European Solar Thermal Industry Federation

ISH Fair Trade: main takeaways

Date: 31 Mar 2017
Category: Solar Heat News

ESTIF secretariat attended this year’s edition of the ISH trade fair in Frankfurt with the purpose of visiting ESTIF members and some partners, contacting potential members and get acquainted with the latest developments in the heating industry.

One of the highlights of this trade fair were smart systems. The range of functions covered by these smart systems is quite diverse. Technically, it includes, for instance, the interconnectivity with other systems and the cloud, the monitoring of system performance, the integration of smart controls, remote operation and warning systems.

The functionalities provided offer benefits for the consumer but, in particular, to the installer. It includes the possibility to keep statistics on the system performance, to operate some remote check-ups or to receive malfunction alerts or even early warnings of potential failure. Some systems allow also to balance the system hydraulics, facilitating the installer’s task when setting up the system.

The costs of such options are still relevant but are expected to come down with the increased market uptake.

In terms of heating solutions, the products that got more notoriety were clearly heat pumps. From large to small manufacturers, it was possible to find a wide variety of these solutions, in terms of size and sophistication. It should also be highlighted the development in terms of storage tanks. Improved efficiency, with larger tanks reaching higher energy labelling classes, even A. This was considered extremely hard and unlikely, when the new labelling for water and space heaters was launched. On top of this development in terms of performance, it was also possible to find a wide range of tank configurations. From the most common configurations, to solutions combining three sources, to the most basic promoting direct electric heating, all was exhibited at ISH.

And this takes us to the next point: the options in terms of combination of different solutions. It was possible to find a myriad of proposed combinations of technologies, showing that the market is open for a broad number of alternatives. And solar thermal was a common element in many of these alternative configurations. For instance, with biomass, allowing to turn off the boiler for 3 or more months per year, or in combination with low temperature heat pumps, with solar taking care of most of the domestic hot water preparation.

All in all, solar thermal had an interesting presence, with over 20 stands mostly dedicated to it and many others with products related to solar thermal. For instance, solar thermal collectors were present in the stands of the system suppliers, larger or smaller, and commonly found in integrated solutions combining smart controls.

It is probably far from what would be the presence eight or ten years ago, though there was stimulating representation by different manufacturers, including some novelties in terms of collectors, storage or systems. Overall, a cautious optimism could be seen in the industry, with a concrete focus on exports to other regions, such as Middle-East or Subsaharian Africa.

For the ESTIF team present, Pedro Dias and Stefano Lambertucci, it was a pleasure to be in contact with many of the ESTIF members present at the fair and feel the pulse of our sector.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact ESTIF Secretariat (members(at)estif.org).

 

Solar Thermal Markets
in Europe

Trends and Markets
Statistics 2015

Summary
(published November 2016)

 

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