex 33)...
Posted: 2020-12-16

Online workshop about solar-powered industrial water management
Using solar energy to decontaminate and disinfect industrial water could save both GHG emissions and water. To this end, the Water Solar Treatment research group of Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in the south of Spain has specialised in designing new types of solar-powered water treatment units.
Posted: 2020-11-06

Improved design for giga-size pit heat storage
Denmark’s cost-effective, tried-and-true seasonal pit heat storage concept needs to be modified if it is to be implemented across Europe, since district heat temperatures are higher and groundwater may be only 5 to 15 metres from the surface.
Posted: 2020-10-27

Four years of global SDH research summarised in online workshop and factsheets
On Thursday, 15 October 2020, an online technology transfer workshop about large solar district heating networks will provide attendees with the perfect opportunity to listen to the key takeaways from four-year IEA SHC research platform Task 55 – Towards the Integration of Large Solar Systems into District Heating and Cooling Networks, which will end this year.
Posted: 2020-09-30

Thermal storage for flexible sector integration
In his keynote speech at Eurosun 2020, Dr Andreas Hauer talked about the different roles that heat storage could play as part of a whole systems approach to energy policy. Thermal energy storage, or TES, can reduce energy consumers’ dependence on volatile heat sources and align heat with power demand in multiple ways. Hauer, who works at the Bavarian Centre for Applied Energy Research – ZAE Bayern, and Dr Wim van Helden, of AEE INTEC, Austria, co-chaired IEA SHC research platform Material and Component Development for Thermal Energy Storage from January 2017 to December 2019.
Posted: 2020-09-20

Strong European research network meets at Eurosun
Yesterday marked the start of the first virtual Eurosun. More than 200 experts from the worlds of research and business had signed up for the three-day event organised by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and supported by the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling programme. Half of the participants are from the host region, which encompasses Greece and Cyprus. Their solar thermal markets not only have a long history but have also performed well over the years.
Posted: 2020-09-07

Region with high solar ambitions joins IEA SHC
One of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme’s new sponsors is SACREEE, the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, set up by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an intergovernmental organisation. SADC represents a dynamically developing solar thermal region encompassing 16 countries (see map) with around 300 million population. As part of the SOLTRAIN initiative, SACREEE helps government ministries implement solar thermal roadmaps, which has already resulted in some support and regulatory policies in SOLTRAIN’s partner countries.
Posted: 2020-07-27

Solar Energy in Industrial Water and Wastewater Management
The change to a sustainable, resource- and energy-efficient industry represents a major challenge in the coming years. The efficient supply of energy, the best possible integration of renewable energy sources and the recovery of resources in the sense of circular economy must go hand in hand. The use of solar process heat represents a significant but so far, mostly unused potential in industry.
Posted: 2020-07-16

Digital lighting controls improve user satisfaction
Designing energy-efficient lighting for offices and public buildings requires a deep understanding of user requirements.
Posted: 2020-07-13

Export champions from Greece offer good value for money
The Greek solar thermal industry is an export champion: The total collector area sold to customers abroad tripled from 200,000 m2 to 600,000 m2 in only 10 years (see chart).
Posted: 2020-07-11

Success factors in top SDH countries
In the last decade, Denmark, China, Germany and Austria played a leading role in the deployment of large solar thermal systems around the world. What country-specific factors helped these four achieve that level of market adoption and how support schemes and business models contributed to success has been the topic of a new review paper written by an international group of experts.
Posted: 2020-06-24

SWC/SHC 2019 Proceedings now available
We are pleased to announce that the proceedings of the SWC/SHC 2019 are now available online.
Posted: 2020-06-11

Round robins improve TCM testing
Thermochemical storage materials (TCMs) offer much higher storage capacities by mass or volume than sensible or latent heat storage and can store heat for an infinite amount of time almost without losses.
Posted: 2020-06-03

