Gaining ground across the globe - Kloben

Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS 

Gaining ground across the 

Large-scale solar thermal systems require a high level of expertise. To help assist planners 

and installers in project implementation, solar thermal providers around the world are 

running their own planning and service departments. And more than a few are installing 

systems on their own as well. 

Sunrain has already built a large number of large-scale solar thermal systems. The company even has its own team of installers for such 

projects. Photo: Sunrain 

66 

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009

globe 

District heating system for 54 individual 

homes: EnerWorks added collectors to the 

solar powered subdivision in the town of 

Okotoks in the province of Alberta. 

Photo: EnerWorks 

The collectors of an entire solar 

powered subdivision shimmer in 

blue violet as the sun rises in the 

small town of Okotoks, Canada. The 

Canadian company EnerWorks constructed 

a solar district heating system 

for 54 individual homes here towards the 

end of 2007. The residents are provided 

with heat energy from the 2,300 m 2 of solar 

collectors installed in this system. 

Some homeowners have even installed 

small rooftop systems to meet their water 

heating needs. 

SUN & WIND ENERGY surveyed solar 

thermal companies around the world regarding 

their experiences with largescale 

solar thermal systems. In the survey 

we made a distinction between systems 

that have 50 to 500 m 2 of solar col 

lectors and systems with over 500 m 2 of 

collectors. The EnerWorks system is in 

the smaller segment of solar district heating 

systems. Of the 35 companies who 

participated in the survey, only three 

have implemented systems with more 

than 500 m 2 of solar collectors. The two 

other district heating networks were built 

in Germany with the help of federal funding. 

The Austrian company Tisun GmbH 

supplied collectors for a solar powered 

community in Munich, which also includes 

a seasonal storage tank with a capacity 

of 5,700 m 3 . In the third project, 

solar collectors were supplied by the German 

company Wagner & Co. and are now 

used to provide solar heat to a school, a 

sports hall and an indoor swimming pool 

in the southern German community of 

EggensteinLeopoldshafen. In contrast to 

the two other systems, which involved 

the construction of new buildings, this 

solar heating system replaced the heating 

systems found in old buildings from 

the 1960s that were specifically renovated 

for energy efficiency. 

Solar thermal systems that have more 

than 500 m 2 of collectors are relatively few 

and far between. Only about half of the 

companies surveyed have implemented 

systems of that size, most of them between 

10 and 50. Only three companies have 

completed more than 100 projects: The 

Chinese company Jiangsu Sunrain Solar 

Energy Co., Ltd., indicated that it has implemented 

around 9,000 of these projects 

and therefore has the most experience with 

largescale systems. Following far behind 

are the Turkish company Ezinç Metal A.S. 

and the Indian company Emmvee Solar, 

which have installed about 320 and 200 of 

these systems, respectively. 

Hotel projects dominate 

When asked about what types of systems 

they install, most of the companies (13) 

mentioned hotel systems. An extremely 

large system with more than 1,500 m 2 of 

solar collectors was recently built in Cuba 

by the Israeli company Chromagen Solar 

Energy Solutions. The hotel La Estrella 

has 1,308 beds distributed over 38 buildings. 

“La Estrella is one of the most prestigious 

hotels in the Caribbean region”, 

says International Sales Manager Dorit 

Cohen. A storage tank with a capacity of 

more than 120,000 litres ensures that the 

hotel guests have access to hot water 

whenever they need it, especially in the 

evening and morning hours. 

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 67


Solar powered community in 

Munich: collectors covering 

3,000 m 2 of surface area are 

configured to transfer solar 

heat into a seasonal storage 

tank. Photo: Tisun 

68 

Nine companies have installed systems that are 

specifically designed for multifamily homes and 

comprise more than 500 m 2 of solar collectors. Eight 

companies have outfitted various hospitals and nursing 

homes with solar collectors. Systems that supply 

solar process heat for commercial and industrial 

projects were cited just as often in the survey. “Some 

of our largest projects are for industrial use”, explains 

Chaitanya Yardi, Marketing Director of the Indian 

company NRG Technologists Pvt Ltd. Some of the 

systems (up to 25,000 litre systems) are designed to 

preheat boiler feed water. Other uses: a few hightemperature 

systems (85 °C) for washing medication 

bottle caps (20,000 litre system), several systems for 

dyeing textiles (85 °C, up to 15,000 litres) and others 

for heating the chemicals used to manufacture bright 

bars (up to 10,000 litres) and for the hot phosphating 

process used by powder coating equipment (usually 

85 °C, up to 10,000 litres). The 8/2009 edition of 

SUN & WIND ENERGY will focus on the subject of solar 

process heat. 

