Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 66 Gaining ground across the Sunrain has already built a large number of large-scale solar thermal systems. The company even has its own team of installers for such projects. Photo: Sunrain Large-scale solar thermal systems require a high level of expertise. To help assist planners and installers in project implementation, solar thermal providers around the world are running their own planning and service departments. And more than a few are installing systems on their own as well. Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS
Transcript
Sun & Wind Energy 5/200966
Gaining ground across the globe
Sunrain has already built a large number of large-scale solar thermal systems. The company even has its own team of installers for such projects. Photo: Sunrain
Large-scale solar thermal systems require a high level of expertise. To help assist planners
and installers in project implementation, solar thermal providers around the world are
running their own planning and service departments. And more than a few are installing
systems on their own as well.
Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS
Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 67
The collectors of an entire solar powered subdivision shimmer in blue violet as the sun rises in the
small town of Okotoks, Canada. The Canadian company EnerWorks constructed a solar district heating system for 54 individual homes here towards the end of 2007. The residents are provided with heat energy from the 2,300 m2 of solar collectors installed in this system. Some homeowners have even installed small rooftop systems to meet their water heating needs.
SUN & WIND ENERGY surveyed solar thermal companies around the world regarding their experiences with largescale solar thermal systems. In the survey we made a distinction between systems that have 50 to 500 m2 of solar col
lectors and systems with over 500 m2 of collectors. The EnerWorks system is in the smaller segment of solar district heating systems. Of the 35 companies who participated in the survey, only three have implemented systems with more than 500 m2 of solar collectors. The two other district heating networks were built in Germany with the help of federal funding. The Austrian company Tisun GmbH supplied collectors for a solar powered community in Munich, which also includes a seasonal storage tank with a capacity of 5,700 m3. In the third project, solar collectors were supplied by the German company Wagner & Co. and are now used to provide solar heat to a school, a sports hall and an indoor swimming pool in the southern German community of EggensteinLeopoldshafen. In contrast to the two other systems, which involved the construction of new buildings, this solar heating system replaced the heating systems found in old buildings from the 1960s that were specifically renovated for energy efficiency.
Solar thermal systems that have more than 500 m2 of collectors are relatively few and far between. Only about half of the companies surveyed have implemented systems of that size, most of them between 10 and 50. Only three companies have completed more than 100 projects: The Chinese company Jiangsu Sunrain Solar Energy Co., Ltd., indicated that it has implemented around 9,000 of these projects and therefore has the most experience with largescale systems. Following far behind are the Turkish company Ezinç Metal A.S. and the Indian company Emmvee Solar, which have installed about 320 and 200 of these systems, respectively.
Hotel projects dominate
When asked about what types of systems they install, most of the companies (13) mentioned hotel systems. An extremely large system with more than 1,500 m2 of solar collectors was recently built in Cuba by the Israeli company Chromagen Solar Energy Solutions. The hotel La Estrella has 1,308 beds distributed over 38 buildings. “La Estrella is one of the most prestigious hotels in the Caribbean region”, says International Sales Manager Dorit Cohen. A storage tank with a capacity of more than 120,000 litres ensures that the hotel guests have access to hot water whenever they need it, especially in the evening and morning hours.
Gaining ground across the globe
District heating system for 54 individual homes: EnerWorks added collectors to the solar powered subdivision in the town of Okotoks in the province of Alberta. Photo: EnerWorks
Nine companies have installed systems that are specifically designed for multifamily homes and comprise more than 500 m2 of solar collectors. Eight companies have outfitted various hospitals and nursing homes with solar collectors. Systems that supply solar process heat for commercial and industrial projects were cited just as often in the survey. “Some of our largest projects are for industrial use”, explains Chaitanya Yardi, Marketing Director of the Indian company NRG Technologists Pvt Ltd. Some of the systems (up to 25,000 litre systems) are designed to preheat boiler feed water. Other uses: a few hightemperature systems (85 °C) for washing medication bottle caps (20,000 litre system), several systems for
dyeing textiles (85 °C, up to 15,000 litres) and others for heating the chemicals used to manufacture bright bars (up to 10,000 litres) and for the hot phosphating process used by powder coating equipment (usually 85 °C, up to 10,000 litres). The 8/2009 edition of SUN & WIND ENERGY will focus on the subject of solar process heat.
