German and Italian Solar Water Heater Market Analysis

More and more installers have begun to integrate solar energy systems with traditional heating systems (boilers) and air-to-energy heat pumps, which has also made the market in a better direction.

Germany's heating market in Germany fell by nearly 25% in 2007. In 2008, the market recovered and there was a two-digit increase, but sales were still lower than in 2006. The growth of the German heating market in 2008 was mainly driven by renewable energy systems such as biomass boilers, solar energy, and heat pumps.

After nearly one-third of the decline in market sales in 2007, solar energy systems, as one of the fastest growing heating technologies, consolidated their position in Germany in 2008. Even in the case of the global economic crisis, it still increased by nearly 120% in 2008. The substantial growth of the solar energy system was mainly due to a smoother and more transparent subsidy policy and a sharp rise in crude oil prices. In addition, building owners and construction investors suddenly discovered that the return on investment in energy-efficient buildings in 2008 was higher than in the stock market.

Compared with 2008, the German solar market dropped by nearly 26% in 2009. The market decline is mainly due to the decline in petrochemical raw material prices. At the same time, under the high unemployment rate and economic recession caused by the economic crisis, people are more cautious in their consumption behavior. They are more inclined to use the existing systems. In addition, the highly successful German government scrap plan (paying €2,500 to replace a used car with a used car) shifted everyone's buying direction, leaving many users inclined to buy a car instead of buying or replacing a heating system.

Market analysis of solar water heaters in Germany and Italy Although the entire market has declined, the solar energy market in Germany still has some positive factors for forward development. For example, in January 2009, new renewable heating regulations (also known as renewable energy heating law) began to be implemented. . The new regulations require that all newly built buildings larger than 50 square meters use renewable energy technologies to cover a certain percentage of their annual heat load, and the proportion varies according to various renewable energy technologies.

In addition to the above factors, more and more installers have begun to integrate solar energy systems with traditional heating systems (boilers) and heat pumps, which has also made the market in a better direction.

As in previous years, plate collectors are still the main force in the German solar market in 2008 and 2009, accounting for 90% of the total market sales. The main reasons for this include the following: First, flat plate collectors have low initial investment costs and are easy to install and are preferred by installers. Secondly, flat plate collectors are more rugged and less brittle than vacuum tubes; There are more plate collector manufacturers; finally, flat plate collectors have a low production cost per square meter, a large profit margin, and are favored by manufacturers.

Due to the increase in vacuum tube imports causing product prices to decline, the German solar market has the tendency to develop dual-use systems with auxiliary heating functions. In the pursuit of more efficient systems, vacuum tubes are likely to become attractive products again.

For absorbent materials, aluminum accounted for most of the market share in 2008 and 2009 compared to copper and black chromium, and stainless steel is difficult to have a market in Germany.

Among all the vacuum tube collectors sold, Ritter/Paradigma's U-tubes accounted for a large share of the market in Germany, mainly due to the high cost-effectiveness of the product in residential houses.

Glass tube products lost a lot of market share in the past two years, mainly due to more accidents (such as pipe burst), and the negative impact of the public, many glass tube manufacturers out of this market.

Heat pipe is still a very small market, but it has potential for development in high-end market dual-use systems. In addition, due to the better performance of the heat pipe relative to other pipes and flat plate collectors, there will be much room for development in heat treatment and solar cooling applications in the future.

From an end-user perspective, German solar systems are still mainly used in the civilian market. In 2008, 90% of the market share was for civilian use, and the remaining 10% was used in commercial and industrial areas. In 2008, the German solar energy system's main market was the initial installation (including renovations and heating system renovations) of already-built buildings, while the use of new civil buildings declined. This was mainly due to the sluggish construction industry in Germany.

In 2009, the market began to shift to new construction. This is mainly due to the poorly renovated market, and the new renewable energy heating legislation has driven the new building to install renewable energy systems. Compared with other renewable energy systems, people are more inclined to install solar energy systems. Therefore, if someone decides to build a new house in 2009, usually solar energy will be installed in the heating system. Renovation or initial installation is seen as the main market growth point in the near future, because solar energy products are easy to install and can easily be installed in existing buildings without too much technical renovation. In addition, in the near future, legislation is likely to provide for the replacement of heating and the installation of renewable energy applications for the first time.

German heating suppliers are very happy to provide a whole set of services (such as system integration). Solar energy can be combined with boilers and heat pumps to form an entire heating system, which is more powerful than simply providing solar thermal power.

While the solar energy system has become the mainstream of the market, product quality has been put on the agenda. Therefore, it is important to maintain and increase the efficiency of the collectors, which requires a better and more transparent information policy in terms of technical performance and efficiency. The rapid development of solar energy systems puts forward a competitive demand for manufacturers and installers, and manufacturers need to increase their efforts in quality assurance and installation training. The development of integrated systems requires more sophisticated control systems, which require the active cooperation of collector manufacturers, system providers, and control system vendors.

Italy Like other major European solar markets (Germany, Spain, France), Italian solar market sales have declined in recent years. In 2008, the sales volume of the Italian solar energy market was 390,000 square meters, and this figure will drop to 306,000 square meters in 2009. This is mainly due to the impact of the sluggish construction market and economic crisis on consumers' willingness to invest in renewable energy systems or other non-essential products. Users considering investing in solar energy systems postponed their purchase plans until the global economic situation improves and the situation will change.

In 2008, more than 59,000 solar systems were installed in civilian buildings in the Italian market. The capacity of water tanks in civil solar systems is usually between 250 and 300L. In 2008, the entire market had sales of about 82 million euros.

In the Italian solar market, porcelain plate collectors are the most common. In 2008, its market share was 85%. Although the share decreased slightly in 2009, it still reached 83%. Among them, the most common is a flat plate collector with a single area of ​​about 2.2 square meters, mainly because the price of this product is much cheaper than the vacuum tube.

Most of the absorption material in the Italian market is made of copper, followed by aluminum and stainless steel.

In 2008, Italy installed about 58,000 square meters of vacuum tube collectors, which accounted for 15% of the market. In addition to the products of the local major vacuum tube manufacturer Koblen, other vacuum tube collectors are imported from Germany and other regions. Because of its slightly higher energy efficiency, vacuum tube collectors are more popular in northern Italy.

In 2008, 80% of Italian solar energy systems were installed in civilian buildings, of which about 45% were used in new buildings. In 2009, the application of solar energy systems in the Italian market in civil buildings was slightly reduced. This was mainly due to the decrease in the number of newly-built civil buildings in 2009.

In recent years, the solar energy system has grown significantly in Italy, but the per capita installed capacity is not large, so the future prospects of the market are still good. All manufacturers agree that Italy will be a huge market for solar energy. Legislation to promote energy efficiency, increased energy prices, environmental protection policies and a series of economic subsidies will all make this market grow substantially.