Roof-integrated system for a 

sports centre 

Also cited frequently: six companies indicated that 

they have outfitted sports facilities with solar collectors 

as well. The Swiss company Energie Solaire SA, 

The vacuum tubes of this hotel system in Salerno, Italy, were divided into eleven parallel-connected subarrays by Kloben. The system 

supplies thermal heat and hot water and is also used for solar cooling. Photo: Kloben 


Solar thermal 

70 

large-Scale inStallationS 

Sample projects with 50 to 500 m 2 of collectors 

Collector manufacturer 

Planning company / 

installing company 

Location 

Start of 

operation 

Type of plant 

Ariston Thermo Group, Italy n/a Lanzarote (Canary Islands) / Spain 2008 sports halls 

Baymak, Turkey Baymak after sales service Turkey 2005 hotel 

Buderus (Bosch Thermotechnik), Germany n/a Wiehl / Germany 2008 2 multi-family houses 

Chiryu Heater, Japan Chiryu Heater Komagane/ Japan 2007 care home 

Chromagen, Israel Chromagen Israel 2004 multi-family house 

CitrinSolar, Germany CitrinSolar / Willi Mayer, Toarmina ( Sicily) Catania (Sicily), Italy 2008 hotel 

Elco (Ariston Thermo Group), Germany Ralf Petersen Kiel / Germany 2008 hotel / 80 rooms 

Elcora, Cyprus Elcora Limasol / Cyprus 2006 hotel 

EnerWorks, Canada Glenbarra Energy Pickering (Ontario) / Canada 2008 apartment building 

Ezinç, Turkey Ezinç /Erciyes University Kayseri / Turkey 2002 Erciyes University 

Heliomex, Mexico Rydia León / Mexico 2009 hospital 

Heliotek, Brazil Heliotek Sao Paulo / Brazil 2008 hotel 

Jehin, Korea Jehin Seoul / Korea 2000 sports halls 

Kloben, Italy Kloben Salerno / Italy n/a hotel and restaurant 

Módulo Solar, Mexico Módulo Solar Mexico City 1997 sports hall, Pumas soccer 

NRG Technologists , India NRG Technologists Jamnagar (Gujarat) / India 1998 5 star hotel 

Ouraset, Turkey Solar-GE Bodrum / Turkey 2008 hotel 

Siko Solar, Austria Office A3 Innsbruck, Austria Telfs (Tyrol) / Austria 2006 multi-family house 

Solahart, Australia Accomandita Sicily / Italy 2006 hotel 

Solar Dynamics, Barbados Solar Dynamics St. Michael/ Barbados 1974 military complex 

Sunerg, Italy n/a Iesi/ Italy 2006 sports hall 

Sunrain, China Sunrain Lianyugang City (Jiangsu Province) / China 2008 hotel 

Tisun, Austria Assyce Ingenieros Granada / Spain 2007 hotel, 171 beds 

Transsen, Brazil Transsen Salvador / Brazil 2006 hotel 

Tuma, Brazil Kempen & Kempen Porto Seguro / Brazil 2002 hotel 

Vaillant, Germany 

Vaillant gave planning support to the local 

installer 

near San Diego (California) /USA 2007 multi-family house 

Wagner & Co., Germany Solartronic, Witzenhausen, Germany Burg Ludwigstein / Germany 2007 youth hotel 

DHW = domestic hot water; 1 large flat plate collectors and stratified storage tank Pro-Clean with spherical exchanger; 2 42 per building; 3 plus 175 for space heating 

for example, installed a system with 1,500 m 2 of solar 

collectors for the sports centre of the Spanish city 

of Haro. The flat flowthrough, unglazed solar collectors 

provide hot water to the visitors of both the 

Over the past five years, Transsen has built more than 250 large-scale systems in 

Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. The majority of those systems were used 

in hotels and multi-family homes. Photo: Transsen 

sports hall and fitness centre and also heat several 

swimming pools. Around 1,000 guests visit the sport 

centre every day. One noteworthy aspect: this is one 

of the biggest roofintegrated solar power systems 

anywhere in Europe. 