Roof-integrated system for a sports centre
Also cited frequently: six companies indicated that they have outfitted sports facilities with solar collectors as well. The Swiss company Energie Solaire SA,
Solar powered community in Munich: collectors covering 3,000 m2 of surface area are configured to transfer solar heat into a seasonal storage tank. Photo: Tisun
Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS
The vacuum tubes of this hotel system in Salerno, Italy, were divided into eleven parallel-connected subarrays by Kloben. The system supplies thermal heat and hot water and is also used for solar cooling. Photo: Kloben
sports hall and fitness centre and also heat several swimming pools. Around 1,000 guests visit the sport centre every day. One noteworthy aspect: this is one of the biggest roofintegrated solar power systems anywhere in Europe.
“The architect M. Samaniego designed a smoothlycurved solar roof. He has succeeded in combining the functionality of a solar thermal system with architecture that is aesthetically appealing. The modular solar panels are perfectly integrated into the building and no compromises were made in terms of design, dimensions or shape”, explains Bernard Thissen of Energie Solaire. The solar roof replaces the tiles and slates of a conventional roof with a series of unglazed collector panels connected by sealed joints. “Although less efficient than glazed solar panels at high temperatures, these panels have a lower capital cost and are therefore the preferable choice for many applications”, Thissen continues. The AS type absorber used by Energie Solaire is made of two sheets of
Sample projects with 50 to 500 m2 of collectorsCollector manufacturer
Planning company / installing company
Location Start of
operationType of plant Type of solar system Kind of system
Collector area [m2]
Volume of storage [litre]Solar coverage
Project specials
Ariston Thermo Group, Italy n/a Lanzarote (Canary Islands) / Spain 2008 sports halls DHW and pool heating pumped 375 3,000 70 % 3 swimming pools heated by solar system
Baymak, Turkey Baymak after sales service Turkey 2005 hotel DHW pumped 70 5,000 100 %
Buderus (Bosch Thermotechnik), Germany n/a Wiehl / Germany 2008 2 multi-family houses DHW and solar space heating pumped 57 2,600 13 %solar system SAT-WZ midi with remote monitoring and remote parametrization
Chiryu Heater, Japan Chiryu Heater Komagane/ Japan 2007 care home DHW and solar space heating pumped 921,000 (hot water)
18,000 (storage for heating)50 % roof-integrated collectors
Chromagen, Israel Chromagen Israel 2004 multi-family house DHW pumped 294 2 22,050 75 % 7 buildings, each with 21 apartments
CitrinSolar, Germany CitrinSolar / Willi Mayer, Toarmina ( Sicily) Catania (Sicily), Italy 2008 hotel DHW pumped 126 6,000 85 %
Elco (Ariston Thermo Group), Germany Ralf Petersen Kiel / Germany 2008 hotel / 80 rooms DHW and solar space heating pumped 110 4,000 35 % two heat pumps and two condensing boilers as backup
EnerWorks, Canada Glenbarra Energy Pickering (Ontario) / Canada 2008 apartment building DHW pumped 218 2,724 18 % uses the pre-packaged EnerWorks Solar Energy Unit
Ezinç, Turkey Ezinç /Erciyes University Kayseri / Turkey 2002 Erciyes University DHW and solar space heating pumped 334 3 12,280 100 % facilities save 90,000 kg oil per year
Heliotek, Brazil Heliotek Sao Paulo / Brazil 2008 hotel DHW pumped 300 30,000 70 % high efficiency flat plate collector
Jehin, Korea Jehin Seoul / Korea 2000 sports halls DHW drain back 500 22,000 60 %
Kloben, Italy Kloben Salerno / Italy n/a hotel and restaurant DHW, solar space heating and cooling pumped 145 12,000 70 %
Módulo Solar, Mexico Módulo Solar Mexico City 1997 sports hall, Pumas soccer DHW pumped 300 17,000 85 %
NRG Technologists , India NRG Technologists Jamnagar (Gujarat) / India 1998 5 star hotel DHW pumped 500 30,000 85 %composite intelligent control for all operations including recirculation, gas boiler, pressurized and forced flow