Compact heat battery with virtually no heat loss
A compact thermochemical seasonal storage system put up at a demonstration site in Warsaw, Poland, is working as expected. The prototype, developed and tested as part of an EU research project called CREATE, consists of three evacuated modules filled with 400 litres of salt each to store heat with no heat loss by hydrating the material (see the photo on the left).
Posted: 2020-04-24

Using solar steam to clean wastewater
Manufacturers have begun looking for solutions to lower the cost of wastewater disposal. One way for them to reduce the volume of contaminated water is to evaporate water on site by using solar steam.
Posted: 2020-02-10

Compact thermal energy storage: research in cycles
Research into compact thermal energy storage is made difficult by the fact that the performance of storage materials depends significantly on their intended purpose. For example, storage tanks that are integrated into space heating systems are made of materials different from those used to make tanks for process heat loops generating steam.
Posted: 2020-01-08

Solar World Congress 2019
Water and energy are the most important resources globally. The term ‘water-energy nexus’ underlines their close connection, and the phrase has become increasingly popular with international environmental organisations. In the interview carried out at the SHC 2019 conference in Santiago de Chile,
Posted: 2020-01-07

In search of cost-effective, advanced PCMs
Salt hydrates are the most interesting phase change material in the low-temperature range of up to 150 °C. Their volume-related enthalpy at melting is much higher than the enthalpy of paraffins and sugar alcohols (see the chart above) and they are comparatively inexpensive.
Posted: 2019-12-28

IEA SHC Solar Award 2019: French company, KYOTHERM wins for solar thermal third-party ESCO financing
KYOTHERM of France wins the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) SOLAR AWARD. KYOTHERM’s third-party ESCO solution creates a commercial advantage for solar thermal projects by taking on the investment costs and risks from end-users, which is the key to having a competitive investment environment from day one.
Posted: 2019-11-10

IEA SHC Solar Award 2019
KYOTHERM of France wins the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) SOLAR AWARD. KYOTHERM’s third-party ESCO solution creates a commercial advantage for solar thermal projects by taking on the investment costs and risks from end-users, which is the key to having a competitive investment environment from day one.
Posted: 2019-11-07

IEA SHC Solar Academy: Material and Component Development for Thermal Energy Storage - November 27, 2019
The International Solar Energy Society is hosting the next webinar in the IEA SHC Solar Academy's 2019 webinar series on Task 58 - Material and Component Development for Thermal Energy Storage. The IEA SHC Task 58 focuses on advanced materials for latent and chemical thermal energy storage, Phase Change (PCM) and Thermo Chemical (TCM) materials.
Posted: 2019-10-30

Encouraging faster materials development for compact storage
Research and industry experts in thermochemical storage materials are invited to participate in a workshop that will take place on 11 and 12 November in Erlangen, Germany. The objective of the event will be to outline a road map to a Thermal Energy Storage Materials Acceleration Platform (TESMAP).
Posted: 2019-10-30

Solar planning experts meet in France
Between 22 and 24 October, the University of Savoie Mont Blanc in Le Bourget-du-Lac, France, will be the venue for the first meeting about research platform Solar Neighborhood Planning.
Posted: 2019-09-19

Solar District Heating Infographics Available for Download
Task 55 has developed eleven infographics to illustrate SDH technologies, advantages and market developments. The files are available as jpgs and pdfs for download in three languages – English, German and French - and can be used free-of-charge in third-party publications.
Posted: 2019-09-13

SHC solar award: Six successful business models
The focus of this year’s Solar Award of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) will be on technology suppliers and financial service providers that have created successful financing mechanisms.
Posted: 2019-08-02

Regional Sustainable Energy Centres join IEA SHC
The UNIDO-coordinated Regional Sustainable Energy Centres will become sponsor members of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling programme, a decision made by the IEA SHC Executive Committee at a meeting in Austria in early June. Seven Regional Centres for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency have already started operations, two of them - ECREEE and RCREEE (see table below) – were already sponsors of IEA SHC.
Posted: 2019-06-28