“The architect M. Samaniego designed a smoothlycurved 

solar roof. He has succeeded in combining 

the functionality of a solar thermal system with architecture 

that is aesthetically appealing. The modular 

solar panels are perfectly integrated into the building 

and no compromises were made in terms of design, 

dimensions or shape”, explains Bernard Thissen of 

Energie Solaire. The solar roof replaces the tiles and 

slates of a conventional roof with a series of unglazed 

collector panels connected by sealed joints. “Although 

less efficient than glazed solar panels at high 

temperatures, these panels have a lower capital cost 

and are therefore the preferable choice for many applications”, 

Thissen continues. The AS type absorber 

used by Energie Solaire is made of two sheets of 


Type of solar system Kind of system 

Collector 

area [m 2 ] 

Volume of storage [litre] 

Solar 

coverage 

Project specials 

DHW and pool heating pumped 375 3,000 70 % 3 swimming pools heated by solar system 

DHW pumped 70 5,000 100 % 

DHW and solar space heating pumped 57 2,600 13 % 

solar system SAT-WZ midi with remote monitoring and 

remote parametrization 

DHW and solar space heating pumped 92 

1,000 (hot water) 

18,000 (storage for heating) 

50 % roof-integrated collectors 

DHW pumped 294 2 22,050 75 % 7 buildings, each with 21 apartments 

DHW pumped 126 6,000 85 % 

DHW and solar space heating pumped 110 4,000 35 % two heat pumps and two condensing boilers as backup 

DHW pumped 140 7,000 80 % 

DHW pumped 218 2,724 18 % uses the pre-packaged EnerWorks Solar Energy Unit 

DHW and solar space heating pumped 334 3 12,280 100 % facilities save 90,000 kg oil per year 

DHW pumped 100 8,000 60 % 

DHW pumped 300 30,000 70 % high efficiency flat plate collector 

DHW drain back 500 22,000 60 % 

DHW, solar space heating and cooling pumped 145 12,000 70 % 

DHW pumped 300 17,000 85 % 

DHW pumped 500 30,000 85 % 

DHW pumped 78 4 x 1,000 45 % 

composite intelligent control for all operations including 

recirculation, gas boiler, pressurized and forced flow 

DHW pumped 420 9,000 60 % collectors adjusted on the curved balcony fronts 

DHW thermosiphonic 220 15,600 70 % 

DHW thermosiphonic 164 12,718 90 % 

DHW pumped 200 n/a n/a 

DHW pumped 420 24,000 65 % 

DHW, solar space heating and pool heating pumped 1 400 4 x 5,000 40 % savings of 143,746 kg CO 2 per year 

DHW pumped 400 45,000 70 % pre-heating system 

DHW thermosiphonic 140 21,000 75 % 7 independent thermosiphonic systems (3,000 liters each) 

DHW and solar space heating pumped 87 6,000 70 % 

in combination with an air/water heat pump additional 

pool heating and floor heating 

DHW pumped 54 3,000 40 % 

system with buffer tanks and instantaneous hot water 

preparation 

The majority of medium-sized solar thermal systems were built for hotels or multi-family homes. Source: company information 

