Joining forces to open the market for solar heat in industry

Abstract

Worldwide, industry is responsible for more than a quarter of the total primary energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions. About two thirds of this energy is in form of thermal energy, while only one third is electrical energy. Thus, the use of solar thermal collectors for industrial applications is an obvious step in the direction of energy and cost savings. The sun does not shine continuously, despite industry's demand for process heat around the clock. Therefore it is necessary to combine the solar collector with a fossil fuel fired technology as a backup to ensure continual process heat supply according to the industrial load profile. To save planning and engineering effort for the integration of solar and fossil fired process heat technologies the German company Industrial Solar has joined forces with renowned industry partners. In this paper we describe three groundbreaking cooperations resulting in integrated packaged system solutions meeting the needs of industry and opening the market for solar thermal technologies for industrial applications.