http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/02/kick-starting-solar-process-heat-in-europe
Kick-starting Solar Process Heat in Europe
By Christiane Egger and Christine Öhlinger, O.Ö. Energiesparverband
February 29, 2012

Linz, Austria -- Solar thermal systems have enormous potential for industry. About 30 percent of industrial heat demand is at temperatures below 100°C, which can be provided with commercially available solar thermal collectors. However, the global and European markets are very much in their infancy; only a few hundred installations currently exist.

Using solar thermal process heat in European industrial processes presents manifold benefits. It will support companies in long-term cost stability of their hot water provision and thereby contribute to their competitiveness; it will open up a new business field for the renewable energy industry and thereby promote business development and green jobs; and it will contribute to the energy, climate and environmental goals of the EU, its Member States, its regions and cities.

However, in order to realise this potential and to deliver these benefits, significant existing market barriers for solar process heat must be overcome. One problem is the economic viability of solar process heat installations, which is often due – among other reasons – to very low prices for fossil fuels in industry and the short payback periods for investments expected in many industrial companies. Also, in an early phase of market development, costs for planning and setup tend to be high due to the lack of experience of the companies involved.

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The project Solar Process Heat — SO-PRO aimed to tackle these barriers and to trigger the startup of markets for solar process heat in six European regions, most of which feature colder climates (Upper Austria, the regions of Castillas y Madrid in Spain, South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, North-Rhine Westphalia and Saxony in Germany and the Maribor region in Slovenia). The project was supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme and co-ordinated by O.Ö. Energiesparverband, the energy agency of Upper Austria.