Aesthetics combined with solar thermal 

energy: Siko succeeded in seamlessly integrating 

these solar collectors into balconies 

in Innsbruck, Austria. Photo: Siko Solar 

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 71


72 


Sample projects with over 500 m 2 of collectors 

Collector manufacturer 

Planning company / installing 

company Location 

Start of 

operation Type of plant Type of solar system Kind of system 

Baymak , Turkey Baymak Turkey 2007 hotel DHW pumped 

Buderus, Germany n/a Berlin / Germany 2006 multi-family house 

DHW and solar space 

heating 

pumped 

Chromagen, Israel CUEX Havana / Cuba 2008 hotel DHW pumped 

Derya, Turkey Derya Antalya City /Turkey 2009 hotel DHW pumped 

Emmvee Solar, India Tirumal Tirupathi Devastanams Tirumala (Andra Pradesh) /India 2003 hotel/lodge for pilgrims 

domestic bathing, 

cooking 

pumped and 

thermosiphonic 

EnerWorks, Canada Enermodal/Hurst Okotoks (Alberta) / Canada 2005 

district heating system 

for 54 individual homes 

solar space heating 1 pumped 

Ezinç, Turkey Ezinç Alanya (Antalya) / Turkey 2005 hotel DHW pumped 

Kloben, Italy n/a Khartoum / Sudan 2007 hospital 

heating and cooling 

system 

pumped 

Jehin, Korea Jehin Kwangju / Korea 2000 dormitory DHW pumped 

Módulo Solar, Mexico Módulo Solar Cancún / Mexico 2005 hotel Cancún Palace DHW pumped 

NRG Technologists, India NRG Technologists Idar (Gujarat) / India 1991 industrial, preheating 

hot water at 85 °C for 

feeding to the boiler 

pumped 

Ouraset, Turkey Tansug Engineering Alanya /Turkey 2006 multi-family house DHW pumped 

Siko Solar, Austria Klimatherm, Zirl (Austria) Innsbruck / Austria 2008 multi-family house DHW pumped 

Sunrain, China local installation company Henan Province / China 2008 multi-family house DHW pumped 

Tisun , Austria 

planner: TGA Consulting / ZAE Bayern 

Energieforscher; installer: Lausser 

Munich / Germany 1999 

multi-family house 

(district heating) 


heating 

Transsen, Brazil Transsen Brazil and Transsen Peru Tacna / Peru 2008 sports hall DHW pumped 

Tuma, Brazil Tuma Belo Horizonte / Brazil 1994 hotel DHW pumped 

Wagner & Co., Germany planning: PKI, Stuttgart (Germany) Eggenstein / Germany 2008 

DHW = domestic hot water; 1 homes have individual small solar water heating appliances; 2 solar roof, three collector fields 

selectively coated stainless steel. The solar liquid 

flows through a pattern of offset metal pads. The solar 

collector array in Haro is capable of achieving an 

energy yield of around 500 kWh/m 2 a. 

Stainless steel absorbers are not the only components 

suitable for swimming pool heating. The Brazilian 

company Aquecedor Solar Transsen Ltda. 

(Transsen) installed a solar thermal system for heating 

an indoor swimming pool in the Peruvian city of 

Tacna. Heat is supplied by unglazed swimming pool 

absorbers that are made of plastic and comprise 

1,080 m 2 of surface area. “This is the biggest system 

for pools in South America”, says Newton Koeke, 

sports halls, school and 

indoor pool (district 

heating) 


heating 

pumped 

pumped 

International Trade Manager of Transsen. 

The Italian company Kloben (Turco Group S.r.l.) 

specialises in systems that provide heat for solar 

cooling. In 2007 the company installed almost 

1,000 m 2 of vacuum tube collectors in a hospital in 

Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, for airconditioning 

purposes. The solar heat is transferred at a temperature 

of up to 95 °C to a 50 m 3 storage tank. If there is 

insufficient heat to run the refrigeration machine with 

95 °C hot water, then a boiler will be used for reheating. 

The refrigeration machine produces cold water at 

a temperature of 7 °C. Recooling occurs once the temperature 

reaches 45 °C. 


Collector 

area [m 2 ] 

Hotel systems also dominated in the area of large-scale solar thermal systems. 

