Commercial enterprises, which are interested to use renewable energy can opt for solar thermal hot water and space heating systems.
The air and water in the offices, buildings and processes are heated directly by using solar energy. Solar thermal systems are becoming famous in commercial markets. Recently, combined solar systems are available, which demonstrate the development of solar thermal plants.
According to Nigel Cotton, the founder of Solarthermalworld.org, a solar thermal energy website and OEM Team Leader for the International Copper Association (ICA), businessmen are concerned about not being able to meet energy requiremets. However, several approaches are available to integrate solar thermal with other renewable energies. This will generate higher energy output while reducing carbon emissions in the environment.
An example for combined systems is a solar thermal system with geothermal pumps, where, the underground heat is combined with solar thermal heat. Further, excess heat produced from the solar thermal system can be stored in the geothermal exchanger. This innovative concept is useful for companies that either use or store hot water.
One more innovative example is the hybrid system installed at the Brown University located in Providence, Rhode Island. Solar thermal and photovoltaic are combined in the hybrid system, where, solar thermal systems provide hot water to swimming pools and photovoltaic systems offer heat to the building. This innovation is a major advancement for the industrial sector.
Solarthermalworld.org is supported by the Global Solar Thermal Energy Council (GSTEC). The website informs about the latest global developments in the solar thermal industry.