Ouraset, Turkey Solar-GE Bodrum / Turkey 2008 hotel DHW pumped 78 4 x 1,000 45 %
Siko Solar, Austria Office A3 Innsbruck, Austria Telfs (Tyrol) / Austria 2006 multi-family house DHW pumped 420 9,000 60 % collectors adjusted on the curved balcony fronts
Solahart, Australia Accomandita Sicily / Italy 2006 hotel DHW thermosiphonic 220 15,600 70 %
Solar Dynamics, Barbados Solar Dynamics St. Michael/ Barbados 1974 military complex DHW thermosiphonic 164 12,718 90 %
Sunrain, China Sunrain Lianyugang City (Jiangsu Province) / China 2008 hotel DHW pumped 420 24,000 65 %
Tisun, Austria Assyce Ingenieros Granada / Spain 2007 hotel, 171 beds DHW, solar space heating and pool heating pumped 1 400 4 x 5,000 40 % savings of 143,746 kg CO2 per year
Transsen, Brazil Transsen Salvador / Brazil 2006 hotel DHW pumped 400 45,000 70 % pre-heating system
Tuma, Brazil Kempen & Kempen Porto Seguro / Brazil 2002 hotel DHW thermosiphonic 140 21,000 75 % 7 independent thermosiphonic systems (3,000 liters each)
Vaillant, GermanyVaillant gave planning support to the local installer
near San Diego (California) /USA 2007 multi-family house DHW and solar space heating pumped 87 6,000 70 %in combination with an air/water heat pump additional pool heating and floor heating
Wagner & Co., Germany Solartronic, Witzenhausen, Germany Burg Ludwigstein / Germany 2007 youth hotel DHW pumped 54 3,000 40 %system with buffer tanks and instantaneous hot water preparation
DHW = domestic hot water; 1 large flat plate collectors and stratified storage tank Pro-Clean with spherical exchanger; 2 42 per building; 3 plus 175 for space heating
Over the past five years, Transsen has built more than 250 large-scale systems in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. The majority of those systems were used in hotels and multi-family homes. Photo: Transsen
for example, installed a system with 1,500 m2 of solar collectors for the sports centre of the Spanish city of Haro. The flat flowthrough, unglazed solar collectors provide hot water to the visitors of both the
Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 71
Collector manufacturerPlanning company / installing company
Location Start of
operationType of plant Type of solar system Kind of system
Collector area [m2]
Volume of storage [litre]Solar coverage
Project specials
Ariston Thermo Group, Italy n/a Lanzarote (Canary Islands) / Spain 2008 sports halls DHW and pool heating pumped 375 3,000 70 % 3 swimming pools heated by solar system
Baymak, Turkey Baymak after sales service Turkey 2005 hotel DHW pumped 70 5,000 100 %
Buderus (Bosch Thermotechnik), Germany n/a Wiehl / Germany 2008 2 multi-family houses DHW and solar space heating pumped 57 2,600 13 %solar system SAT-WZ midi with remote monitoring and remote parametrization
Chiryu Heater, Japan Chiryu Heater Komagane/ Japan 2007 care home DHW and solar space heating pumped 921,000 (hot water)
18,000 (storage for heating)50 % roof-integrated collectors
Chromagen, Israel Chromagen Israel 2004 multi-family house DHW pumped 294 2 22,050 75 % 7 buildings, each with 21 apartments
CitrinSolar, Germany CitrinSolar / Willi Mayer, Toarmina ( Sicily) Catania (Sicily), Italy 2008 hotel DHW pumped 126 6,000 85 %
Elco (Ariston Thermo Group), Germany Ralf Petersen Kiel / Germany 2008 hotel / 80 rooms DHW and solar space heating pumped 110 4,000 35 % two heat pumps and two condensing boilers as backup
EnerWorks, Canada Glenbarra Energy Pickering (Ontario) / Canada 2008 apartment building DHW pumped 218 2,724 18 % uses the pre-packaged EnerWorks Solar Energy Unit
Ezinç, Turkey Ezinç /Erciyes University Kayseri / Turkey 2002 Erciyes University DHW and solar space heating pumped 334 3 12,280 100 % facilities save 90,000 kg oil per year
Heliotek, Brazil Heliotek Sao Paulo / Brazil 2008 hotel DHW pumped 300 30,000 70 % high efficiency flat plate collector
Jehin, Korea Jehin Seoul / Korea 2000 sports halls DHW drain back 500 22,000 60 %