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 

Volume of 

storage [litre] Solar coverage Project specials 

520 16,500 100 % 

570 n/a n/a 

solar system SAT-WZ midi with remote monitoring and 

remote parametrization 

1,510 120,000 n/a 21 buildings – 1,308 rooms 

550 40,000 n/a selective collector, galvanized boiler 

2,000 125,000 30 % Auto DTC connected to electrical backup 

2,300 240,000 

91 % for space heating, 

60 % for hot water 

short term heat is stored in large water tank, long 

term storage in borehole storage system 

1,174 50,000 100 % hotel saves 150,907 kg LPG per year 

950 50,000 95 % 

1,000 40,000 70 % 

1,000 55,000 60 % 

500 20,000 85 % 

one of the first systems of this size at 85 °C in India, 

first boiler feed water system in India 

800 40,000 70 % 

1,360 28,000 60 % 

at the moment Europe’s biggest multi-family passive 

house 

576 30,000 60 % 

3,000 5,700,000 50 % for 27,000 m2 housing space, collectors replace the 

roof 

1,080 Olympic pool 90 % the biggest system for pools in South America 

804 60,000 75 % 

4 storage tanks (15,000 liters each) made by stainless 

steel 

1,600 2 4,500,000 35 to 40 % 

In Mexico, Heliomex has built 

two large-scale systems for 

solar process heat. 

Photo: Heliomex 

seasonal storage of solar energy with a gravel/water 

storage, energetic reconstruction of all buildings 

Source: company information


Around 250 multi-family 

homes, sport complexes, camping 

grounds and hospitals in 

Denmark have been outfitted 

with solar thermal systems by 

Batec. Photo: Batec 

74 

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Medium-class solar thermal 

systems: 50 to 500 m 2 

In the area of mediumsized systems, Sunrain has 

once again implemented the highest number of 

projects with over 30,000. Emmvee Solar, which has 

implemented 2,000 projects, has been very successful 

in this segment as well. Tisun is likewise one of the 

more active companies with around 200 projects a 

year. Siko Solar Vertriebs GmbH is also based in 

Austria and has installed more than 800 mediumsized 

systems. Siko specialises in solar collectors 

that can be mounted on façades or used as balcony 

railings. To offer architects a wide range of colour design 

options, the company manufactures collectors 

with selectivelycoated coloured absorbers. Wagner 

& Co. (more than 500 systems) and Heliotek Máquinas 

e Equipamentos Ltda from Brazil (400 systems) 

have already outfitted a large number of mediumsized 

collector arrays. 

As with largescale systems, mediumsized 

systems are predominantly used in projects for hotels 

and multifamily homes. When asked which 

type of system they install the most, 18 companies 

cited hotels while 12 companies cited multifamily 

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homes. Hospitals und nursing homes were mentioned 

three times. Sports halls and camp grounds 

were mentioned once each. Solar process heat was 

cited by two companies and is in high demand in 

Mexico. 

Funding: Italy at the top 

To compete with conventional heat sources, solar 

heat still requires federal funding in many countries. 

The solarassisted district heating networks described 

above, for instance, would never have been 

possible without federal funding. The current situation 

in Italy is particularly favourable. “The law referred 

to as ‘Finanziaria’ returns 55 % of the total 

turnover”, explains Michele Speri, Export Manager at 

the vacuum tube specialist Kloben. The government 

of Cyprus also provides 55 % of the total investment 

costs for largescale solar power systems according 

to Nicos Nicolaou, who is the partnership owner and 

Production Manager at the Cypriot company Elcora 

Ltd. 

Federal funding in South Korea can end up being 

almost as high. The Managing Director of Jehin Co 

Ltd., MannKwi Park, states that federal funding can 

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Beach front: this system at the hotel Cancún Palace, Mexico, includes 1,000 m 2 of solar 

collectors. Photo: Módulo Solar 

Solahart builds large-scale pumped drainback systems and multiple thermosiphonic 

systems around the world. Photo: Solahart 

76 

amount to up to 50 % of the installation costs. The 

same applies in Mexico: “Subsidies amounting to up 

to 50 % of the total project cost are available”, says 

Christian Ebner, Operations Manager at Heliomex 

S.A. de C.V. “There are some tax reductions. The end 

user can deduct 100 % of the system costs in the first 

year”, adds Daniel Garcia Valladares, Commercial 

Director at Módulo Solar, S.A. de C.V. The government 

of Brazil is also using tax cuts to promote the use of 

solar heat: “Government tax reductions and credit 

lines are offered to the Brazilian market”, says 

Newton Koeke of Transsen. 

