Feasibility Assessment of Solar Process Heat Applications
Abstract
The industrial sector represents a very promising application area for the further spread of solar thermal technology, since the sector accounts for 28 % of the total final energy consumption in Germany and other highly industrialized countries, and 75 % of this final energy consumption is used as thermal energy (Lauterbach et al., 2010). Several industrial sectors and processes were identified as suitable for the application of solar heating systems in potential studies, which have been carried out in the past for different countries or regions. A subtask of IEA SHC Task 33/IV summarized the outcomes of the potential studies performed in different countries all over the world (Vannoni et al., 2008). This summary mainly contains the outcomes regarding suitable industrial sectors and the quantified potential for solar heat in industrial processes. In previous studies, the suitability of industrial processes was mainly judged by their temperature level. As the decision for installing a solar heating system is mainly based on its economic feasibility, the solar heat generation costs have to be considered.