Kloben, Italy Kloben Salerno / Italy n/a hotel and restaurant DHW, solar space heating and cooling pumped 145 12,000 70 %
Módulo Solar, Mexico Módulo Solar Mexico City 1997 sports hall, Pumas soccer DHW pumped 300 17,000 85 %
NRG Technologists , India NRG Technologists Jamnagar (Gujarat) / India 1998 5 star hotel DHW pumped 500 30,000 85 %composite intelligent control for all operations including recirculation, gas boiler, pressurized and forced flow
Ouraset, Turkey Solar-GE Bodrum / Turkey 2008 hotel DHW pumped 78 4 x 1,000 45 %
Siko Solar, Austria Office A3 Innsbruck, Austria Telfs (Tyrol) / Austria 2006 multi-family house DHW pumped 420 9,000 60 % collectors adjusted on the curved balcony fronts
Solahart, Australia Accomandita Sicily / Italy 2006 hotel DHW thermosiphonic 220 15,600 70 %
Solar Dynamics, Barbados Solar Dynamics St. Michael/ Barbados 1974 military complex DHW thermosiphonic 164 12,718 90 %
Sunrain, China Sunrain Lianyugang City (Jiangsu Province) / China 2008 hotel DHW pumped 420 24,000 65 %
Tisun, Austria Assyce Ingenieros Granada / Spain 2007 hotel, 171 beds DHW, solar space heating and pool heating pumped 1 400 4 x 5,000 40 % savings of 143,746 kg CO2 per year
Transsen, Brazil Transsen Salvador / Brazil 2006 hotel DHW pumped 400 45,000 70 % pre-heating system
Tuma, Brazil Kempen & Kempen Porto Seguro / Brazil 2002 hotel DHW thermosiphonic 140 21,000 75 % 7 independent thermosiphonic systems (3,000 liters each)
Vaillant, GermanyVaillant gave planning support to the local installer
near San Diego (California) /USA 2007 multi-family house DHW and solar space heating pumped 87 6,000 70 %in combination with an air/water heat pump additional pool heating and floor heating
Wagner & Co., Germany Solartronic, Witzenhausen, Germany Burg Ludwigstein / Germany 2007 youth hotel DHW pumped 54 3,000 40 %system with buffer tanks and instantaneous hot water preparation
DHW = domestic hot water; 1 large flat plate collectors and stratified storage tank Pro-Clean with spherical exchanger; 2 42 per building; 3 plus 175 for space heating
The majority of medium-sized solar thermal systems were built for hotels or multi-family homes. Source: company information
Aesthetics combined with solar thermal energy: Siko succeeded in seamlessly inte-grating these solar collectors into balconies in Innsbruck, Austria. Photo: Siko Solar
Solar thermal
Sun & Wind Energy 5/200972
large-Scale inStallationS
Sample projects with over 500 m2 of collectors
Collector manufacturerPlanning company / installing company Location
Start of operation Type of plant Type of solar system Kind of system
Collector area [m2]
Volume of storage [litre] Solar coverage Project specials
Siko Solar, Austria Klimatherm, Zirl (Austria) Innsbruck / Austria 2008 multi-family house DHW pumped 1,360 28,000 60 %at the moment Europe’s biggest multi-family passive house
Sunrain, China local installation company Henan Province / China 2008 multi-family house DHW pumped 576 30,000 60 %
Transsen, Brazil Transsen Brazil and Transsen Peru Tacna / Peru 2008 sports hall DHW pumped 1,080 Olympic pool 90 % the biggest system for pools in South America
Tuma, Brazil Tuma Belo Horizonte / Brazil 1994 hotel DHW pumped 804 60,000 75 %4 storage tanks (15,000 liters each) made by stain-less steel
Wagner & Co., Germany planning: PKI, Stuttgart (Germany) Eggenstein / Germany 2008sports halls, school and indoor pool (district heating)
DHW and solar space heating
pumped 1,600 2 4,500,000 35 to 40 %seasonal storage of solar energy with a gravel/water storage, energetic reconstruction of all buildings
DHW = domestic hot water; 1 homes have individual small solar water heating appliances; 2 solar roof, three collector fields
selectively coated stainless steel. The solar liquid flows through a pattern of offset metal pads. The solar collector array in Haro is capable of achieving an energy yield of around 500 kWh/m2a.