In Japan, some of the projects implemented by 

Chiryu Heater Co., Ltd. received 30 to 50 % funding 

while others received no funding at all according to 

Eijiro Kawai from the Sales Department. In Germany, 

the federal government subsidises 30 % of the total 

investment costs for largescale solar power systems. 

The USA also grants subsidies in the form of 30 % 

federal tax credits with no upper limit. A variety of 

funding programmes are also offered on the federal 

state level. “Federal states offer a variety of tax credits 

that vary from 0 to 35 % of total project cost with 

upper limits. Utility incentives are usually based on 

kWh production over a period of one year”, explains 

Florin Plavosin, Director of Applications Engineering 

at EnerWorks. “Total incentives vary from 30 % to almost 

100 % of the project cost depending on the location 

and size of the project.” In Canada, federal 

grants are based on a formula that factors in the type, 

size and performance of the solar collector. These 

grants amount to approximately 20 % in total. Canadian 

provinces also offer their own funding programmes: 

“A provincial grant that matches the federal 

one is only available in two provinces Ontario and 

Saskatchewan”, says Plavosin. 

The Caribbean island nation of Barbados, which 

has the highest number of solar thermal systems per 

capita, does not offer subsidies for individual 

projects. However: “For the solar heating industry, 

the government offers the incentive of no import duty 

on materials used to manufacture solar water heaters”, 

says Michael Lewis, General Manager of Solar 

Dynamics Ltd. 

Government subsidies for solar thermal systems 

are not available everywhere in the world. “Incentives 

for projects were never offered in Israel”, says Mario 

Waisman, International Sales and Export Manager of 

Nimrod Industries Ltd. There are, however, mandatory 

regulations which have allowed Israel to join countries 

such as Barbados or Cyprus where solar heating 

has long been accepted as a matter of course. “The 

installation of central solar arrays on building rooftops 

has been going on for decades already”, remarks 

Waisman. 

Yet even in countries where subsidies are available, 

there is no guarantee that companies will take 

advantage of them. Take India as an example: “Incentives 

are available, but they are difficult to obtain due 

to the lengthy procedure involved. Rather than avail 

ourselves of them, we usually sell projects based on 

cost savings alone”, says Chaitanya Yardi. 



85 % of the hot water required 

by this hotel in Sicily is supplied 

by solar collectors. 

78 

Photo: CitrinSolar 

The solar energy sector in Malaysia, for instance, 

must do without federal subsidies of any kind according 

to Roy Chok, CEO of Solartech Sales & Service Sdn 

Bhd. Subsidies are not offered in Turkey either. 

Nevertheless, there is enormous potential for largescale 

solar energy systems in Turkey, particularly in 

the south where the tourism industry is booming: 

“The fact that a natural gas pipeline, which is a much 

less costly option for electricity, has not yet reached 

the southern part of the country makes the use of solar 

energy a very viable option for generating hot water. 

Without the help of any government support, this 

has led to the extensive use of solar energy in the majority 

of hotels in the region”, says Ibrahim Sudas, 

Production Manager of Ouraset Solar. 

Planning and installation support 

Unlike small thermosiphonic systems or heat pump 

hot water systems, largescale solar power systems 

require a high level of expertise in planning and installation. 

The companies we questioned for this survey 

are either solar collector manufacturers or system 

providers. Are these companies able to find enough 

competent planners and installers in their respective 

countries? Sara Lauri from the Marketing Department 

of the Italian company Sunerg Solar SRL admits that 

this is a significant problem. Verena Rausch, Solar 

Thermal Product Manager at the German company 

Vaillant Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, also finds that 

“the knowledge of large solar thermal systems is still 

small”. She thinks that additional training and information 

are necessary for the dimensioning of systems, 

the hydraulics of collector arrays and the piping 

and configuration of expansion vessels and plate 

heat exchangers. At EnerWorks there is also “a definite 

shortage of skill and knowledge in companies 

who want to install solar thermal plants”. EnerWorks 

is therefore selecting, training and expanding ‘project 

partner’ companies with expertise in project management 

so that they can sell, plan, design, project 

manage, install and maintain solar thermal systems 

on their own. 

