Gaining ground across the globe - Kloben

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