Stainless steel absorbers are not the only components suitable for swimming pool heating. The Brazilian company Aquecedor Solar Transsen Ltda. (Transsen) installed a solar thermal system for heating an indoor swimming pool in the Peruvian city of Tacna. Heat is supplied by unglazed swimming pool absorbers that are made of plastic and comprise 1,080 m2 of surface area. “This is the biggest system for pools in South America”, says Newton Koeke,
International Trade Manager of Transsen.The Italian company Kloben (Turco Group S.r.l.)
specialises in systems that provide heat for solar cooling. In 2007 the company installed almost 1,000 m2 of vacuum tube collectors in a hospital in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, for airconditioning purposes. The solar heat is transferred at a temperature of up to 95 °C to a 50 m3 storage tank. If there is insufficient heat to run the refrigeration machine with 95 °C hot water, then a boiler will be used for reheating. The refrigeration machine produces cold water at a temperature of 7 °C. Recooling occurs once the temperature reaches 45 °C.
Siko Solar, Austria Klimatherm, Zirl (Austria) Innsbruck / Austria 2008 multi-family house DHW pumped 1,360 28,000 60 %at the moment Europe’s biggest multi-family passive house
Sunrain, China local installation company Henan Province / China 2008 multi-family house DHW pumped 576 30,000 60 %
Transsen, Brazil Transsen Brazil and Transsen Peru Tacna / Peru 2008 sports hall DHW pumped 1,080 Olympic pool 90 % the biggest system for pools in South America
Tuma, Brazil Tuma Belo Horizonte / Brazil 1994 hotel DHW pumped 804 60,000 75 %4 storage tanks (15,000 liters each) made by stain-less steel
Wagner & Co., Germany planning: PKI, Stuttgart (Germany) Eggenstein / Germany 2008sports halls, school and indoor pool (district heating)
DHW and solar space heating
pumped 1,600 2 4,500,000 35 to 40 %seasonal storage of solar energy with a gravel/water storage, energetic reconstruction of all buildings
DHW = domestic hot water; 1 homes have individual small solar water heating appliances; 2 solar roof, three collector fields
In Mexico, Heliomex has built two large-scale systems for solar process heat.Photo: Heliomex
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Around 250 multi-family homes, sport complexes, cam-ping grounds and hospitals in Denmark have been outfitted with solar thermal systems by Batec. Photo: Batec
Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS
Medium-class solar thermal systems: 50 to 500 m2 In the area of mediumsized systems, Sunrain has once again implemented the highest number of projects with over 30,000. Emmvee Solar, which has implemented 2,000 projects, has been very successful in this segment as well. Tisun is likewise one of the more active companies with around 200 projects a year. Siko Solar Vertriebs GmbH is also based in Austria and has installed more than 800 mediumsized systems. Siko specialises in solar collectors that can be mounted on façades or used as balcony railings. To offer architects a wide range of colour design options, the company manufactures collectors with selectivelycoated coloured absorbers. Wagner & Co. (more than 500 systems) and Heliotek Máquinas e Equipamentos Ltda from Brazil (400 systems) have already outfitted a large number of mediumsized collector arrays.
As with largescale systems, mediumsized systems are predominantly used in projects for hotels and multifamily homes. When asked which type of system they install the most, 18 companies cited hotels while 12 companies cited multifamily
homes. Hospitals und nursing homes were mentioned three times. Sports halls and camp grounds were mentioned once each. Solar process heat was cited by two companies and is in high demand in Mexico.
Funding: Italy at the top
To compete with conventional heat sources, solar heat still requires federal funding in many countries. The solarassisted district heating networks described above, for instance, would never have been possible without federal funding. The current situation in Italy is particularly favourable. “The law referred to as ‘Finanziaria’ returns 55 % of the total turnover”, explains Michele Speri, Export Manager at the vacuum tube specialist Kloben. The government of Cyprus also provides 55 % of the total investment costs for largescale solar power systems according to Nicos Nicolaou, who is the partnership owner and Production Manager at the Cypriot company Elcora Ltd.
