The market, media and policy arena often neglect solar thermal, because solar thermal energy is seldom accounted for and the amount of solar thermal heat supplied is neither measured nor displayed in a transparent way. This also results in problems/breakdowns not being spotted quickly. This “Technical study report on measuring, remote monitoring and remote controlling for solar thermal systems” aims at contributing to making measuring, monitoring, and remote controlling more mainstream for smaller systems. It also intends to make use of some information from larger systems, where measuring, remote monitoring, and remote controlling are already common. This report shall contribute to make solar thermal stakeholders better
aware of the potential to be exploited in terms of measuring, remote monitoring, and remote controlling and its potential to improve solar thermal systems and its application, making it easier to compare and to reduce failures. Parts of the study will generally apply to water and space heating systems, not only those including solar thermal.

This technical study provides an overview on the status on ways of measuring, monitoring and controlling solar thermal in smaller systems, with a clear focus on current methods. It will look into the state-of-the-art for solar thermal, including some components such as sensors, controllers and connectivity. The report will also address the Smart Home and Internet-of-Things as an opportunity for solar thermal water & space heating, the (solar) heating system as part of the Smart Home and additional parameters as input to (solar) heating system. Finally, it will look into possible service offerings based on the remote monitoring, controlling of (solar) heating systems.

This “Technical study report on measuring, remote monitoring and remote controlling for solar thermal systems” was developed as part of the Global Solar Water Heating (GSWH) Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative (GSWH Project), and as a result of a joint effort between The European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through its Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) and the Global Environment Fund (GEF).

Funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), the GSWH project’s main goal is to accelerate the global commercialization and sustainable market transformation of SWH, thereby reducing the current use of electricity and fossil fuels for hot water preparation. It will build on the encouraging market development rates already achieved in some GEF programme countries and seek to further expand the market in others where the potential and necessary prerequisites for market uptake seem to exist.