EME 811
Solar Thermal Energy for Utilities and Industry

12.0 Introduction

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"Compared with other forms of renewable energy, solar heating’s contribution in meeting global energy demand is, besides the traditional renewable energies like biomass and hydropower, second only to wind power… In terms of cumulated installed capacity in operation solar thermal is almost equal with wind power by end of 2015"

— International Energy Agency

Solar Thermal Energy (STE) is available in many different market sectors. The rate of growth is variable, and recent report show stiff competition of STE with emerging PV, wind, and other renewables. The purpose of this lesson is to give an overview of the current status of STE markets as well as trends for future development. In the dynamic energy market picture, in the recent years, we can see significant re-orientation of solar thermal towards smaller scale applications.

"In 2014, 94% of the energy provided by solar thermal systems worldwide was used for heating domestic hot water..." [Mauthner et al., 2016] 

Learning Objectives

  • Recognize markets available for utility scale solar thermal energy.
  • Recognize markets available for small-medium scale solar thermal.
  • Differentiate markets by system attributes (i.e. scale).

This lesson will take us one week to complete. Specific directions for different assignments are given in the table below and within this lesson pages.

Tasks Assignment Details Access/Directions
 
Read Required:
  • Solar Heat Worldwide, International Energy Agency, 2016
  • Status of Solar Heating and Cooling Worldwide, SolarThermalWorld (video)
Supplementary:
  • D&B introduction sections for Part II Applications and all subsequent application chapter introductions.
  • Solar Thermal Markets in Europe, European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), 2015

     

 

Most of assigned reading materials are available online and can be accessed through links in this lesson.

Discussion  Future investement opportunities in solar thermal systems  Registered students can access the Lesson 12 discussion board in Canvas.
Assignment  Market overview chapter for your course project proposal Specific directions for the assignments are provided on the respective page of this lesson and in Lesson 12 module in Canvas.
Quiz 10 multiple choice and short answer questions closely related to readings. Registered students can access the quiz in the Lesson 12 Module in Canvas.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please post them to our Questions and Answers discussion forum in Canvas. I will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.