Sustainability Report - Bank Sarasin-Alpen

Solar Energy 2005
Solar collectors
Overview
High energy prices
fuel demand
Contribution from solar
thermal power is
underestimated
As in 2003 and 2004, the second section of our report deals with the active application
of solar thermal energy with the help of solar collectors, i.e. generating
heat from the sun’s thermal radiation. Please refer to our 2003 report for a detailed
description of the technologies used. In this year’s review we concentrate
on a description of European companies, an overview of the market and an update
to our forecasts.
Higher oil and gas prices are actually fuelling demand for solar heating systems
more strongly than for photovoltaics. On the other hand, many countries do not
offer adequate political support for solar thermal power. With photovoltaics, feedin
tariffs for renewable energy provide the necessary investment security, but
there is no equivalent legislation in the solar thermal power segment.
Compared with other forms of renewable energy, solar heating’s contribution towards
meeting global energy demand is second only to wind power, and much
bigger than photovoltaics’ contribution. This fact is often underestimated. The
newly defined conversion factor of 0.7 kW th per m 2 of collector area makes it
simple to compare the capacities of the different renewable energies currently in
use. Fig. 16 shows the projected cumulative capacity (GW e/th ) at the end of 2005
for wind, geothermal, photovoltaics, solar heating and solar thermal power stations,
as well as the energy produced in one year (TWh e/th ). In its World Energy
Assessment based on figures from 1998, the UNDP showed a similar table. 10
Fig. 16: Cumulative capacity (GW) at y/e 2005 and energy generated (TWh)
Cumulative capacity y/e 2005 (left scale)
Estimated energy production (right scale)
100
150
90
80
70
60
80
60
120
135
120
105
90
[GW]
50
68.56
75
[TWh]
40
58
60
30
45
20
10
0
10
4
4
0.5 1.3
Solar collectors Wind Geothermal Photovoltaics Solar thermal PP
30
15
0
Source: Sarasin estimates, 2005
Leading players in solar thermal power
Concentration
at the top
The global solar collector industry is very fragmented and has many small players.
As far as European companies go, however, certain major players are
slowly starting to crystallise. The Austrian company GreenOneTec, Europe’s
biggest producer of flat-plate collectors, has taken over the European number
10
World Energy Assessment, Energy and the challenge of sustainability, UNDP, 2000, New York
Dezember 2005 31