Central solar heating
Encyclopedia
Central solar heating is the provision of central heating
and hot water
from solar energy by a system in which the water is heated centrally by arrays of solar thermal collectors (central solar heating plants - CSHPs) and distributed through district heating
pipe networks (or 'block heating' systems in the case of smaller installations).
For block systems, the solar collectors are typically mounted on the building roof tops. For district heating systems the collectors may instead be installed on the ground.
Central solar heating can involve large-scale thermal storage, scaling from diurnal storage to seasonal thermal storage
. Thermal storage increase the solar fraction - the ratio between solar energy gain to the total energy demand in the system - for solar thermal systems. Ideally, the aim for applying seasonal storage is to store solar energy collected in the summer time to the winter month.
Compared to small solar heating systems (solar combisystem
s), central solar heating systems have better price-performance ratios due to the lower installation price, the higher thermal efficiency and less maintenance.
Central solar systems can also be used for solar cooling in the form of district cooling. In this case, the overall efficiency is high due to the high correlation between the energy demand and the solar radiation.
Source: Jan Erik Nielsen, PlanEnergi, DK.
Hereafter you find a plant in Rise (DK) with a new collector producer, Marstal VVS (DK), a plant in Ry (DK), one of the oldest in Europe, a plant in Hamburg and a number of plants below 3,000 m². It may be relevant mentioning, that the island of Ærø in Denmark has three of the major CSHP, Marstal, Ærøskøping and Rise.
Sweden
has played a major role in the development of large-scale solar heating. According to (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1993), the first steps were taken in the early seventies in Linköping
, Sweden, followed by a mature revision in 1983 in Lyckebo, Sweden. Inspired by this work, Finland
developed its first plant in Kerava
, and the Netherlands
built a first plant in Groningen
. These plants are reported under the International Energy Agency
by (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1990). Note that these plants did already combine CSHPs with large-scale thermal storage.
The first large-scale solar collector fields were made on-site in Torvalle, Sweden, 1982, 2000 m² and Malung
, Sweden, 640 m². Prefabricated collector arrays were introduced in Nykvarn
, Sweden, 4000 m² in 1985. There was from the beginning a strong international perspective and cooperation within this research field, through investigation with the European Communities (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1995) and the International Energy Agency (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1990). Denmark did enter this research area parallel to the Swedish activities with a plant in Vester Nebel in 1987, one plant in Saltum in 1988 and one in Ry
in 1989, taking over the know-how for prefabricated solar collectors of large size by the Swedish company Teknoterm by the dominating company ARCON, Denmark. In the later 1990s Germany
and Switzerland
were active among others with plants in Stuttgart
and Chemnitz
.
Due to cheap land prices, in the Nordic countries the collector arrays could be ground-mounted in agricultural areas. Countries with high ground prices tend to place solar collectors on building roofs, following the 'block plant' variant of CSHPs.
By 1999 40 CSHPs were in operation in Europe
generating about 30 MW of thermal power http://wire0.ises.org/wire/doclibs/EuroSun98.nsf/c1223aa2046dd602c1256927007e9e65/1a880e3f0ced45fcc1256771003045f0!OpenDocument.
Central heating
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
and hot water
Water heating
Water heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water are for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating...
from solar energy by a system in which the water is heated centrally by arrays of solar thermal collectors (central solar heating plants - CSHPs) and distributed through district heating
District heating
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...
pipe networks (or 'block heating' systems in the case of smaller installations).
For block systems, the solar collectors are typically mounted on the building roof tops. For district heating systems the collectors may instead be installed on the ground.
Central solar heating can involve large-scale thermal storage, scaling from diurnal storage to seasonal thermal storage
Seasonal thermal store
A seasonal thermal store is a store designed to retain heat deposited during the hot summer months for use during colder winter weather...
. Thermal storage increase the solar fraction - the ratio between solar energy gain to the total energy demand in the system - for solar thermal systems. Ideally, the aim for applying seasonal storage is to store solar energy collected in the summer time to the winter month.
Compared to small solar heating systems (solar combisystem
Solar combisystem
A solar combisystem provides both solar space heating and cooling as well as hot water from a common array of solar thermal collectors, usually backed up an auxiliary non-solar heat source....
s), central solar heating systems have better price-performance ratios due to the lower installation price, the higher thermal efficiency and less maintenance.
Central solar systems can also be used for solar cooling in the form of district cooling. In this case, the overall efficiency is high due to the high correlation between the energy demand and the solar radiation.