Federal funding in South Korea can end up being almost as high. The Managing Director of Jehin Co Ltd., MannKwi Park, states that federal funding can
Solahart builds large-scale pumped drainback systems and multiple thermosiphonic systems around the world. Photo: Solahart
Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS
amount to up to 50 % of the installation costs. The same applies in Mexico: “Subsidies amounting to up to 50 % of the total project cost are available”, says Christian Ebner, Operations Manager at Heliomex S.A. de C.V. “There are some tax reductions. The end user can deduct 100 % of the system costs in the first year”, adds Daniel Garcia Valladares, Commercial Director at Módulo Solar, S.A. de C.V. The government of Brazil is also using tax cuts to promote the use of solar heat: “Government tax reductions and credit lines are offered to the Brazilian market”, says Newton Koeke of Transsen.
In Japan, some of the projects implemented by Chiryu Heater Co., Ltd. received 30 to 50 % funding while others received no funding at all according to Eijiro Kawai from the Sales Department. In Germany, the federal government subsidises 30 % of the total investment costs for largescale solar power systems. The USA also grants subsidies in the form of 30 % federal tax credits with no upper limit. A variety of funding programmes are also offered on the federal state level. “Federal states offer a variety of tax credits that vary from 0 to 35 % of total project cost with upper limits. Utility incentives are usually based on kWh production over a period of one year”, explains Florin Plavosin, Director of Applications Engineering at EnerWorks. “Total incentives vary from 30 % to almost 100 % of the project cost depending on the location and size of the project.” In Canada, federal grants are based on a formula that factors in the type, size and performance of the solar collector. These grants amount to approximately 20 % in total. Canadian provinces also offer their own funding programmes: “A provincial grant that matches the federal one is only available in two provinces Ontario and Saskatchewan”, says Plavosin.
The Caribbean island nation of Barbados, which has the highest number of solar thermal systems per capita, does not offer subsidies for individual projects. However: “For the solar heating industry, the government offers the incentive of no import duty on materials used to manufacture solar water heaters”, says Michael Lewis, General Manager of Solar Dynamics Ltd.
Government subsidies for solar thermal systems are not available everywhere in the world. “Incentives for projects were never offered in Israel”, says Mario Waisman, International Sales and Export Manager of Nimrod Industries Ltd. There are, however, mandatory regulations which have allowed Israel to join countries such as Barbados or Cyprus where solar heating has long been accepted as a matter of course. “The installation of central solar arrays on building rooftops has been going on for decades already”, remarks Waisman.
Yet even in countries where subsidies are available, there is no guarantee that companies will take advantage of them. Take India as an example: “Incentives are available, but they are difficult to obtain due to the lengthy procedure involved. Rather than avail ourselves of them, we usually sell projects based on cost savings alone”, says Chaitanya Yardi.
Beach front: this system at the hotel Cancún Palace, Mexico, includes 1,000 m2 of solar collectors. Photo: Módulo Solar
85 % of the hot water required by this hotel in Sicily is sup-plied by solar collectors. Photo: CitrinSolar
The solar energy sector in Malaysia, for instance, must do without federal subsidies of any kind according to Roy Chok, CEO of Solartech Sales & Service Sdn Bhd. Subsidies are not offered in Turkey either. Nevertheless, there is enormous potential for largescale solar energy systems in Turkey, particularly in the south where the tourism industry is booming: “The fact that a natural gas pipeline, which is a much less costly option for electricity, has not yet reached the southern part of the country makes the use of solar energy a very viable option for generating hot water. Without the help of any government support, this has led to the extensive use of solar energy in the majority of hotels in the region”, says Ibrahim Sudas, Production Manager of Ouraset Solar.