As can be expected, large regional differences do 

exist. “This is not a problem in Israel but we do face 

difficulties in other countries where companies have 

little experience in planning and installing solar thermal 

systems”, finds Mario Waisman. Emanuel 

Brender, Managing Director of the Danish company 

Batec Solvarme (Solar) A/S, believes that a good environment 

for solar thermal energy can be found in 

Denmark. “We have competent installers whom we 

supervise.” This also applies to Austria according to 

Wolfgang Sief, Marketing Manager at Siko Solar: 

“There is extensive knowledge in this field and our 

company offers special inhouse workshops on the 

topics of solar energy and photovoltaic systems.” In 

the South African company Solardome SA, attempts 

are always made to avoid installation problems before 

they occur: “We intend to provide the simplest 

systems possible to keep maintenance to a minimum”, 

says Sales Manager Brennen February. 



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Solar thermal companies do not rely 

solely on the competence of external 

planners and installers, however. They all 

have their own inhouse planning teams 

after all. “We have a highly professional 

team in the planning department”, says 

Newton Koeke for example. Michele Speri 

adds: “We have a great staff of 15 people 

who work in solar planning.” For over a 

decade now, Wagner & Co. has been using 

a technical support team that specialises 

in largescale solar systems and 

deals with layout and planning, supports 

installation and commissioning and performs 

aftersales service. Ezinç is another 

company that provides customer support 

for largescale systems: “We have our 

own Project Department in which our engineers 

conduct all projectsrelated tasks 

such as designing, planning, calculation, 

surveillance during installation and commissioning. 

We also support our customers 

through our Project Department based 

on our extensive experience in installing 

largescale systems”, says A. Kutay Ülke 

from the Export Department. “For large 

thermal plants we perform all the calculations 

and also support the distributor”, 

adds Mark Perger, International Manager 

of the Australian company Solahart Industries 

Pty Ltd. In addition to planning, 

aftersales service is also offered by many 

companies: “In Turkey we established an 

aftersales service organisation for planning 

and installing while outside Turkey 

our distributors depend on plumbers carrying 

out these services”, explains Taçnur 

Yılmaz, Export Deputy Manager at the 

Turkish company Baymak, which is a 

member of the Baxi Group. 

While planning teams are established 

in all companies, the number of companies 

with inhouse installation teams remains 

clear. “That is not our concept. We 

manufacture systems and then distribute 

them to installers”, says Mario Waisman. 

Baymak has so far implemented large-scale solar 

thermal systems that include up to 500 m 2 

of collectors in Spain, Italy, Canada, Australia, 

New Zealand and Turkey. Photo: Baymak 

At Wagner & Co., activities are limited to 

manufacturing, distribution and technical 

support. “We want to help improve the 

qualifications of planning and installing 

companies instead of just keeping the 

work within our company. We only maintain 

a specialised installation crew for our 

Solar Roof collector system that features 

large collector elements”, remarks 

Andreas Knoch, CEO of Solar Thermal Marketing 

and Sales. Chromagen, on the other 

hand, is one of the companies who occasionally 

install systems on their own: 

“We have our own installers but we work 

mainly with subcontractors”, explains 

Dorit Cohen. The same applies to Solardome: 

“We mostly outsource labour, but 

in two projects we were directly involved 

with the installation”, says Brennen 

February. Ouraset assigns project leaders 

for largescale projects. 

Installers are also employed by Derya 

Solar Collector C.O. and Ezinç from Turkey, 

Elcora from Cyprus, Transsen, Tuma and 

Heliotek from Brazil, Módulo Solar and 

Heliomex from Mexico, Sunrain from 

China, Chiryu Heater from Japan, Solar 

Dynamics from Barbados, Solartech Sales 

& Service from Malaysia, Tisun from 

Austria as well as Emmvee and NRG Technologists 

from India. In this regard, NRG 

Technologists uses an inhouse variant: 

“We have our own installation and service 

team. We cannot rely on others to do a 

competent job and finish the job well. 

