Analyse of Functionality and Quality of 120 Solar Thermal Systems in Residential Buildings and Commercial Applications
Abstract
Large solar thermal systems in residential buildings and commercial applications (tourism services, sports facilities, wood drying, operation buildings of hair dressers, butchers, etc.) launched successfully in the Austrian solar thermal market in the last few years. This fact motivated the solar branch and a few subsidy departments (on federal level and in the provinces) to initiate a broadly based analysis of the systems’ functionality and quality. Within the frame of a research project assigned from Klima- und Energiefonds as well as the provinces Styria, the Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Lower Austria 120 solar thermal systems (with a collector area between 20 m2 and 400 m2) will be analyzed. The aim of this research project is to deliver the basics for the improvement of the functionality and quality of the system on the one hand and to define a consistent quality standard in cooperation with subsidy departments on the other hand. The non university research Institute AEE INTEC is the leader of this project assisted by the regional Institutes Energie Tirol, Energieinstitut Vorarlberg and AEE Wien/Niederösterreich.