Skip to main content
EnglishEN
European Commission logo print header

Development of a modular, all-POLYmer SOLar thermal collector for domestic hot water preparation and space heating

Objective

By 2020, the EC aim to increase our overall renewable energy capacity from 8.5% to 20% as a proportion of Europe’s total energy demand. Considering that domestic heating and hot water provision accounts for nearly 40% of total energy demand it is clearly desirable to increase market penetration of renewable heating systems. On a domestic scale solar thermal systems are increasingly common and are, to the general public, the most visible renewable energy technology. Moreover, compared to biomass they have distinct user benefits when it comes to domestic heating or hot water provision as they do not need physical feedstock. However, despite significant market growth their market penetration only accounts for 0.05% of our total energy consumption. This is mainly due to the high initial investment required which is a function of equipment and installation costs. Conventional collectors rely on high value materials such as copper and aluminium, which are essential to achieve acceptable performance. However, these materials are also relatively expensive and it is unlikely that component costs will decrease in the future. Moreover, supply of these materials is limited and not large enough to cope with expected increases in demand. Alternative materials such as polymers have been investigated and can theoretically offer significant cost savings due to potential weight reductions, mass production techniques and increased freedom of functional design. However, they are generally not suitable for domestic type solar thermal installations. This is mainly due to their low heat deflection temperature and thermal conductivity. In PolySol we aim to develop a novel polymeric collector that can substitute a metallic solar thermal collector for domestic heating and hot water applications. As a result cost savings of at least 25% can be achieved which will greatly enhance the appeal of solar thermal energy to the public and will reduce overall reliance on government incentives.

Fields of science

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

FP7-SME-2010-1
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

BSG-SME - Research for SMEs

Coordinator

Energias Renovables Aplicadas, s.l.
Address
Calle toledo 20 piso 6 puerta c
13001 Ciudad real
Spain

See on map
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Administrative Contact
Eduardo Morillas López (Mr.)
Links
EU contribution
No data

Participants (10)

Share this page

Download

Last update: 25 May 2022

My Booklet

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/262149

European Union, 2023