Hence, all installations are performed by 

trained inhouse personnel who are specifically 

employed for this purpose”, says 

Chaitanya Yardi, Marketing Director. “We 

have about three teams of installers, each 

comprising around 5 to 8 people, who 

work solely for the company. They are responsible 

for carrying out proper installation 

based on the guidelines laid out by 

the company.” 

Jens-Peter Meyer 


Tuma installed around 800 m 2 of solar collectors onto the Dallas 

Motel in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as early as in 1994. Photo: Tuma 

Further information: 

Ariston Thermo Group S.p.A.: www.aristonthermo.com 

Batec Solvarme A/S: www.batec.dk 

Baymak (Baxi Group): www.baymak.com.tr 

Buderus (Bosch Thermotechnik GmbH): www.buderus.de 

Chiryu Heater Co., Ltd: www.chiryuheater.jp 

Chromagen: www.chromagen.biz 

CitrinSolar GmbH: www.citrinsolar.de 

Derya Solar Collector C.O.: www.deryakollektor.com.tr 

Elco (Ariston Thermo group): www.elco.net 

Elcora Ltd: www.elcora-cy.com 

Emmvee Solar Systems Pvt Ltd: www.emmveesolar.com 

Energie Solaire SA: www.energie-solaire.com 

EnerWorks Inc.: www.enerworks.com 

Ezinç Metal San. TIC. A.S.: www.ezinc.com.tr 

Heliomex S.A. de C.V.: www.heliomex.com.mx 

Heliotek Máquinas e Equipamentos Ltda: www.heliotek.com.br 

Jehin Co Ltd: www.jehin.co.kr 

Kloben (Turco Group S.r.l.): www.kloben.it, www.ktsolar.com 

Módulo Solar, S.A. de C.V.: www.modulosolar.com.mx 

Nimrod Industries Ltd.: www.nimrod-solar.com 

NRG Technologists PVt Ltd: www.nrgtechnologists.com 

Ouraset Solar (Tansug Makina): www.ouraset.com 

Siko Solar Vertriebs GmbH: www.solar.at 

Solahart Industries Pty Ltd: www.solahart.com 

Solardome SA: www.solardome.co.za 

Solar Dynamics Ltd: www.solardynamicsltd.com 

Solartech Sales & Service Sdn Bhd: www.solartech.com.my 

Sunerg Solar SRL: www.sunergsolar.com 

Sunrain (Jiangsu Sunrain Solar Energy Co.,Ltd.): http://en.sunrain.com 

Tisun GmbH: www.tisun.com 

Transsen (Aquecedor Solar Transsen Ltda.): www.transsen.com 

Tuma Industrial Ltda.: www.empresastuma.com.br 

Vaillant GmbH: www.vaillant.de 

Wagner & Co. : www.wagner-solar.com 

Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 

Eliminate the weak points ... 

... with pre-insulated SolarPipe systems 

LOGSTOR SolarPipe systems are designed to withstand 

all the stresses and batterings that exposed solar heating 

pipe installations have to cope with. 

SolarPipe pre-insulated pipe runs do away with damaged 

insulation and service interruptions, and dramatically 

reduce your maintenance and repair costs. 

The tough HDPE outer casing protects the polyurethane 

insulation for the entire service life of the pipe system 

– making sure generated heat gets to its destination with 

the least possible thermal loss. 

• 30-year service life – minimum 

• Straightforward, easy-to-install pipe runs 

• Easy to connect, using special press-fi t couplings 

• No maintenance, patching or repairs needed 

• Energy-effi cient, low-lambda PUR insulation 

• Ideal for all solar heating installations, large and small 

Talk to us at Intersolar 2009 

– stand no. B1 173 

LOGSTOR A/S 

Danmarksvej 11 · DK-9670 Løgstør 

Tel. +45 9966 1000 · Fax +45 9966 1180 

logstor@logstor.com · www.logstor.com 

distributing energy efficiency

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