Read the Latest Edition - Solar Heat Worldwide 2019
The solar heating and cooling markets show a reversing trend. The majority of the largest markets outside of China saw demand increase for the first time since 2015. This trend change is due to several factors – improved cost-competitiveness of solar thermal systems, rising interest among commercial and industrial clients, and clean air policies.
Posted: 2019-06-17

Solar heat for desalination and metal recovery
Small desalination systems could help fight water scarcity, recover precious metals from industrial water, and treat wastewater from food processing so it can be re-used for field irrigation.
Posted: 2019-06-04

Solar Cooling at Intersolar 2019
his year’s Intersolar Europe, which took place in Munich, featured a conference session titled Solar, the new cool? Among the speakers at this solar cooling event, held on 15 May, were Daniel Mugnier and Uli Jakob, former members of the IEA SHC research platform New Generation Solar Cooling & Heating Systems (2014-2018), who gave an update on the current situation in the market and spoke about prospects for growth.
Posted: 2019-06-03

2nd Expert Meeting of IEA SHC Task 62 in Almería
The 2nd expert meeting of our IEA SHC Task 62 took place from 2nd to 3rd of April in Almería, Spain. Almost 30 experts from all over Europe jonit the meeting that took place at CIEMTA PSA.
Posted: 2019-04-15

Solar Award Nominations are Open
The Solar Heating and Cooling Award of the IEA SHC Programme celebrates the success of those working to increase the market impact of this renewable energy source.
Posted: 2019-02-15

SHC 2019: Call for papers open until February 28
In 2019, the International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry (SHC) will again take place together with the ISES Solar World Congress (SWC).
Posted: 2019-01-06

IEA SHC Task 62 presented at 84th ExCo Meeting in Lisbon
On November 13-15, the 84th ExCo Meeting was held at LNEG in Lisbon, Portugal. Christoph Brunner, Operating Agent of Task 62, presented the ongoing activities within the Task.
Posted: 2018-12-06

Online database on advanced PCMs
Compared to water, phase change materials (PCMs) offer more capacity to store heat in tanks. As a consequence, researchers in all corners of the world have been developing new materials and their properties.
Posted: 2018-10-23

Excellent material for sorption-based solar energy storage
Microporous hydrophilic substances such as zeolites are recognised as promising materials for very efficient energy storage. Solar thermal systems are used to dry the material and store all of the thermal energy inside without losses until water is returned into the structure to release sensible heat.
Posted: 2018-10-10

Artur Bobovnický Presentation to IEA's TCP National Coordination Day
Artur Bobovnický, our ExCo member from Slovakia, shared why our work is important and the value of participating in the SHC TCP with the Czech audience at the IEA’s TCP National Co-ordination Day hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and the Technology Platform “Sustainable Energy for the Czech Republic” (TPUE).
Posted: 2018-10-03

New at IEA SHC: Solar neighbourhood planning
Case study reporting by research platform Solar Energy in Urban Planning has recently concluded with the publication of an interactive map showing 34 case studies altogether. They demonstrate that solar energy can be integrated successfully into new and existing urban areas.
Posted: 2018-09-14

Water-Energy Nexus in Industrial Sector
Water and energy are the most important resources globally. The term ‘water-energy nexus’ was coined to underline their close connection, and the phrase has become increasingly popular with international environmental organisations.
Posted: 2018-07-09

Daniel 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 Tecsol, was elected during an executive committee meeting in Stockholm on 21 June and will hold the position for two years.
Posted: 2018-06-29

On-site collector testing: new standard in development
Once a large solar field is set up at its designated location, what tests can be conducted to show that it performs as expected? Soon, the IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Programme may have an answer to this question, as it is working on internationalising Denmark’s testing procedure.
Posted: 2018-06-06

