Solar Thermal & Energy Economics in Urban Environments

This project focuses on the future role of solar thermal energy supply systems in urban environments. Based on an energy economic analysis – reflecting future changes in the whole energy system – strategies and technical solutions as well as associated tools are developed. Good examples of integration of solar thermal systems in urban energy systems are defined and documented.

The analyses involve:

Building level: Retrofit of buildings towards low energy standards is state-of-the-art. For residential buildings, this leads to a higher share of heat needed for domestic hot water consumption in relation to the energy demand for heating. This gives good opportunities for solar thermal; however, there may be a competition with PV (Photovoltaic).

District level: The heat demand in districts will be lowered while the electricity demand will remain stable. Up to now, solar thermal combo-systems are predominantly used in housing. The question is whether solar thermal district network still has a role to play and how different sizes of storages can be a part of such district level systems.

Energy supply system: The increasing share of renewable, but intermittent, energy in the electrical grid leads to an increasing need for storage and flexibility. New opportunities for feeding in solar thermal energy may arise with storage and sector integration, replacing biomass boilers.