Thermal solar power in Europe has maintained its downward trend in recent years, according to the latest data from ESTIF – European Federation of Solar Thermal Industry. In 2015, the new installed area falls again, this time 6.6%, totaling 2.7 million m2 installed.

In cumulative terms, the Europe of 28 and Switzerland now have 47.5 million m2 installed, representing 33.3 GWth (4.4% more than in the previous year). The sector estimates a turnover of 1.9 billion euros, employing 23 700 people.

For this downward trend, the performance of the German market, the largest in Europe, contracted by 10.4%. The new area installed in the country has once again lagged behind the million: 800 thousand m2. Even so, in France, the fall was much more pronounced. Among the larger markets, in 2015, new facilities in the country fell 32.6%.

On the other hand, Denmark has seen an increase of nearly 50%, standing out as the best performing European market in the past year. The reason is the increasing popularity of the use of solar thermal in district heating networks. In all, 260,000 new m2 were installed.