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LARGE-SCALE SOLAR THERMAL SCHEME IN AN URBAN ECOLOGICAL HOUSING AREA

Objective

The project aims to demonstrate for the first time the usefulness of large-scale solar heating in Finland. Also, the applicability of large-scale active solar integrated into a sustainable urban city-planning scheme (Helsinki-Ekoviikki) will be demonstrated. Eight solar systems with a total area of 1246 m² will be installed. Main innovation lies in the following aspects: strong integration of solar to all levels of the process (technical, building/architecture, construction), building integration optimized solar collector technology, a low-flow operating strategy with strong storage stratification increasing collector output. Energy savings 540 MWh/a and cost of heat produced 90-100 ECU/MWh. This project strives to demonstrate a major reduction in the solar price compared to existing practices in Finland.

The main innovation lies in three aspects:
- multi-level integration of a large solar scheme into an urban ecological (low-energy) housing area.
- improved storage concept based on low-flow strategy and vertical stratifiers.
- building integrated optimized solar collector design.
Solar aspects and the requirements will be integrated to each phase of the building project to enable optimum system interfacing. The improved storage concept is based on increasing the level of stratification of the water tank through a novel vertical plastic header pipe with membrane valves that open on very small pressure differences. The big module collector (10 m² each) is designed for larger collector areas to be mounted on building structures.
The solar heating project will be realized in Helsinki Ekoviikki area (60°N). The housing site has a built area of 64000 m² and in half of this subject to solar heating to be realized in this project.
Ekoviikki is an urban ecological housing area to be built in 1998-2000. Sustainable building technology will be used including extensive energy and material savings technologies in houses. Different energy conservation approaches will reduce the heat demand that makes the use of solar heat more effective. The conventional energy to be used is district heating.
The solar demonstration project consists of eight separate solar heating systems between 80-250 m² each integrated into the building. The total collector area is 1246 m² and as such largest ever realized in Finland among the ten largest in Europe.
In this project, the price of solar collectors is 250 ECU/m² and total system 470 ECU/m². Through replication, a system price of 360 ECU/m² should be possible for coming projects. The solar system should produce 400 kWh/m² per year, i.e. 30% more than a normal solar heating system in Finland.

Call for proposal

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Coordinator

SOLPROS AY
EU contribution
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Address
Oltermannintie 13 A4
FIN-00620 Helsinki
Finland

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