Hot off the press - Solar Heat Worldwide 2018
With 472 gigawatt thermal (GWth) installed at the end of 2017, solar heating and cooling was again the largest solar sector worldwide followed by Photovoltaics (402 GWp) and Concentrating Solar Power (5 GWel). The new report, Solar Heat Worldwide, highlights as well the increasing use of megawatt solar heating and cooling solutions for large public and private buildings as well as factories. The annual report was launched at the end of May by the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC). Lead author is the Austrian research institute AEE INTEC. With data from 66 countries, it is the most comprehensive annual evaluation of solar heating and cooling markets worldwide. In 2016, the global solar thermal sector employed 708,000 people and reached a global turnover of EUR 16 billion (USD 19.2 billion).
Posted: 2018-06-05

How to approach green construction in the tropical zone
While nearly zero energy projects in Europe focus on reducing heat demand, green buildings in tropical Singapore require lower cooling loads. To study and discuss methods to meet cooling needs, construction and energy experts from all around the world met in Singapore in late October for a two-day workshop organised by the Building & Construction Authority Singapore (BCA) and the IEA’s Buildings and Communities Programme (EBC).
Posted: 2017-12-18

SHC / SWC 2017: Twelve Experts Highlight Success Stories on Tape
The 12 video interviews that solarthermalworld.org recorded at the joint conference outlined trends in today's global solar heating and cooling sector and highlighted policy fields where urgent action is required. The videos were financed by the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme and the European Copper Association.
Posted: 2017-12-11

Abu Dhabi’s SHC 2017 Conference: Largest experts’ meeting on integrated solar heating and cooling
500 experts from more than 50 countries attended the 5th International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from 30 October to 2 November 2017. It was the first time that this biennial conference by the IEA’s Solar Heating and Cooling Programme had been organised jointly with the Solar World Congress by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).
Posted: 2017-11-08

IEA SHC Solar Award 2017 – Austria’s Climate and Energy Fund wins for large-scale solar thermal plant subsidy program
Abu Dhabi, UAE, 3 November 2017. The Climate and Energy Fund of Austria wins the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) SHC SOLAR AWARD. The Climate and Energy Fund challenged how subsidies are implemented. Its national support program for large-scale solar thermal plants in commercial applications is based on a 3-pronged approach – financial and technical support, quality assurance and communication.
Posted: 2017-11-04

Sweden’s Solar Heat Market on Hold
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) programme has recently updated its country report on Sweden’s solar thermal industry, pointing out the increasing competition with other energy technologies and the factors exacerbating the decline in sales.
Posted: 2017-10-24

SHC Solar Award: Five Finalists with Successful Support Policies
Administrators of successful solar thermal support schemes are in the focus of this year’s Solar Award of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC). The jury has chosen five finalists, of which one will receive the SHC Solar Award during the IEA SHC’s joint conference with ISES Solar World Congress (SWC 2017) in Abu Dhabi on 1 November 2017.
Posted: 2017-10-17

IEA SHC: New Task to Use Solar Energy for Water Treatment
On 18 September, there will be a definition meeting for a new task called Solar Energy in Industrial Water Management in Gleisdorf, Austria. The initiator of this international research project within the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme is Christoph Brunner from Austrian organisation AEE INTEC.
Posted: 2017-09-05

We will need new and innovate designs for heat and mass exchangers
Thermochemical materials (TCMs) used in storage tanks show higher heat capacities than water and smaller losses over time. They are crucial to an increase in solar use among consumers and the storage of summer heat for the winter season. However, they are also more complex than their water-based counterparts, which require only heat exchangers.
Posted: 2017-07-18

The Second Solar Academy Webinar on Solar Heating for Industrial Processes Held
The second Solar Academy Webinar on Solar Heating for Industrial Processes was held July 6, 2017 with presentation from Christoph Brunner, Pedro Horta and Bärbel Epp.
Posted: 2017-07-06

IEA SHC: New Task to Push Emerging PVT Industry
Inventors and start-ups have been trying to combine photovoltaic and solar thermal collectors into one product for many years. Finally, a new industry seems to be emerging.
Posted: 2017-05-21

2017 SHC Solar Award -- Call for Nominations
The SHC Solar Award of the IEA SHC Programme celebrates the work of those committed to increasing the expansion of this renewable energy source.
Posted: 2017-01-30

