With the presentation of the new European energy strategy at the end of last year, Europe is launching specific guidelines for the decarbonisation of the Heating and Cooling sector. Among the proven solutions is solar thermal, but this is a market that, at European level, sees no signs of growth since 2011. Pedro Dias, secretary general of the European Federation of Solar Thermal Industry – ESTIF, analyzes the state Sector and indicates opportunities on the horizon.

The data for 2015 again showed a contraction (-6.6%) in the European solar thermal market . Is it possible to resume growth before 2020?
Over the past few years, several major solar thermal markets have faced reductions in their annual sales. Nonetheless, some of these markets show signs of stabilization. This stabilization is also expected to occur in other markets. Likewise, we have also identified three key factors that will have a significant impact on the solar thermal market in the coming years: the evolution of fossil fuel prices; The effect of the European Commission’s Warming and Cooling Strategy; The implementation of energy labeling, specifically with regard to packaging labels, in order to provide an indication of the whole system instead of focusing on components separately.