Integration of long-term heat storage solutions
As most of you know, solar thermal installations in Europe continue to show strong performance growing by some 60% annually during the past few years. In the EU the biggest push comes still from the German market, which more than doubled in the last couple of years.
Solar thermal collectors in operation globally came to 217 million square meters, with China leading, followed by Europe and the US / Canada. In the coming years we should also be watching growth trends in the Middle East (mainly Israel and Jordan) as well as some African countries.
The use of solar thermal energy is primarily for hot water and space heating. There is a trend to expand its use into plants serving multi-family houses, hotels and for district heating.
While some manufacturers of solar PV panels have begun to vertically integrate, driven by the need to reduce production costs through economies of scale, some are adopting new technology (thin-film) to achieve the same. This need for more integration and size has also been fueled by the prospects for large PV power-plants, where engineering, procurement and construction ask for producers that can obtain finance and even advise on suitable locations and system design. Most of these players need to be familiar with local legal, administrative and grid connection requirements.
Players in solar thermal have been somewhat ignorant of the above developments, since most of their installations have been off-grid. Right now there is a potential to differentiate solar thermal through system integration with PV and long-term heat-storage solutions. This combination would allow the end-user to use the poor efficiency of PV modules, in an off-grid mode by feeding integrated heat-pumps and long-term hot-water storage
For many years, most companies have been specializing in a single activity within the value chain. As most European countries are phasing out their incentives, growth can only continue if suppliers integrate their offerings. The synergy of integrating PV and solar thermal into one collector, does open up potential savings in material use, reduction of production and installation costs if this is achieved through the adoption of light-weight polymeric solutions. In addition, PVT modules have an aesthetic advantage over a side-by-side application of PV and solar thermal collectors.
The large-scale introduction in Europe of integrated PVT systems (based on light-weight polymeric components) can generate substantial financial savings. Another key marketing issue is the development of plug-and-play methods for the integration of complete PVT solar systems, including their real-time (app) monitoring capability that enables manufacturers and installers to quickly detect faults and unexpected system behavior .
JSP is currently working on such an integrated PVT – heatpump and storage solution. Talk to us if you want to join us on that trip as a component supplier or specialized installer.
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