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Industry calls for “right mechanism” for solar thermal growth
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Pangea on 10/12/2009 22:00:00
 
Speaking at the New Energy Focus Renewable Heat conference in London on
Thursday, Solar Trade Association chairman Howard Johns said that solar thermal
technology was "ready to go", but was waiting for government support.
"Solar thermal is ready to go, what we need now is the right support and
financial mechanisms behind the industry to really get that out there," he said.
Mr Johns, who is also managing director of solar installation company Southern
Solar, highlighted the potential of solar thermal district heating to provide 9%
of the UK's renewable energy mix by 2020.
However, although the government is looking to provide a Renewable Heat
Incentive from 2011 to subsidised the technology, the Solar Trade Association
chairman said there were many uncertainties to come before such measures arrive.
He said: "This is where we could go if the heat incentive or other support
mechanism comes in to place, bearing in mind there's potentially going to be a
change of government in between the feed in tariff coming in and the heat
incentive coming in."
DISTRICT HEATING
Highlighting the possibilities of solar power, Mr Johns showed delegates a
picture of a solar field, or large out-of-town array, which in Germany is being
used to fuel a district heating alongside a biomass boiler.
"In Europe, they're doing things quite differently," he said. "You actually get
more energy out of a field full of solar panels than you do from a field full of
biomass. In this case they've got a biomass district heating system and a solar
thermal district heating system all plugged in to that town. No-one's done that
in the UK yet, but hopefully if the incentives are right, they will be doing
it."
During his presentation, Mr Johns highlighted the fact that solar thermal
technology was both low cost and versatile.
"Solar thermal fits on most houses and it is simple," he said. "And it can be
easily retrofitted, which is very good considering that in 2050 70% of our
housing stock will have already been built."
He also emphasised that in the UK solar thermal could provide most, if not all,
of a household's heating from April to September.
To illustrate the take-up of solar thermal, Mr Johns provided examples of recent
work by Southern Solar, including a £105,000 new build project for Linx Homes
in Lincolnshire, which involved installing solar thermal technology on 52
bungalows.
The company has also recently carried out a £205,000 installation in
Kennington, which saw 60 flats provided with heating and hot water using 104
roof-mounted panels.
And Mr Johns said that the Southern Solar was increasingly being approached by
councils wanting heating for municipal pools, and showed delegates a picture of
the company's Ellesmere Pool installation of 30 panels.
"These pools are massive users of energy, and the higher the energy use, the
quicker the payback," he said.
Source: New Energy Focus