Gaining ground across the globe - Kloben

Solar thermal large-Scale inStallationS
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
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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.
Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009