IEA SHC: New PVT System Enhancement Research
After seven years, the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) is planning to launch another international research cooperation on PVT technology. PVT includes panels which combine photovoltaics and solar thermal into one unit either as glazed or unglazed systems.
Posted: 2016-12-21

Qatar: Gulf Region’s Sustainability Experts Meet IEA’s Solar Heating and Cooling Specialists
About 400 industry stakeholders met in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha in early November to attend the first Green Expo Forum organised by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD).
Posted: 2016-11-29

Save the Date: SHC 2017 Conference together with ISES Solar World Congress 2017 - October 29 - November 2
The IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme and the International Solar Energy Society, ISES are very pleased to announce that their next international conferences, the Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry Conference (SHC 2017) and the ISES Solar World Congress 2017 (SWC 2017) will be held together.
Posted: 2016-10-20

TASK 45 / 55: Guidelines on How to Design Seasonal Storage
Seasonal storage is a key component in the transformation of today’s energy industry. Besides storing energy in summer for heating in winter, it can also be used to save waste heat from the industry and to increase the electricity production from biomass CHP plants.
Posted: 2016-10-20

SHC 2015 Proceedings Now Online
The SHC 2015 Conference Proceedings are now online. You can view the papers here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18766102/91
Posted: 2016-08-08

Slovakia: Newest Member Country of IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme
Slovakia is the first country from Eastern Europe to join the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC).
Posted: 2016-07-27

China: Challenges and Opportunities of World’s Largest Solar Thermal Market
Reduced real estate investment has been the key reason for the strong decline of China’s solar thermal market. In 2015, the collector area installed annua
Posted: 2016-07-06

IEA SHC Publishes 2016 Edition of its Seminal Report -- Solar Heat Worldwide
The International Energy Agency, Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) released the 2016 edition of its report on the global status of the solar thermal heating and cooling market.
Posted: 2016-06-21

IEA SHC Solar Award – Brau Union Austria wins for putting the sun in beer
The Green Brewery Göss wins the International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) SHC SOLAR AWARD. Brewery Göss has taken the path-breaking decision to use renewable energy for all its processes and now runs a 100% renewable energy production process. The Master Brewer, Mr. Andreas Werner, received the award on behalf of the brewery at Gleisdorf SOLAR 2016 in Gleisdorf, Austria.
Posted: 2016-06-09

International Solar Energy Society Joins IEA SHC
The IEA SHC Programme welcomes the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) as its newest Sponsor member.
Posted: 2016-05-16

Harmonizing Hashtags in Your Posts
Three major solar heating and cooling institutions – the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) and solarthermalworld.org – have started a campaign to harmonize SHC hashtags on social media.
Posted: 2016-05-12

SHC2015: “Participants were very confident about the future of solar thermal”
Yesilata was the scientific chair of the international solar thermal conference SHC2015, which took place in Istanbul at the beginning of December 2015. Solarthermalworld.org spoke with him about the challenges and the highlights of the conference.
Posted: 2016-03-04

ISES Joins SHC as a New Sponsor Member
The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) has joined the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme as a Sponsor member with Dr. David Renne as the ExCo member and Jenny Macintosh as the ExCo alternate.
Posted: 2016-02-22

Germany: One Week, Three Global Solar Certification and Standardisation Meetings in Berlin
Between 8 and 11 March, Berlin will be the venue of choice for standard and certification experts from all corners of the globe.
Posted: 2016-02-19

Solar Heating & Cooling Technology News & Trends
The International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry, SHC 2015, in Istanbul brought together 233 researchers, industry specialists and other experts on solar heating and cooling. To capture some of the conference highlights solarthermalworld.org videotaped 14 interviews. The videos were jointly financed by the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (IEA SHC) Programme and the European Copper Association. They are available for download on the IEA SHC website, www.iea-shc.org and the Solarthermalworld.org YouTube channel.
Posted: 2016-02-04