Planning and installation support
Unlike small thermosiphonic systems or heat pump hot water systems, largescale solar power systems require a high level of expertise in planning and installation. The companies we questioned for this survey are either solar collector manufacturers or system providers. Are these companies able to find enough competent planners and installers in their respective countries? Sara Lauri from the Marketing Department of the Italian company Sunerg Solar SRL admits that this is a significant problem. Verena Rausch, Solar Thermal Product Manager at the German company Vaillant Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, also finds that “the knowledge of large solar thermal systems is still small”. She thinks that additional training and information are necessary for the dimensioning of systems, the hydraulics of collector arrays and the piping and configuration of expansion vessels and plate heat exchangers. At EnerWorks there is also “a definite shortage of skill and knowledge in companies who want to install solar thermal plants”. EnerWorks is therefore selecting, training and expanding ‘project partner’ companies with expertise in project management so that they can sell, plan, design, project manage, install and maintain solar thermal systems on their own.
As can be expected, large regional differences do exist. “This is not a problem in Israel but we do face difficulties in other countries where companies have little experience in planning and installing solar thermal systems”, finds Mario Waisman. Emanuel Brender, Managing Director of the Danish company Batec Solvarme (Solar) A/S, believes that a good environment for solar thermal energy can be found in Denmark. “We have competent installers whom we supervise.” This also applies to Austria according to Wolfgang Sief, Marketing Manager at Siko Solar: “There is extensive knowledge in this field and our company offers special inhouse workshops on the topics of solar energy and photovoltaic systems.” In the South African company Solardome SA, attempts are always made to avoid installation problems before they occur: “We intend to provide the simplest systems possible to keep maintenance to a minimum”, says Sales Manager Brennen February.
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Solar thermal companies do not rely solely on the competence of external planners and installers, however. They all have their own inhouse planning teams after all. “We have a highly professional team in the planning department”, says Newton Koeke for example. Michele Speri adds: “We have a great staff of 15 people who work in solar planning.” For over a decade now, Wagner & Co. has been using a technical support team that specialises in largescale solar systems and deals with layout and planning, supports installation and commissioning and performs aftersales service. Ezinç is another company that provides customer support for largescale systems: “We have our own Project Department in which our engineers conduct all projectsrelated tasks such as designing, planning, calculation, surveillance during installation and commissioning. We also support our customers through our Project Department based on our extensive experience in installing largescale systems”, says A. Kutay Ülke from the Export Department. “For large thermal plants we perform all the calculations and also support the distributor”, adds Mark Perger, International Manager of the Australian company Solahart Industries Pty Ltd. In addition to planning, aftersales service is also offered by many companies: “In Turkey we established an aftersales service organisation for planning and installing while outside Turkey our distributors depend on plumbers carrying out these services”, explains Taçnur Yılmaz, Export Deputy Manager at the Turkish company Baymak, which is a member of the Baxi Group.
While planning teams are established in all companies, the number of companies with inhouse installation teams remains clear. “That is not our concept. We manufacture systems and then distribute them to installers”, says Mario Waisman.
At Wagner & Co., activities are limited to manufacturing, distribution and technical support. “We want to help improve the qualifications of planning and installing companies instead of just keeping the work within our company. We only maintain a specialised installation crew for our Solar Roof collector system that features large collector elements”, remarks Andreas Knoch, CEO of Solar Thermal Marketing and Sales. Chromagen, on the other hand, is one of the companies who occasionally install systems on their own: “We have our own installers but we work mainly with subcontractors”, explains Dorit Cohen. The same applies to Solardome: “We mostly outsource labour, but in two projects we were directly involved with the installation”, says Brennen February. Ouraset assigns project leaders for largescale projects.
Installers are also employed by Derya Solar Collector C.O. and Ezinç from Turkey, Elcora from Cyprus, Transsen, Tuma and Heliotek from Brazil, Módulo Solar and Heliomex from Mexico, Sunrain from China, Chiryu Heater from Japan, Solar Dynamics from Barbados, Solartech Sales & Service from Malaysia, Tisun from Austria as well as Emmvee and NRG Technologists from India. In this regard, NRG Technologists uses an inhouse variant: “We have our own installation and service team. We cannot rely on others to do a competent job and finish the job well. Hence, all installations are performed by trained inhouse personnel who are specifically employed for this purpose”, says Chaitanya Yardi, Marketing Director. “We have about three teams of installers, each comprising around 5 to 8 people, who work solely for the company. They are responsible for carrying out proper installation based on the guidelines laid out by the company.”
Jens-Peter Meyer
Baymak has so far implemented large-scale so-lar thermal systems that include up to 500 m2 of collectors in Spain, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Photo: Baymak
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