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  • Sustainable Consumption and Production
    • SCP Practices and Techniques
    • Drivers for SCP - The Business Case for SCP
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  • Energy and Environment
    • Energy Policy in a Changing World
    • How to make reasonable and effective energy policy and planning
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      • Most important sectors and fields of action for local energy policy
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Thermal Solar Energy

There are two different ways to use solar energy. One way is hot water production, space heating and thermal electricity production using solar collectors. Solar heat is competitive in many cases for practical application. The technologies range from simple systems (collectors for hot water) to high tech systems (thermal electricity).

Solar heating

In Europe solar energy is seen as a near future option for clean and save energy supply. Examples of thermal collector technology which are nowadays applied in Europe are explained. For heating and hot water production solar energy supply concepts are studied utilizing thermal solar energy from large plants (collector area > 100 m²). Centralized systems with and without the possibility of a seasonally storing of heat are shown. Evaluated under German conditions these systems offer advantages in terms of lowest specific investment costs per unit living area and cost / benefit ratio of investment per unit of saved energy.

Solar cooling and air conditioning

Solar air conditioning is an attractive technology to achieve comfortable room conditions, especially in hot and sunny climates. To show the today and near future potential innovative solar cooling and air conditioning systems are discussed which are well adapted to the utilization of solar energy. The system performance of the air conditioning system are evaluated under typical design conditions. In particular air conditioning systems based on sorption technologies are discussed as they can be designed for a high efficient utilization of solar thermal energy. Methods to enhance the coefficient of performance (COP) of the total systems are proposed.

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