IEA SHC: 20 Country Profile Analyze Market and Industry Development
The country portraits deliver a comprehensive view on the market, including latest sales volumes, an analysis of major market drivers and barriers, a view into the national supply chain, some figures on system costs and political frame conditions, as well as a chapter on current innovations in the solar heating and cooling industry. The following text includes some of the figures from the UK country portrait and the latest statistics on the Domestic RHI delivered by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, Ofgem.
Posted: 2015-09-03

Position Paper: Actions Needed to Pave Way for Net Zero Energy Buildings
Whether newly built or retrofitted, whether office building or single-family home - all types of premises can become NetZEBs. Still, the position paper considers low-energy single-family homes and low-rise buildings in moderate climate zones to be the most feasible building type to fulfil net zero-energy standards. Despite the term incorporating several design ideas, the international research community did agree on one precise definition stating that a NetZEB is a building that “achieves an annual balance of energy supply and demand economically through interactions with electricity grids or other utilities, such as community energy systems.” The impact on the grid should be minimised, but can be used to reduce the costs of expensive thermal or electric storage systems which balance seasonal and daily variations of demand and supply.
Posted: 2015-08-03

SHC Posts New Position Paper on Polymeric Materials for Solar Thermal Applications
The IEA SHC Position Paper on Polymeric Materials for Solar Thermal Applications is now online. This position paper describes the current state of the art for polymeric materials in solar thermal applications, shows the potential of polymers in solar thermal applications, and encourages further R&D activities.
Posted: 2015-07-16

SHC 2014 Conference Proceedings Available Online
Energy Procedia has published our SHC 2014 conference proceedings. Download for free over 90 papers.
Posted: 2015-06-11

IEA SHC Solar Heat Worldwide - 2015 Edition!
Annual collector yield of all systems in operation by the end of 2013 was 314 TWh (= 1,129 PJ). This equals an energy savings equivalent of 33.7 million tons of oil and 109 million tons of CO2...
Posted: 2015-06-04

SHC 2014 Annual Report is Now Online
I’m happy to report that the SHC 2014 Annual Report is now available online. Please have a look. The Feature Article is on Non-Residential Solar Building Renovation: The Potential, Opportunities and Barriers.
Posted: 2015-05-28

SHC Book Series
IEA SHC Programme is collaborating with Wiley to publish a book series on a diverse array of solar heating and cooling topics. Order books here.
Posted: 2015-05-26

IEA SHC Partnering with ISO TC 180 Solar Energy
This liaison creates a clear path for IEA SHC results to be implemented in ISO standards. “Measuring the solar resources available for solar applications is an important goal of this partnership,” says Ms. Erandi Chandrasekare, Secretary of ISO TC180 “As well as improving the performance of solar heating and cooling systems by standardizing the measurements of performance, reliability and durability.”
Posted: 2015-05-26

Collection of Solar Energy and Architecture Case Studies
A free online database of 50 projects from 11 countries highlights how active and passive solar can decrease energy demand and enhance a building's architectural quality.
Posted: 2015-05-26

Solar Update May 2015 Now Online
The latest issue of the IEA SHC Programme’s newsletter, Solar Update is now online. This issue has articles covering a variety to topics ranging from the SHC 2015 Conference, Turkey, Lighting Retrofit, Process Heat Integration, Task 47, Task 40, Netherlands, SHC Book Series, ISO Partnerships, and New Publications.
Posted: 2015-05-18

Solar Update October 2014 Now Online
The latest issue of the IEA SHC Programme’s newsletter, Solar Update is now online. This issue has articles covering a variety to topics ranging from the SHC 2014 Conference, Solar Award, Solar Cooling, Solar + Heat Pumps, Urban Planning, Global Certification and more.
Posted: 2014-10-29

International Award to Pioneering French Solar Municipality
13 October 2014, Beijing. The International Energy Agency Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) presented its 2014 SHC SOLAR AWARD to the City of Montmélian, now officially called Montmélian la Solaire, which has been a solar thermal pioneer for more than 30 years. The Mayor, Mrs. Béatrice Santais, received the award on behalf of city at the International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry in Beijing, China.
Posted: 2014-10-14

