Production with Solar Energy

Initial situation

The enforced usage of solar energy in industry presents a milestone for a sustainable development of our society. 30 % of the total energy demand is used by the industry sector .

Raising energy cost, dependency from fossil fuels and higher environmental requirements set the framework for companies for an new orientation towards renewable energy resources.

Process heat forms the main part of the energy demand in industry (21 %) and is used in large part for generating low temperature heat. However, this usage area has hardly been considered for solar energy using so far and investigations on that have not been made either. Low temperature processes are processes ranging from temperatures between 20°C and approx. 250 °C. Up to now only 12 % of the energy demand is covered by renewable resources. On a medium time scale solar panels may cover a much higher percentage of the whole energy demand.

Results

During the research activities the low temperature heat demand in industry and manufacturing was investigated and documented. Additionally it has been investigated to what extend low temperature heat can be covered by solar energy. During another project an economic highly efficiency small scale solar panel has been developed. This panel based on the parabolic through principle presents an innovation because of its small dimension and low weight.

In parallel to the collector development, a study has been carried out that identifies storage concepts that are suitable to store heat at a temperature level up to 300°C.

A survey of these storage technologies has already been completed. In the second part of the study the technologies that are appropriate for use in industrial applications were identified. The results of the project creates the basis for a successful market launch of the technology. The achievable high temperatures and the direct production of steam in the panel presents a totally new market segment in the solar energy technology.

Photos: Factory of Tommorow