Solahart first with Solar KeyMark

On 21st and 22nd of June 2005, the second European Solar Thermal Energy Conference (ESTEC) was held in Freiburg, Germany. The Conference was organised by the European Thermal Solar Association (ESTIF), together with the German Solar Association (BSI).

The conference was a huge success with almost 300 delegates participating from as far as Japan, China, Brazil, South Africa and the USA, including Solahart’s Korean dealer, Mr Park, representing the Korean Solar Association.

There was a wide variety of presentations, including European politicians, presidents of solar associations, technical specialists, a BP oil specialist and a Greenpeace spokeswoman to name a few.

There was a free flow of valuable information, including the market developments in many countries, the different types of subsidy schemes in the various countries - including a presentation from Mr Ken Guthrie about the Australian RECS system and the Victoria situation - and technical presentations about developments of solar cooling and large scale systems.

One of the sessions related to testing and certification, and in particular about the various Quality labels. Attention was placed on the Solar Keymark label - the European quality label for solar thermal collectors and systems.

Rob Meesters, Technical Manager from the Solahart Europe office and member of the Solar Keymark Committee, gave a presentation discussing reasons why Solahart adopted the Solar Keymark label, and what manufacturers can expect in the future from the Solar Keymark.

The key points of his presentation were the importance of the accepting Solar Keymark as the standard for quality, and all products bearing the mark to qualify for subsidies across Europe. This would allow manufacturers to produce a smaller range of products that could be sold in all European countries, increasing production efficiencies and reducing the cost prices.

On Thursday June 23rd the Inter solar fair started for 3 days. This is Europe’s biggest specialised solar fair. The fair was bigger than last year, and there where more people visiting.

Our dealer in the south of Germany participated in the fair and proudly showed the Kf Thermosiphon System - the first system with the Keymark label. The Bt collector was also shown with the Solar Keymark logo.

Please view the KeyMark brochure here [pdf 49KB]

For further information, please visit the KeyMark web site:
http://www.key-mark.org/English/index.html