Largest CSHPs
| No. | Name | Country | Owner | Size | Power | Annual production | Installation year | Storage tank | Storage type | Collector manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m² | MW | GWh | m³ | |||||||
| 1 | Marstal | DK | Marstal Fjernvarme | 18,048 | 12.9 | 8.2 | 1996–2002 | 2,100 3,500 10,000 |
Water tank Sand/water ground pit Insulated water pond |
ARCON (DK) |
| 2 | Kungälv | SE | Kungälv Energi AB | 10,048 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 2000 | 1,000 | Water tank | ARCON (DK) |
| 3 | Brædstrup | DK | Brædstrup Fjernvarme | 8,000 | 5.6 | 3.6 | 2007 | ARCON (DK) | ||
| 4 | Strandby | DK | Strandby Varmeværk | 8,000 | 5.6 | 3.6 | 2007 | ARCON (DK) | ||
| 5 | Nykvärn | SE | Telge Energi AB | 7,500 | 5.3 | 3.4 | 1985 | 1,500 | Water tank | Teknoterm (SE) ARCON (DK) |
| 6 | Falkenberg | SE | Falkenberg Energi AB | 5,500 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 1989 | 1,100 | Water tank | Teknoterm (SE) ARCON (DK) |
| 7 | Neckarsulm | DE | Stadtwerke Neckarsulm | 5,044 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 1997 | 25,000 | Soil duct heat exchanger | Sonnenkraft (DE) ARCON (DK) |
| 8 | Ulsted | DK | Ulsted Fjernvarme | 5,000 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 2006 | 1,000 | Water tank | ARCON (DK) |
| 9 | Ærøskøping | DK | Ærøskøping Fjernvarme | 4,900 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1998–2000 | 1,200 | Water tank | ARCON (DK) |
| 10 | Friederichshafen | DE | Technische Werke Fried. | 4,250 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1996 | 12,000 | Concrete tan in ground | ARCON (DK) |
Source: Jan Erik Nielsen, PlanEnergi, DK.
Hereafter you find a plant in Rise (DK) with a new collector producer, Marstal VVS (DK), a plant in Ry (DK), one of the oldest in Europe, a plant in Hamburg and a number of plants below 3,000 m². It may be relevant mentioning, that the island of Ærø in Denmark has three of the major CSHP, Marstal, Ærøskøping and Rise.
History of central solar heating plants
- The history of CSHP given here is mainly a Nordic-European perspective on the topic.
Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
has played a major role in the development of large-scale solar heating. According to (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1993), the first steps were taken in the early seventies in Linköping
Linköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
, Sweden, followed by a mature revision in 1983 in Lyckebo, Sweden. Inspired by this work, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
developed its first plant in Kerava
Kerava
Kerava is a town and municipality in Finland.It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
built a first plant in Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
. These plants are reported under the International Energy Agency
International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...
by (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1990). Note that these plants did already combine CSHPs with large-scale thermal storage.
The first large-scale solar collector fields were made on-site in Torvalle, Sweden, 1982, 2000 m² and Malung
Malung
Malung is a locality and the seat of Malung-Sälen Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,146 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:Malung is home to Malungs Folkhögskola, a few kilometers outside downtown. Specialized courses include folk music, dance, mountaineering and health.-External links:*...
, Sweden, 640 m². Prefabricated collector arrays were introduced in Nykvarn
Nykvarn
Nykvarn is a locality and since 1999 the seat of Nykvarn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 6,032 inhabitants in 2005. 1971-1998 it was in Södertälje Municipality. Nykvarn is the hometown of such bands as Hyena Breed, Feed Filiph, From Zero to Hero and Aldiureep...
, Sweden, 4000 m² in 1985. There was from the beginning a strong international perspective and cooperation within this research field, through investigation with the European Communities (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1995) and the International Energy Agency (Dalenbäck, J-O., 1990). Denmark did enter this research area parallel to the Swedish activities with a plant in Vester Nebel in 1987, one plant in Saltum in 1988 and one in Ry
Ry, Denmark
Ry is a town with a population of 5,553 in central Denmark, located in Skanderborg municipality in Jutland. The town sprouted up around a railway station near the older town of Rye which is now much smaller than Ry.-Geography:...
in 1989, taking over the know-how for prefabricated solar collectors of large size by the Swedish company Teknoterm by the dominating company ARCON, Denmark. In the later 1990s Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
were active among others with plants in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
.
Due to cheap land prices, in the Nordic countries the collector arrays could be ground-mounted in agricultural areas. Countries with high ground prices tend to place solar collectors on building roofs, following the 'block plant' variant of CSHPs.
By 1999 40 CSHPs were in operation in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
generating about 30 MW of thermal power http://wire0.ises.org/wire/doclibs/EuroSun98.nsf/c1223aa2046dd602c1256927007e9e65/1a880e3f0ced45fcc1256771003045f0!OpenDocument.
Related systems
Central solar heating is a sub-class of 'large-scale solar heating' systems - a term applied to systems with solar collector areas greater than 500 m².See also
- Seasonal thermal storeSeasonal thermal storeA seasonal thermal store is a store designed to retain heat deposited during the hot summer months for use during colder winter weather...
- District heatingDistrict heatingDistrict heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...
- Solar heating
- Solar cooling
- Solar combisystemSolar combisystemA solar combisystem provides both solar space heating and cooling as well as hot water from a common array of solar thermal collectors, usually backed up an auxiliary non-solar heat source....
- Solar thermal energySolar thermal energySolar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy . Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors. Low-temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat...
- District cooling
- Renewable energyRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
External links
- Solar District Heating in Europe: Large Scale Solar Heating Systems for Housing Developments
- European Large-Scale Solar Heating Network Thermie Project
- The European Large-Scale Solar Heating Network's former Homepage
- 17.081 m2 CSHP at Ærø, Denmark
- CSHP with an aquifer thermal energy store, Rostock, Germany
- CSHPs in Germany
Further reading
- Central Solar Heating Plants with Seasonal Storage: A Status Report, ISBN 91-540-5201-7, Swedish Council for Building Research, June 1990 http://www.iea-shc.org/outputs/task07_publist.htm.