Solar thermal utilization enterprises

What is solar energy utilisation?

Vision Solar energy utilisation is one of the most promising avenues for addressing the world's energy and environmental problems because of its many advantages, including its abundant and convenient availability, and its pollution-free and sustainable nature.

What are the different types of solar thermal technologies?

In general, there are three groups of solar thermal technologies that are useful for industrial process heat: solar air collectors, solar water systems, and solar concen-trators. Solar air collectors are found primarily in the food processing industry to replace gas- or oil-based drying or to reduce food spoilage due to open- air dry-ing.

What is a solar thermal system?

Solar concen-trators like parabolic dish collectors, parabolic trough collectors and Linear Fresnel collectors can generate compressed steam with temperatures of up to 400°C. Most solar thermal systems for industrial process heat are small-scale pilot plants.

Where can solar thermal systems be used?

Prime ap-plication areas for solar thermal systems are in the food, beverage, transport equipment, textile, machinery, and pulp and paper industries, where roughly 60% of the heating needs can be met by temperatures below 250°C (PO-SHIP, 2001).

Can solar heat systems be integrated into industrial applications?

Integration of solar heat systems into industrial applications requires storage and control strategies to handle the non-continuous supply of solar energy (Atkins, et al., 2010; Schramm and Adam, 2014).

What is the potential for solar thermal cooling?

The potential for solar cooling is estimated to be in the range of 0.1 EJ by 2030, mainly replacing electricity-driven refrigeration in the food and tobacco sectors (IRENA, 2014b). Solar thermal cooling on islands, for example, could provide the necessary thermal cooling storage for the agricultural sector and fishing industry (IRENA, 2012b).