New Solar Cooling Book Published
New books on solar cooling demonstrate how solar cooling technology is being applied and highlights results from the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme’s work in this field (SHC Task 48: Quality Assurance & Support Measures for Solar Cooling Systems. The book “Solar Cooling: The Earthscan Expert Guide to Solar Cooling Systems“ was published on June 25.
Posted: 2014-09-03

2014 Video Competition for Solar Thermal Researchers
Solarthermalworld.org’s second video competition for solar thermal researchers (supported by ESTIF and EUREC Agency) is underway, which is a great opportunity to increase the visibility of your work.
Posted: 2014-08-25

Press Release: Solar Heating Saves Over 79 Million Tons of CO2 Annually
Gleisdorf, Austria 8 July 2014. The International Energy Agency, Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) released their latest statistics on worldwide solar heating and cooling. With a growth of 9.4% in 2012, the installed capacity of solar collectors reached 269 GWth. The collectors provided 228 TWh of solar thermal energy, thus saving 79 million tons of CO2 emissions.
Posted: 2014-07-08

IEA SHC Programme Elects Australian Ken Guthrie as Chairman
10 June 2014. Australian sustainable energy expert, Ken Guthrie, has been elected Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency’s Solar Heating and Cooling Program (IEA SHC) for the next two years.
Posted: 2014-06-10

Solar Update February 2014 Now Online
The latest issue of the IEA SHC Programme’s newsletter, Solar Update is now online. This issue has articles covering a variety to topics ranging from solar thermal activities in Canada to lighting retrofits to SHC publications to download and read.
Posted: 2014-02-06

World’s Largest Solar District Heating Plant Begins Operation in February
Dronninglund Solar District Heating Plant in Denmark is now established: 37,000 m² collectors (26 MWth) and 60,000 m3 seasonal storage.
Posted: 2014-02-01

Press Release: SHC 2013 ends on a high note: Solar heating and cooling has big role to play in buildings and industry
SHC 2013, the 2nd International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry ended today in Freiburg, Germany.
Posted: 2013-09-26

Press Release: SHC SOLAR AWARD 2013 to Drake Landing Company – 52 homes heated with 98% solar
24 September 2013. The IEA Solar Heating Programme (IEA SHC) has presented its 2013 SHC SOLAR AWARD to the Drake Landing Company from Canada, comprised of four organizations – United Communities (developer), Sterling Homes (builder), ATCO Gas (utility), and the Town of Okotoks (municipality)...
Posted: 2013-09-23

Press Release: SHC 2013 opens: Solar Heating and Cooling takes centre stage at international conference in Freiburg, Germany
SHC 2013, the 2nd International Conference on Solar Heating and Cooling for Buildings and Industry opens today in Freiburg, Germany.
Posted: 2013-09-22

Press Release: Fraunhofer ISE Showcases Product Innovations at Exhibition
An exhibition taking place in front of the Congress Center Concert Hall in Freiburg between September 23 and 25 unveils how solar collectors manufactured from plastic may look in the future.
Posted: 2013-09-18

Press Release: Solar Thermal Energy Week in Germany’s Black Forest
This September, Germany’s Black Forest will be the top spot for solar thermal experts from all around the world...
Posted: 2013-07-15

Solar Award Nominations Due April 1
Don't miss the deadline to submit your nominations for the 2013 Solar Award.
Posted: 2013-03-27

12 April 2013: Australian Solar Cooling 2013 Conference
15 March 2013. The Australian Solar Cooling Interest Group (ausSCIG) supported by the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) will hold its 2013 solar cooling conference at CSIRO’s North Ryde Auditorium on Friday April 12, 2013.
Posted: 2013-03-19

SHC Solar Award 2013 - Call for Nomination
For over 30 years, the International Energy Agency’s Solar Heating & Cooling (SHC) Programme has worked to expand the use of solar energy for heating and cooling.
Posted: 2013-02-14