IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme
International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) | |
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 Logo
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| Membership |
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| Leaders | |
• Chair |  Werner Weiss |
• Vice Chairs |
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| Establishment | 1977 |
Website www.iea-shc.org | |
The International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) is one of currently over 40 multilateral technology initiatives (also known as "implementing agreements") of the International Energy Agency.[1] It was one of the first of such programmes, founded in 1977. Its current mission is to "advance international collaborative efforts for solar energy to reach the goal set in the vision of contributing 50% of the low temperature heating and cooling demand by 2030.".[2] Its international solar collector statistics Solar Heat Worldwide[3] serve as an important reference document for governments,[4] financial institutions,[5] consulting firms[6] and non-profit organizations.[7]
Membership and organization
The IEA SHC's members are national governments, and the European Union. Each of the members is represented by one representative in the management body called Executive Committee.[8] The IEA SHC Executive Committee meets twice per year and is headed by an elected chairman. The IEA SHC currently has 21 members (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, European Union).[9]
Fields of work
Research, development and demonstration (RD&D)
The IEA SHC aims at facilitating international collaboration in the research, development and demonstration of solar thermal energy and solar buildings. Their multi-year projects (also known as "Tasks") are conducted by researchers from different countries. Funding is provided by IEA SHC members, who usually pay one or more national research institutions to participate in the work.
Recent research topics include:
- solar space heating, e.g. Solar and Heat Pump Systems (Task 44),[10] Solar Combisystems (Task 26)[11]
- solar industrial process heat, e.g. Solar Process Heat for Production and Advanced Applications (Task 49),[12] Solar Heat for Industrial Process (Task 33)[13]
- solar district heating, e.g. Large Systems: Large Solar Heating/Cooling Systems, Seasonal Storage, Heat Pumps (Task 45)[14]
- solar cooling, e.g. Quality Assurance and Support Measures for Solar Cooling (Task 48),[15] Solar Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration (Task 38)[16]
- solar buildings/architecture, e.g. Solar Renovation of Non-Residential Buildings (Task 47),[17] Solar Energy and Architecture (Task 41)[18]
As well as work on:
- materials/components for solar heating and cooling, e.g. Compact Thermal Energy Storage (Task 42),[19] Polymeric Materials for Solar Thermal Applications (Task 39)[20]
- standards & certification, e.g. Solar Rating & Certification Procedure (Task 43)[21]
- resource assessment, e.g. Solar Resource Knowledge Management (Task 36)[22]
International SHC conference
In 2011, the IEA SHC Executive Committee decided to launch an annual international conference on solar heating and cooling for buildings and industry. The first edition of this conference took place 9–11 July 2012 in San Francisco,.[23] SHC 2013 will take place 23–25 September 2013 in Freiburg, Germany. It will be hosted jointly with the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), which had previously organized their own conference, ESTEC.
Major publications
Apart from the reports and other publications of the research projects (Tasks), the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme publishes several cross-cutting documents, the most important one being the annual collector statistics Solar Heat Worldwide.[3] The SHC newsletter Solar Update[24] is published twice per year.
References
- ^ IEA multilateral technology initiatives
- ^ IEA SHC mission, see page 4 of the strategic plan
- ^ a b International collector statistics Solar Heat Worldwide
- ^ USDA: Solar Energy Use in U.S. Agriculture – Overview and Policy Issues, April 2011, p.66
- ^ Bank Sarasin: Solar industry: Survival of the fittest in a fiercely competitive market place, November 2011, p. 41
- ^ Roland Berger Strategy Consultants: Clean Economy, Living Planet, November 2009, p.22
- ^ Supporting data sets for Lester R. Brown, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, New York 2011, p.34
- ^ Composition of the IEA SHC Executive Committee
- ^ IEA SHC members according to the IEA website
- ^ Solar and Heat Pump Systems (Task 44)
- ^ Solar Combisystems (Task 26)
- ^ Solar Process Heat for Production and Advanced Applications (Task 49)
- ^ Solar Heat for Industrial Process (Task 33)
- ^ Large Systems: Large Solar Heating/Cooling Systems, Seasonal Storage, Heat Pumps (Task 45)
- ^ Quality Assurance and Support Measures for Solar Cooling (Task 48)
- ^ Solar Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration (Task 38)
- ^ Solar Renovation of Non-Residential Buildings (Task 47)
- ^ Solar Energy and Architecture (Task 41)
- ^ Compact Thermal Energy Storage (Task 42)
- ^ Polymeric Materials for Solar Thermal Applications (Task 39)
- ^ Solar Rating & Certification Procedure (Task 43)
- ^ Solar Resource Knowledge Management (Task 36)
- ^ Website of the SHC 2012 conference
- ^ IEA SHC newsletter Solar Update