SOLAR HEAT FOR GERMANY: NEW SUBSIDY MAY SPUR LOW TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS

摘要

Five years ago it seemed possible that solar water and space heating would make a breakthrough in the mass market. Oil and gas prices were rising quickly and collector manufacturers had invested in larger production lines. But the successes of 2008 have not continued since. According to the latest projections by the German heating industry association BDH, German plumbers installed 1.2 million m~2 of solar collectors in 2012. This is 5% less than in 2011 and 40% less than in the boom year of 2008. Applications in which water and space are heated in family houses are typical uses of solar thermal systems in Germany, forming 95% of the market, according to BDH statistics. But at the same time, they are the most expensive application, and there is little that the solar industry can do about that. 'Even giving away collectors for free would only reduce the total cost of a solar water heating system by 6% for the end consumer,' estimates Bernd Hafner of the heating equipment producer Viessmann. More than half of the costs of a domestic solar water heating system lie on the installer's side. Naturally the solar industry is trying to overcome the problem by working on simpler systems but the potential for cost reduction is limited and the situation may even get worse for solar thermal.