EUROPEAN Key Issues for Renewable Heat in Europe (K4RES-H) SOLAR THERMAL Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe INDUSTRY FEDERATION Contract EIE/04/240/S07.38607 Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe The sole responsibility for the content of this study lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the Community. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. 17/09/07 Page 1 of 233 EUROPEAN Key Issues for Renewable Heat in Europe (K4RES-H) SOLAR THERMAL Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe INDUSTRY FEDERATION Contract EIE/04/240/S07.38607 Short guide to this document The present document is the integral version of the Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe. It is the compilation of the following set of documents that have been published separately: a) Summary version, published as a printed colour brochure (January 2007) b) Best practice regulation for solar thermal (ST) (August 2007) c) Best practice financial incentives for ST (August 2006) d) Innovative applications: Solar Cooling (August 2006) e) Innovative Applications: Process heat (August 2006) f) Quantifying energy delivery of individual ST installations (August 2007) g) Verifiable targets for ST in Europe (August 2007) The summary version, i.e. the first chapter of the present document, is a general document targeted at a wide public of people interested in the development of solar thermal energy. The other sections have been written for a specialised public interest in policy making and in the details of the implementation of solar thermal policies. Except for some update in the introduction and further minor corrections and updates, the content has is identical to the publications above. The only differences are that this document presents all at once, and that the quality of the brochure‟s layout has been reduced. All individual documents above, as well as a number of deepening materials are available at www.estif.org/stap The Solar Thermal Action Plan has been produced within the framework of the project Key Issues for Renewable Heat in Europe (K4RES-H), co-financed by the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme of the European Commission and coordinated by ESTIF. Within this project, guidelines for best practice policies on different issues related to renewable heating and cooling are developed. 17/09/07 Page 2 of 233 EUROPEAN Key Issues for Renewable Heat in Europe (K4RES-H) SOLAR THERMAL Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe INDUSTRY FEDERATION Contract EIE/04/240/S07.38607 Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe – Summary Version .................................. 7 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Today & Tomorrow ................................................................................................................................ 8 Solutions for sustainable heating & cooling ........................................................................................ 8 Market growth, targets and potential ................................................................................................. 12 Replacing imported fuels with local jobs ........................................................................................... 16 Market Growth Strategy ...................................................................................................................... 19 Kicking off growth towards critical mass ........................................................................................... 19 Guidelines for Effective Policies ........................................................................................................ 23 Policy matters! ................................................................................................................................... 23 Continuity and coherence needed .................................................................................................... 24 Solar Regulations .............................................................................................................................. 26 Financial Incentive Schemes ............................................................................................................ 27 Policies for solar cooling and other emerging applications ............................................................... 29 Awareness raising and training ......................................................................................................... 30 Setting and monitoring national targets ............................................................................................ 32 Quantifying energy delivery ............................................................................................................... 33 Avoiding barriers to trade .................................................................................................................. 33 Best practice regulations for solar thermal .......................................................... 36 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 36 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 37 Reduction of administrative barriers ................................................................................................. 39 Solar obligations ................................................................................................................................. 40 A short history of solar obligations .................................................................................................... 42 Benefits and costs of solar obligations .............................................................................................. 44 The need for quality assurance measures ........................................................................................ 50 Structure for a solar obligation and guidelines .................................................................................. 57 Flanking measures for solar obligations ........................................................................................... 65 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................. 67 Annex 1: 27 years of solar obligation in Israel ............................................................................... 67 Annex 2: Solar obligations in Spain ................................................................................................. 68 Annex 3: The debate on solar obligations in Germany ..................................................................... 77 Annex 4: Solar obligations in Italy ..................................................................................................... 80 Annex 5: Solar Obligations in Ireland ................................................................................................ 85 Annex 6: Technical specifications for solar obligations .................................................................... 88 17/09/07 Page 3 of 233 EUROPEAN Key Issues for Renewable Heat in Europe (K4RES-H) SOLAR THERMAL Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe INDUSTRY FEDERATION Contract EIE/04/240/S07.38607 Best practice financial incentives for solar thermal ............................................ 96 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 96 Avoidable weaknesses of FIS for solar thermal ................................................................................ 96 Positive lessons learned (“best practice”) ......................................................................................... 96 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 98 Aim and structure of this study .......................................................................................................... 99 Definition of Financial Incentive Schemes ........................................................................................ 99 Definition of solar thermal heating and cooling ............................................................................... 100 Justification and limits of Financial Incentive Schemes (FIS) ...................................................... 101 Some principle of solar thermal economics .................................................................................... 101 Justifications for Financial Incentive Schemes for solar thermal .................................................... 103 Benefits of Financial Incentive Schemes ........................................................................................ 104 Inherent limits of financial incentives .............................................................................................. 105 Guidelines for best-practice financial incentive schemes for ST ................................................ 108 Types of FIS .................................................................................................................................... 108 What is the best kind of FIS for ST? ..............................................................................................