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 the Grand Central Records albums, see Central Heating (Grand Central album) and Central Heating 2. ... A trio of propane water heaters. ... Solar power describes a number of methods of harnessing energy from the light of the sun. ... A solar heater A laundromat in California with solar hot water panels on the roof. ... District heating (less commonly called teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements. ...

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. A seasonal thermal store (also known as a seasonal heat store or inter-seasonal thermal store) is a store designed to retain heat deposited during the hot summer months for use during colder winter weather. ... In discussing solar energy, the solar savings fraction or solar fraction (f) is the amount of energy provided via the solar technology divided by the total energy required. ...

Compared to small solar heating systems (solar combisystems), central solar heating systems have better price-performance ratios due to the lower installation price, the higher thermal efficiency and less maintenance. A solar combisystem is a solar heating system that provides both space heating and hot water from a common array of solar thermal collectors, normally linked to an auxiliary non-solar heat source. ...

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. District heating (less commonly called teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements. ...

Largest CSHPs

Source: Jan Erik Nielsen, PlanEnergi, DK.

Hereafter you find a plant in Rise (DK) with an 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 examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

The history of CSHP given here is mainly an Nordic-European perspective on the topic.

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 Linköbing, 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. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Founded 1970 Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki Area - Of which land - Rank 30. ... Groningen can refer to: A province of the Netherlands. ... The International Energy Agency (IEA, or AIE in Romance languages) is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization founded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the oil crisis. ...

The first large-scale solar collector fields weere 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. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Malung, located in Dalarna, Sweden Malung is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. ... Nykvarn is a Municipality in Stockholm County, in central Sweden. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ry may refer to: ry, a suffix in Finland, which generally denotes a registered, non-profit organization Ry, a municipality in Denmark Ry, a commune of the Seine-Maritime département, in France Ry, a male name, shortened from Ryan This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Stuttgart [], located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 (as of September 2005) in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ... Chemnitz (Sorbian/Lusatian Kamjenica, 1953-1990 called Karl-Marx-Stadt; Czech: Saská Kamenice) is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. ...

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 [1]. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... MW could refer to (in alphabetical order): Maintenance of way Malawi (ISO 3166-1 country code) MediaWiki Mediumwave Megawatt Mens Wearhouse Merriam-Webster Microwave Morrowind This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

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 500m².

See also

• Seasonal thermal store
• District heating
• Solar heating
• Solar cooling
• Solar combisystem
• Solar thermal energy
• District cooling
• Renewable energy

A seasonal thermal store (also known as a seasonal heat store or inter-seasonal thermal store) is a store designed to retain heat deposited during the hot summer months for use during colder winter weather. ... District heating (less commonly called teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements. ... Solar heating is a style of building construction which uses the energy of sunshine to heat a structure. ... A solar combisystem is a solar heating system that provides both space heating and hot water from a common array of solar thermal collectors, normally linked to an auxiliary non-solar heat source. ... The major applications of solar thermal energy at present are heating swimming pools, heating water for domestic use, and space heating of buildings. ... District heating (less commonly called teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements. ... Renewable energy (Non-Conventional Energy) is defined as energy derived from resources that are regenerative or for all practical purposes can not be depleted. ...

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 [2].

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